Understanding environmental justice

Everyone around the globe today is aware of the environmental problems that we face. Some of these problems are natural. However, there are many problems which are man-made and are a direct result of the scientific and technological development. These effects range from issues like pollution, ozone depletion to lead poisoning, oil spills, pesticide exposure etc. Every human being is affected by these harms. However, some communities and nations bear a greater burden of environmental hazards. In the light of this, an issue of Environmental Justice comes to the fore. But what is Environmental Justice? Many philosophers and scholars have defined Environmental Justice in various ways. Here in this paper, I aim to find the real essence of Environmental Justice.

Fundamentally, I would try to bring out certain features of Environmental Justice in order to understand it. I am not doing any field study or working from the point of view of Economics or Science.

My research is a qualitative one and I am working in the field of social science. This investigation does not rely on statistics or numbers which is the domain of quantitative researchers. This is a philosophical investigation and the focus here is to look at the various perspectives of philosophers on Environmental Justice.