DI Digest Idea 2 May 96

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LitScan Press Review

2.	Environmental Justice
	Environmentalists and human rights campaigners have traditionally formed two very separate groups of activists. But a concept called 'environmental justice' is changing all that. Groups as entrenched as Amnesty International and Greenpeace are now discovering a cause in common - the equal right of all people to a healthy environment and fair access to resources. Now in some countries, this is old news. Many Asian human rights groups and indigenous organizations, for instance, have long emphasized environmental rights. But in the west, and especially in the USA, the schism has been greater. It was only in the mid-80s that Americans finally made the link between socio-economic and socio-political disadvantage and environmental degradation. For example, hazardous dumps had a nasty habit of clustering in Black and Native-American communities. Environmental justice need not be restricted, however, to an American-style discussion of protecting individual civil liberties. The idea applies equally well to broader communities and nations, whether it's the Ogoni people and their travails with the Nigerian government and Shell Oil, or countries like Bangladesh which may see two-thirds of its land area disappear thanks to global warming (see Not Hot below). In practice, though, if environmental justice is to be achieved, rights to information and participation will also need some bolstering. It may not be 'happily-ever-after' yet, but the growing link between the environment and people's rights is a step in the right direction. [the new 'environment + social protection' equation]
	environmental injustice n. the unfair distribution of the costs of ecological dam-age and inequitable access to ecological benefits *eco-justice n.* the promotion of equal environmental rights, often with a litigious American spin
	Sachs, Aaron. Eco-justice: Linking Human Rights and the Environment. Washing-ton, D.C.: Worldwatch Institute, 1995. 68p. Barbara Rose Johnston, ed. Who Pays the Price? The Sociocultural Context of En -vironmental Crisis. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1994. 249p.
NOT HOT -	The Environmental Injustice of Global Warming
	So the world's temperature goes up a few degrees. We know some people who might actually welcome it, especially if they live in colder climes. But in other parts of the world, a degree or two higher could spell catastrophe. In Bangladesh or the Maldives, for example, it could mean massive land losses and migrations and, in extreme cases, the negation of entire nations. Now consider this in the light of environmental justice. Should small island states absorb the costs of global warming when climate change is caused mostly by industrial emissions in the North? The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has provided strong leadership on this issue at the UN, resulting in new emissions reductions targets for carbon-intensive countries and agreements for significant transfers of clean technologies from North to South. Don't ask if any of this is actually working, however. There's still a long, long way to go before the threat of rising sea levels subsides.
*Virtual Ideas*	The case of Ken Saro-Wiwa and Shell Nigeria -plus lots of links to other sites