Trade, Resources, and Environmental Justice
Environmental justice looks at who benefits from resource use and who suffers the damage.
Trade and resource extraction
- Many high-income countries developed by taking resources from lower-income regions
- This happened during colonisation and continues today through global trade
- Resources often flow from the Global South to the Global North
- The benefits and profits are unevenly shared
Resource extraction may end officially, but unequal trade relationships can remain.
Power imbalance between countries
- Richer countries often have more power in global organisations
- This can keep resource prices and wages low in poorer countries
- Some workers still face unsafe or exploitative conditions
- Overconsumption in rich countries increases global environmental damage
High consumption in one place often causes harm somewhere else.
Unequal environmental and social impacts
- Pollution, water shortages, and climate change affect poorer communities more
- Many people live in vulnerable areas like floodplains and coastal regions
- These communities often contributed least to the problem
- Environmental damage can reduce health, income, and food security
Climate impact example: Flooding can severely affect low-emission countries due to climate change driven elsewhere.
Pollution linked to global production
- Factories are often located where labour is cheap
- Environmental rules may be weaker
- Rivers, soil, and air can become polluted
- Local communities carry the health and environmental costs
Fair environmental policies
Environmental justice requires policies that protect people as well as the environment.
- Policies should not unfairly harm low-income groups
- Large projects can displace communities if poorly planned
- People affected should have a voice in decisions
- Costs of environmental action should be shared fairly
Justice = fair decision-making, fair outcomes, and shared responsibility.
Case idea: Clothing and waste
- High consumption creates large amounts of clothing waste
- Second-hand clothing can overwhelm local markets
- Much clothing ends up as waste, polluting land and water
- Low-income communities often live near waste sites
Environmental justice asks: Who consumes? Who profits? Who cleans up?
How to use this in exams
- Link trade and consumption to environmental harm
- Explain unequal impacts between rich and poor groups
- Mention power, policy, and participation
- Use examples of production, waste, or climate impacts
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