Environmental Justice

Rooted in Inequity: Why Environmental Justice Demands Structural Change

Environmental justice is not just a question of pollution or policy – it is fundamentally about who bears the brunt of environmental harm and who has the power to respond. Pollution and other environmental risks disproportionately impact marginalized populations, such as racial and ethnic minorities and low-income communities.¹ This can be attributed to inequities embedded in social, economic, political, and historical structures and systems. Mohai et al. argue that these disparities must be addressed through environmental policies, interdisciplinary research, inclusion of all communities in decision-making processes, and consistent support of both grassroots and global movements to seek true environmental justice.¹

Did you know?
Communities most impacted by environmental injustices are most often comprised of low-income and marginalized racial and ethnic groups.

Structural inequality lies at the heart of environmental harm. Traditional environmental studies often focus too narrowly on individual behavior, overlooking how structural inequalities, such as race, class, gender, and global power dynamics, shape environmental risk and response. Therefore, environmental sociology must evolve.² Ergas et al. call this public sociology, and say that it should move beyond academia to inform public discourse, policymaking, and community action, especially in light of climate change, pandemics, and inequality. They emphasize the need for interdisciplinary and intersectional frameworks that integrate insights from public health, law, engineering, and beyond, while embracing intersectionality to understand overlapping systems of oppression that perpetuate environmental outcomes and their impacts on people.² Furthermore, scholars are urged to engage in problem-solving sociology and advocacy research to help design sustainable and just solutions. Market-based solutions often exacerbate environmental injustice because they prioritize the dollar over the person.²

“[The] disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color is also known as environmental racism, which stems from intentional institutional policies or decisions that target communities of color for undesirable land uses, such as the siting of polluting industries that release toxic and hazardous waste.”
-American Public Health Association

Environmental justice must also be recognized as an essential part of social justice, especially in social work education.³ Marginalized communities disproportionately suffer from environmental degradation and disasters, making this an urgent issue of equity. In fact, structural inequalities are the strongest predictors of environmental disparities. Furthermore, environmental harms often replicate and intensify existing patterns of institutional oppression, as evidenced by post-Katrina resettlement.³

While environmental racism is well-documented, it is severely under-taught in university programs. The realities of the disproportionate impacts of landfills, toxins, and pollution are insufficiently covered in social work education. Beltrán et al. argue that the social work field needs to incorporate environmental content into core curricula, with emphasis on oppression, diversity, and power, in order to equip future practitioners with the knowledge needed to address these interconnected challenges. Social work educators are urged to embed environmental justice throughout training, ensuring students gain both critical awareness and concrete skills to engage in advocacy and intervention. Environmental justice can be within reach if these educational interventions are incorporated into every field of study.

Environmental justice is a human rights issue:
“Marginalized communities are disproportionately at risk of exposure to lead, air pollution, hazardous waste and extreme heat. Environmental exposures have been linked to various damaging health issues, including cancer, asthma and other respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases and developmental disabilities.”
-American Public Health Association

At the crossroads of environmental and social justice lies a clear truth: to address the climate crisis and its social impacts in a meaningful way, we must dismantle the structures of inequality that enable them. Environmental justice is not a secondary issue, but the foundation for a more just and sustainable future.

So, what can we do? Start by exploring this website. We have laid out several key issues of environmental justice. Within each section, explore the “Take Action” tab. Choose three action items and get to work! Most importantly, take care of yourself. Stay grounded in your community and root your effort in passion. Show up as your powerful self with your own unique story. Stay informed, inform others, and take action. There is a lot of work ahead, but even small actions can lead to big change.

Mohai P, Pellow D, Roberts JT. Environmental justice. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 2009;34(1):405-430. doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-082508-094348
Ergas C, McKinney L, Bell SE. Intersectionality and the environment. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Published online November 2, 2021:15-34. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-77712-8_2
Beltrán R, Hacker A, Begun S. Environmental justice is a social justice issue: Incorporating environmental justice into Social Work Practice curricula. Journal of Social Work Education. 2016;52(4):493-502. doi:10.1080/10437797.2016.1215277