Environmental injustice in Europe

Blockade against Alta hydroelectric project on traditional Sami territories in Norway. The project was completed in 1987.

Environmental injustice is the exposure of poor and marginalised communities to a disproportionate share of environmental harms such as hazardous waste, when they do not receive benefits from the land uses that create these hazards.[1] Environmental racism is environmental injustice in a racialised context. These issues may lead to infringement of environmentally related human rights.[2]: 10 [3]: 252  Environmental justice is a social movement to address these issues.

In Europe, environmental racism has been postulated in particular toward Romani communities. According to Trehan and Kocze (2009), "EU accession for the post-socialist countries has resulted in a de facto centre and periphery within Europe itself, thus exacerbating the already marginal economic and political position of Roma in Europe whose communities continue to subsist as internal colonies within Europe."[3]: 264  This peripheral position, in which segregated Romani settlements and their inhabitants become viewed as de-territorialized zones "beyond the pale" of government responsibility and European Union citizenship,[3]: 264  has been identified by some scholars as an aggravating factor in the prevalence of environmental hazards (such as proximity to industrial facilities and illegal or toxic waste dumps).[2]: 19–20 [3]: 252, 263 [4]: 74–5  This practice has been identified in relation to the lack of basic services such as water, housing, sanitation[2]: 19–20 [3]: 263  and access to education[5]: 238–9  affecting marginalized Romani communities.

  1. ^ Schlosberg, David. (2007) Defining Environmental Justice: Theories, Movements, and Nature. Oxford University Press.
  2. ^ a b c Steger, Tamara et al. eds. Making the Case for Environmental Justice in Central & Eastern Europe. Archived October 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Budapest: CEU Center for Environmental Policy and Law, The Central European University; The Health and Environment Alliance; and The Coalition for Environmental Justice, March 2007. pp. 1–57. Web. April 10, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Krista; Steger, Tamara; Filčák, Richard (2009). "Environmental Justice and Roma Communities in Central and Eastern Europe". Environmental Policy and Governance. 19 (4): 251–268. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.893.1144. doi:10.1002/eet.511.
  4. ^ Orta, Lucy; et al., eds. (2010). Mapping the Invisible: EU-Roma Gypsies. London, UK: Black Dog Publishing.
  5. ^ Pellow, David Naguib (2007). Resisting Global Toxics: Transnational Movements for Environmental Justice. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262264235.