Pollution does not land evenly. Landfills, incinerators and waste exports consistently end up in the same kinds of places, and the people living there are rarely the ones who generated the waste. That pattern is what environmental justice is about.
📘 What you need to know
Environmental justice is the right of all people to live in a pollution-free environment and to have equitable access to natural resources.
This applies regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status or nationality.
Inequalities in income, race, gender and cultural identity create disparities in access to water, food and energy.
Environmental injustice is the unequal distribution of environmental burdens and benefits.
It operates at local scale (hazardous facilities near low-income neighbourhoods) and global scale (waste export, resource exploitation, climate impacts).
Named local example: Altgeld Gardens, Chicago. Named global example: plastic waste export from Europe to Southeast Asia.
Sustainability and justice apply at every scale, from individual choices to global frameworks such as the SDGs.
What environmental justice means
Environmental justice refers to the right of all people to live in a pollution-free environment and to have equitable — fair and equal — access to natural resources, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status or nationality.
DefinitionEnvironmental justice — the right of all people to live in a pollution-free environment and to have equitable access to natural resources, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status or nationality.
Where the inequalities show up
Inequalities in income, race, gender and cultural identity, both within and between societies, produce real disparities in access to water, food and energy:
Some communities cannot afford reliable access to clean water or electricity.
Privatisation of water sources can make this worse, pushing costs up and access down.
In some regions, rural communities struggle to afford electricity, which limits job prospects and development opportunities.
Environmental injustice
Environmental injustice is the unequal distribution of environmental burdens and benefits, often along lines of race, class or other social factors. It includes situations where marginalised communities face more environmental hazards, or have less access to environmental goods and services.
Read the two columns across. Each local injustice has a global counterpart driven by the same imbalance of power.
At the local level
Hazardous facilities such as landfills, incinerators or industrial plants sited in or near low-income or minority neighbourhoods.
Pollution hotspots that mainly harm poorer communities, causing health problems.
Lack of access to clean water, safe housing or green spaces in economically disadvantaged areas.
At the global level
Exploitation of natural resources in developing countries by multinational corporations, causing environmental degradation and displacement of Indigenous communities.
Export of general or hazardous waste from wealthier nations to poorer countries, exposing vulnerable populations to health risks.
Climate change impacts falling disproportionately on low-income countries and communities with limited resources to adapt or mitigate.
In general, environmental injustice increases existing social inequalities and undermines human rights, particularly for vulnerable populations. It leads to negative health outcomes, economic disparities and reduced wellbeing and resilience in affected communities.
Case study: Altgeld Gardens, Chicago
Altgeld Gardens is a predominantly African American, low-income neighbourhood on Chicago’s South Side that has faced environmental injustice for decades.
The Altgeld Gardens Landfill, operated by the city from the 1940s, served as a dumping ground for municipal waste, hazardous materials and toxic industrial by-products.
Residents have long reported air and water pollution, foul odours, respiratory problems and other health issues linked to their proximity to the landfill.
Despite community protests, lawsuits and demands for closure, the site continues to operate as a waste transfer station, so the injustice persists and health concerns continue.
Case study: plastic waste export to Southeast Asia
Over recent decades, developed countries — particularly in Europe — have increasingly exported plastic waste to developing nations in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The volume of plastic, often labelled as recyclable, overwhelms local waste management infrastructure, which cannot recycle it responsibly.
Communities near waste processing facilities face significant degradation, with open burning and improper disposal causing air and water pollution and serious public health risks.
The trade widens existing inequalities between developed and developing countries: poorer nations absorb most of the pollution and its effects on local environments and human health.
Why the “recyclable” label matters. Exporting waste labelled recyclable lets the exporting country record it as recycled in its own statistics, even when it is burned in the open on arrival. The injustice and the accounting problem are the same problem — which is why indicators, covered in the next note, have to be chosen carefully.
Applying justice at every scale
The principles of sustainability and environmental justice apply across scales, from individual decisions to national policy to global frameworks.
Both ends matter, and they matter differently. Personal choices shift demand; policy decides who lives next to the landfill.
Individual scale. Personal actions affect the environment. Everyday choices shape environmental outcomes and feed into broader patterns of consumption and resource depletion — choosing reusable products, using public transport, backing local green projects.
Global scale. International efforts such as the UN SDGs tackle major environmental issues. By working together and being accountable, countries can protect the environment and work towards removing environmental injustices. SDG 13 focuses on combating climate change.
You need at least one local and one global example, and you need to be able to evaluate the causes, impacts and responses critically. Beyond the two here, other usable examples are the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (2010), the Union Carbide gas release in Bhopal, India (1984), and Maasai land rights in Kenya and Tanzania.
Worked examples
WE 1
Defining environmental justice
Outline what is meant by environmental justice. (3 marks)
Step 1: the right
Environmental justice is the right of all people to live in a pollution-free environment and to have equitable access to natural resources.
Step 2: who it applies to
That right applies regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status or nationality.
Step 3: what its absence looks like
Environmental injustice is the unequal distribution of environmental burdens and benefits, where marginalised communities face more hazards or have less access to environmental goods.
Equal right to a clean environment and fair access to resourcesthe word “equitable” means fair and equal — use it precisely
WE 2
A local example
Using a named example, explain how environmental injustice operates at a local scale. (4 marks)
The example
Altgeld Gardens is a predominantly African American, low-income neighbourhood on Chicago’s South Side.
The burden
A city-operated landfill, running since the 1940s, was used for municipal waste, hazardous materials and toxic industrial by-products.
The impact
Residents report air and water pollution, foul odours and respiratory problems linked to living close to the site.
The injustice
Despite protests, lawsuits and demands for closure, the site still operates as a waste transfer station, so the burden falls on a community with least power to remove it.
The hazard was sited where residents had least ability to refuse itname the community, the hazard, the health impact and the failed response
WE 3
Global injustice
Explain how the export of plastic waste creates environmental injustice. (4 marks)
Step 1: the flow
Developed countries, particularly in Europe, export plastic waste to developing nations in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Step 2: the capacity problem
The volume, often labelled recyclable, overwhelms local waste management infrastructure, which cannot process it responsibly.
Step 3: the local impact
Open burning and improper disposal cause air and water pollution and serious public health risks for nearby communities.
Step 4: why it is unjust
The benefits of consuming the plastic accrue in wealthy nations while the pollution and health costs fall on poorer ones, widening existing inequality.
Benefits stay in one country; the burden is shipped to anotherseparating who benefits from who suffers is the core of any justice answer
💡 Exam tips
Prepare one local and one global example, and learn the details of each.
Use the word equitable, and know it means fair and equal.
Structure justice answers around who benefits and who bears the burden.
Link injustice to its effects: health outcomes, economic disparities, reduced resilience.
Remember climate impacts fall hardest on those with least capacity to adapt.
Be ready to evaluate causes, impacts and responses, not just describe.
⚠ Common mistakes
Treating environmental justice as purely environmental. It is a social and human rights issue.
Giving only global examples. The syllabus asks for local ones too.
Describing pollution without the inequality. The unequal distribution is what makes it injustice.
Vague examples. “A poor country” is not a named example.
Ignoring failed responses. That protests and lawsuits did not close Altgeld Gardens is part of the point.
Assuming individual action alone is enough. Siting and export decisions are made at other scales.
Up next: Measuring Sustainability with Indicators. To argue that something is unjust or unsustainable, you need numbers. The next page covers the measures that turn these arguments into evidence.
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