Ibrahim Soliman
Professor Zayas
ENG 210
10/27/24
Crisis In Afghanistan
Environmental injustice occurs when pollution and resource scarcity cause more harm to some communities while providing clean air, water, and safer homes to others. This is a very important issue because it usually affects groups that already have problems, making their challenges, such as poverty and health issues, even harder to deal with. Environmental injustice might lead to big problems, such as squabbles over available resources or the long-term damages caused in reducing the quality of people’s lives. Knowing the ‘how’ and ‘why’ helps in finding solutions to ameliorate the systems that all become fair to every player in the field. Research into environmental injustices clearly delineates how these are bound into a relationship with conflict, unjust policies, and population vulnerabilities. Some research points out that the lack of resources renders a place unstable, but others focus on how some parts of town or rural areas are more vulnerable to pollution. Another important contribution in this area is represented by investigations on the impact of environmental injustice on children, especially from the low-income community. The contribution of this study is that it shows, from an environmental justice point of view, a vicious circle that continuously hurts the marginal groups. It further points out that resolving the issues will help in developing healthier and fairer communities. A very major issue of concern about environmental injustice is the way it affects the conflicting areas. For instance, Baratti (2023) states that the lack of resources, such as water or productive land, makes lives even more difficult in areas affected by groups such as Boko Haram and the Taliban. Where resources are scarce, one finds people fighting over what little they have; this leads to further poverty and violence, which again raises the degree of severity of living for the poorer population. Hassaniyan (2024) has also explored the ways in which water policies in Iran are detrimental to rural areas: while the government is very focused on large cities, this leaves the rural areas with not much clean water, hence exacerbating environmental problems. Both studies have shown that when governments don’t manage resources fairly, the gap between those with and without resources grows.
The most polluted areas, because of the cities, include some communities that are also badly affected. Briggs et al. (2008) discuss how the poorer neighborhoods in England have higher levels of pollution due to outdated zoning laws and the setup of industries long ago. This results in health issues among the inhabitants of these areas due to poor air and water quality. At the same time, Hassaniyan (2024) depicts a number of similar problems in rural areas of Iran, but instead of pollution, there is no clean water. Both studies explain how different types of environmental unfairness affect both cities and rural areas. This shows that the problem is not only about one type of environmental damage; it is about how resources are shared and managed in both city and country communities.
Children, especially, are more susceptible to some of the sources of environmental injustice. According to Mathiarasan and Hüls (2021), children from poor families have a greater degree of exposure to air pollution, together with generally having fewer resources available to deal with its consequences. Examples are living in places with poor air quality and less access to healthcare. This perpetuates a vicious circle: poor health is a constraint to overcoming poverty, while conversely, poverty will result in children continuing to stay in areas of higher pollution. Briggs et al. (2008) support this idea by demonstrating how pollution impacts entire communities, but Mathiarasan and Hüls narrow this focus specifically to children. Their work shows that remedying environmental injustice is not only about creating a better environment but also involves ensuring the health and availability of resources for the community to live healthy lives devoid of poverty. All these studies depict the connection of environmental injustice with bigger issues related to unfair systems and policies. Whether it is pollution in cities, the lack of water in the countryside, or how most victims are children, most of these problems usually stem from decisions made by those at the top. It is not because of bad luck, a freak accident, or even an act of God; it involves structures that are not fair to all. While these studies offer detailed insights into how environmental injustice works, much more needs to be done in terms of figuring out how to fix it. Fair policy development and giving marginalized communities the tools they need to create healthier, safer futures will be the solutions going forward.
One possible solution could be ensuring that environmental laws and policies consider the needs of vulnerable groups. For instance, strict pollution rules in cities and access to clean water in rural communities would shrink the gap between wealthy and poor communities. The most important things to ensure are healthcare and education, so communities that suffer the most from environmental harm may have a chance to break the poverty-health cycle. By addressing environmental injustice head-on, society can begin to rectify the systems that have allowed these inequities to persist for far too long. The second important step is involving marginalized communities in environmental policy decision-making. Too often, the management of resources is discussed without them, and their voices are excluded from decisions made about their environment. This would ensure that such groups have a voice in the policies affecting their lives for better and more equitable solutions. The use of environmental justice will help create a world where everyone will be allowed to be successful irrespective of their place of residence and financial status.
In conclusion, environmental injustice is not a simple issue but one that affects communities in countless ways: resource scarcity, pollution, and even lack of basic needs like clean water. What has been stated demonstrates that these do not occur through natural chance but are more often than not due to policy and system maintenance that caters more to one group than another. We can see that fixing these unfair situations needs action in many areas, from better policies to providing marginalized communities with the resources they need. Only then can we start to create a more equal and lasting world.
References
Baratti, R. M. (2023). Environmental injustice as a multiplier of injustice and human insecurity: The cases of Boko Haram and the Taliban. Environmental Justice, 16(3). https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2022.0060
Briggs, D., et al. (2008). Environmental inequity in England: Small area associations between socio-economic status and environmental pollution. Social Science & Medicine, 67(10), 1612–1629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.06.040
Mathiarasan, S., & Hüls, A. (2021). Impact of environmental injustice on children’s health—Interaction between air pollution and socioeconomic status. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020795
Hassaniyan, A. (2024). Iran’s water policy: Environmental injustice and peripheral
marginalization. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment.
https://doi.org/10.1177/03091333241252523
