Environmental justice seeks to redress an array of recurring challenges faced by various communities and groups. These include disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards, unequal access to environmental amenities, and concerns about the uneven implications of environmental policies. These concerns can be exacerbated by the lack of meaningful engagement and legal recourse.
As countries increase their efforts to tackle environmental degradation, pollution and climate change, environmental justice is more relevant than ever as it can shed light on how to ensure fairness in the processes and outcomes of environmental policymaking.
This report examines the plurality of the concept of environmental justice, its underlying conceptual pillars and how it has emerged in different contexts around the world. It also provides the first policy stocktake of how governments across the OECD and beyond are seeking to redress environmental justice concerns, building upon insights from the 26 responses to the OECD Environmental Justice Survey as well as on complementary desk analysis across a broader set of countries.
The report maps the different ways in which environmental justice is pursued whether directly through targeted laws or indirectly through added safeguards for more vulnerable people. Highlighting the variety of levers available to policymakers and exemplifying their practical application across contexts serves to better inform present and future environmental justice efforts.
By showcasing not only common, unifying challenges but also leading approaches, the case for cross-country mutual learning is strengthened. To this end, it is hoped that the insights and practices offered in this report propel advances in environmental justice across OECD countries and beyond.