Environmental justice

Introduction

Put simply, environmental justice is concerned with the right of everybody to clean water and clean air, and the corresponding responsibility to not degrade and destroy the environment. Environmental justice promotes the growth and development of healthy communities.

In terms of more formal definitions, environmental justice has been defined as the pursuit of equal justice and equal protection under the law for all environmental statutes and regulations without discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and /or socio-economic status. This concept applies to government actions at all levels, local, state and Commonwealth as well as private industry activities. Providing environmental justice goes beyond the stated definition and includes a guarantee of meaningful community participation with government and industry decision-makers.

Principles of environmental justice

Some principles of environmental justice that are particularly relevant to religious educators are provided below.

• Environmental justice affirms the sacredness of creation, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction

• Environmental justice mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things

• Environmental justice affirms the right of all workers to a safe and healthy work environment, without being forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood and unemployment. It also affirms the right of those who work at home to be free from environmental hazards

• Environmental justice must recognise a special cultural and spiritual relationship of indigenous Australians to the land

• Environmental justice calls for the education of present and future generations which emphasises social and environmental issues, based on our experience and an appreciation of our diverse cultural perspectives