Week 1 - What is environmental justice?

So this is my next blog for another FutureLearn course - Environmental Justice run by the University of East Anglia.

Again, I will post my findings from the course and anything interesting things i find - this is primarily a record of my course notes.

Background behind environmental justice

What is Justice?
Justice is what is morally right. The definition on wikipedia is:

Justice, in its broadest context, includes both the attainment of that which is just and the philosophical discussion of that which is just. The concept of justice is based on numerous fields, and many differing viewpoints and perspectives including the concepts of moral correctness based on ethics, rationality, law, religion, equity and fairness. Often, the general discussion of justice is divided into the realm of societal justice as found in philosophy, theology and religion, and, procedural justice as found in the study and application of the law.

What is Environmental Justice?
This is justice applied to environmental problems. Environmental problems occur due to injustice. e.g. Forests - Environmental justice would ask, you who gets to use the forest, govern it and how do these influence the sustainability of the forest.

Many environmental problems are social. Any environmental change has a social impact.
Environmental Justice movement started in the USA in 1990's and focused on race and pollution. It is now a global issue.

Why does justice matter?

"We can live together as brothers, or die together as fools" Martin Luther King

Dimension of environmental justice

There are 3 dimensions of environmental justice which are:

Distribution - Allocation of environmental good's and bad's

• Good's - Natural resources, environmental amenities
• Bad's - Natural hazards, environmental risk

Participation - Roles of different people in environmental decision making e.g.

• Who decides how much timber to harvest?
• Who decides where a waste incinerator goes?

Recognition - acknowledgement of collective identities and histories. Respect for social and cultural differences

• Indigenous knowledge
• Gender differences in forest management
• environmental racism in the siting of waste incinerators

Examples of issues touching on these dimensions:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2tuXXfyo5WSt6fH9uM6e5oomAcLQiBFR

Coursework - Describe and environment problem

What’s driving the problem? 
The cost of waste is increasing and commercial waste producers and those in the waste game are finding it increasingly hard to dispose of waste/recyclables at an affordable rate.

Who is involved? 
Any commercial business producing waste but mainly those smaller company's such as construction and demolition. It also includes waste transfer sites themselves who are finding it hard to dispose of the larger quantities of waste after processing. 

Can you come up with a simple question about the social dynamics producing the problem?
Why do people feel that they can break the law and dispose of waste illegally?


Links for further reading:
https://ugc.futurelearn.com/uploads/files/3a/42/3a421670-4771-4099-bd24-201125f1d652/published_version.pdf

https://ugc.futurelearn.com/uploads/files/1e/f1/1ef14467-58da-44ab-a4f9-656c1ee53625/Why_GEJ_-_DEV_research_briefing.pdf

http://ejatlas.org