Illustration climate justice protest

What is environmental racism and how can we fight it

The climate crisis is more urgent than ever, and though climate change impacts everyone, it is important to acknowledge that some populations are more vulnerable than others.

Communities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are particularly at risk for the impacts of climate change like extreme heat, brutal winter storms, sea level rise, and intense wildfires. 

These communities not only faced the consequences of the climate change for decades, they are also disproportionately burdened with health hazards through policies and practices that force them to live in proximity to sources of toxic waste and polluting facilities such as fossil fuel power plants and refineries.

In addition, COVID-19 has highlighted the deep rooted injustices that cause communities of color to be disproportionately affected by this pandemic. These communities are overly exposed to polluted air, water, and land, resulting in physical and social vulnerabilities that have left BIPOC people less able to resist and survive infections such as the coronavirus.

The term “environmental racism” was initially coined by Dr. Benjamin Chavis, but a comprehensive definition comes from Robert Bullard in his book Dumping in Dixie. Bullard defines environmental racism as “any policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (where intended or unintended) individuals, groups or communities based on race.”

Environmental racism refers to the disproportionate number of hazards, including toxic waste facilities, garbage dumps, and other sources of environmental pollution, that lower the quality of life for communities of color and members of low-socioeconomic backgrounds. 

These hazards can lead to a variety of negative health outcomes. The thousands of deaths from heart disease in certain neighborhoods, and elevated levels of cancer in others, are all symptoms of environmental racism.

The prevalence of environmental racism foreshadows a future in which BIPOC communities are more likely to be affected by the negative impacts of climate change.

Environmental racism occurs in many regions and contexts throughout the world. From workplaces with flawed health regulations that endanger employees to coal-fired power plants situated in proximity to non-white communities. It can mean citizens drinking contaminated groundwater or being exposed to carcinogenic asbestos in decaying buildings.

An example of this is the Flint water crisis

In 2014 the U.S. city of Flint, Michigan changed its water source to the Flint River, but they failed to clean the new source of water before it was distributed to 100,000 people in low-income communities of color. For eight months residents complained that their tap water was brown and smelled putrid. It turns out that the untreated water had egregiously high levels of lead. Twelve citizens passed away from Legionnaires’ disease as a result of their exposure and an estimated 6,000 – 12,000 children drank contaminated tap water, with many suffering developmentally devastating lead poisoning.

One study published in 2019 in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences found that Black and Hispanic communities in the U.S. are exposed to far more air pollution than they produce. By contrast, white U.S. Americans experience better air quality than the national average even though their activities, like driving and electrical use, are the source of more pollutants.

In Central and Eastern Europe, ethnic Romani people have been subjected to environmental exclusion. Here they face issues such as lack of access to clean water and sanitation, as well as long term exposure to harmful toxins due to their proximity to waste dumps and industrial plants.

In South Africa, the link between the mining industry and the negative health impacts on nearby communities have been studied and well-documented. These mining companies have close ties with the national government, skewing the balance of power in their favor while simultaneously excluding local people from many decision-making processes. Historically, South Africa's mining industry shaped laws and practices which progressively disenfranchised the country’s indigenous black population.

Environmental racism also works on another level due to the increasingly severe weather events, like storms, floods and droughts, brought on by climate change. 

Under-resourced communities of color whose infrastructures have been long neglected are hit the hardest and suffer for longer from natural disasters.

Recently we have seen the devastation that the winter storm left on Texas. The storm and subsequent blackout that tore across the U.S. caused at least 70 winter storm-related deaths and hit Black and Hispanic people the hardest. Millions of people were left without power, widespread water problems and food supply chain disruptions. 

Climate change also causes rising sea levels flooding islands, coastal cities and inhabitants’ homes around the world. 

An example of this is Indonesia's biggest city Jakarta, which is dealing with sea level rise and also has a unique problem. Because of its history of colonization and segregation which led to restricted water access in the city, the majority of its residents have to extract groundwater to survive. And it's causing the city to sink. Today, Jakarta is the world’s fastest-sinking city.

Eventually, that segregation led to an unequal water piping system that excluded most Indigenous Jakartans, forcing them to find other ways to get water. You can watch an eleven minute documentary by Vox here to learn more about this issue.

In Chile, climate change has intensified wildfires, affected rainfall patterns and glaciers in different parts of the country, but there is another factor affecting small-scale farmers in the region. Water is privatized in Chile, and extensive avocado plantations are using most of it causing drought and leaving animals dying of thirst in locations like Petorca.

When it comes to indigenous communities, environmental racism affects more than their lands, livelihoods, and health: there is also a spiritual and religious component because many ancestral and traditional practices are tied to specific areas of land and the environment. 

A recent review of 141 Indigenous groups by University of Helsinki conservation researcher Álvaro Fernández Llamazares and colleagues published in the journal Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management shows how colonialism directly led to the development of environment-polluting infrastructure built without the consent of — and differentially affecting — communities in their territories.

The study, which dug through nearly 700 studies covering six continents to reveal impacts of pollution on the environment, health and culture of Indigenous peoples, points out that this pattern continues today. It also notes that landfills, pipelines, toxic waste storage facilities, sources of radioactive contamination and mines are still being forced upon Indigenous people and directly affect community well-being. 

Pollution also affects the spiritual and social health of Indigenous communities. Societal roles are often intimately related to the complex relationships Indigenous peoples have with their environment.

Language, culture and community roles surrounding subsistence activities have been abandoned due to contamination and degradation.

Spiritual practices involving sacred water sources or sites have similarly been left unviable because of environmental pollutants.

Around the world many indigenous and rural community leaders fight constantly to reclaim their ancestral land from exploitive polluting industries suffering police brutality and discrimination.

When considering the instances of colonialism and the injustices it brought to other cultures, we are reminded of the historical abuse that have led our planet to the state it is currently in. Communities that are least responsible for the climate crisis face a higher and disproportionate degree of the consequences brought about by climate change and environmental racism.

The COVID-19 crisis has shown a distinct pattern among low-income communities and communities of color, revealing that they are dying at an alarming rate.

Environmental racism is responsible for poorer public health outcomes among marginalized minority ethnic groups and has now placed them at greater risk from a disease primed to exploit pre-existing health issues and infrastructural shortcomings.

In the UK, The Guardian reported that the first 10 doctors who died of Covid-19, and two-thirds of the first 100 health and social care workers, were from Black, Asian or minority ethnic groups. Black men and women are nearly twice as likely to die with coronavirus as white people in England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics.

According to recently published data from The New York Times, Latino and Black residents of the United States have been three times as likely to become infected with coronavirus and nearly twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as their white counterparts. 

A short-term focus and lack of agency on behalf of governments has preserved already existing power structures, rather than creating just and sustainable practices and globalization has perpetuated environmental racism on an international scale.

Massive resource extraction in post colonial countries to supply the needs of rich countries has made a significant, negative impact on the planet. 

Extracitivism, or the process of humans removing natural, raw resources from land for export purposes and benefit large corporations, can have detrimental environmental and social repercussions. 

Research analyzing environmental conflicts in four Andean countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia) found that conflicts tend to disproportionately affect indigenous populations and those with Afro-descent, and peasant communities.

Secondly, there is a problem with the current waste management policies of many countries, in which richer countries choose to send their hazardous waste to poorer countries and dispose of it there, where laws and environmental practices are not as stringent.

To protect their environment and develop their own domestic recycling capacity, China enacted the National Sword policy in 2018. In response, many recyclers moved their operations from China to other countries in Asia, leading to the rise of over two hundred illegal operations in Malaysia.

This dumping of plastic waste has left an indelible mark on Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia. Plastic waste has ended up in landfills, been burnt in open air or dumped in the ocean damaging both the environment and public health. 

While there are some efforts in the European Union to adopt new measures to help prevent richer countries from exploiting poorer ones, there is still a lot of pressure growing worldwide for more ambitious measures to reduce the use of plastic.

So what is being done to fight against environmental racism? 

Many sustainable solutions we see being promoted today were originally conceived and practiced by BIPOC communities many years ago, like land regeneration, zero waste, etc. These practices are often in line with the earth-centered beliefs, values and philosophies.

Sadly, the international sustainability governance system currently in place fails to consider the voices of marginalized communities who are most affected by environmental degradation.

To stop environmental racism we need to advocate for climate justice.

Climate justice relates the causes and effects of climate change to concepts of justice, particularly environmental justice and social justice, reminding us that we must resist all forms of oppression in order to dismantle them.

For the last decade or so, grassroots activists have attempted to change the way governments implement environmental, health, and civil rights laws.

Grassroots initiatives are community-based approaches created to address localized problems. Projects backed by local organizations can quickly gain momentum on the local level because they are generally enacted by local actors.

These grassroots movements and organizations use collective action to affect change at the local, regional, national, and international level.

Grassroots organizations have a bottom-up approach which allows them to define their own goals and how to achieve them. This is a list of 15 grassroots organizations working towards change across the globe.

By supporting grassroots organizations, joining campaigns, and demanding accountability from your municipal leaders, you can help create positive change and have a huge impact.

Did you find this article helpful? What are some of your favorites organizations, activists or accounts you follow advocating for climate justice?

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