Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Office
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Office

Environmental Justice

The lens of Environmental Justice is fundamental to understanding and solving environmental issues. In the Nicholas School, we have an ethical obligation to the communities that we work with to be able to understand and frame environmental degradation and policy in terms of social justice principles. Awareness of these approaches allows researchers, practitioners, and students to work with communities and address concerns born from community members, rather than coming in from the outside and telling communities what they need to do.

Pathfinder for NSOE’s environmental justice work

Looking for EJ course offerings at Duke, UNC and NC State? Please visit our EJ Courses page.
Looking for EJ course offerings at Duke, UNC and NC State? Please visit our EJ Courses page.
Click to learn about the Nicholas School's Building in Justice in the School of the Environment initiative.
Click to learn about the Nicholas School’s Building in Justice in the School of the Environment initiative.
Image: Click to learn about the EJ work NSOE is doing in our local community.
Click above to learn about the EJ work NSOE is doing in our local community.
Click above to find EJ events and resources
The NSOE-led Diversity and Equity in Environmental Program (DEEP) Collaborative brings together hundreds of Triangle community members to work at the intersection of diversity and the environment.
Looking for the Duke Environmental Justice Network (DEJN)? Click above to visit their website.
Looking for the Duke Environmental Justice Campus Committee (EJCC)? Click above to visit their site.
GPSG Climate Crisis Committee Resolution on Environmental Justice at Duke (2022)

Defining environmental justice

Environmental justice has many definitions. According to the EPA, environmental justice is “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.” Other bodies define EJ slightly differently, for example, as “cultural norms and values, rules, regulations, behaviors, policies, and decisions to support sustainability, where all people can hold with confidence that their community and natural environment is safe and productive” (GreenAction.org).

In addition, scholars like Gordon Walker, often emphasize that environmental justice involves environmental benefits, resources, and responsibilities, is objective-based, and is concerned with justice for people, particularly with distributive justice – which considers the distribution of benefits and burdens, procedural justice – which considers the way decisions are made, and compensatory justice, which considers just compensation for past harm.

Environmental justice in frames environmental degradation in terms of social justice principles. These include an understanding of :

  • Distributive justice, i.e., the fair distribution of benefits, burdens and outcomes
  • Procedural justice, i.e., the way in which decisions are made; i.e., meaningful involvement and participation
  • Corrective or compensatory justice, i.e., the compensation or remedy provided for past harm, repaired loss, or punishment; can also relate to retributive justice, restorative justice and commutative justice

Environmental racism is related to, but distinct from environmental justice. Environmental racism is the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on People of Color. Benjamin Chavis, who participated in the 1982 PCB Landfill Protests, defines environmental racism as “racial discrimination in environmental policy-making and enforcement of regulations and laws, the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, the official sanctioning of the presence of life threating poisons and pollutants for communities of color, and the history of excluding people of color from leadership of the environmental movement.”

Looking to contribute to environmental justice research?

Before engaing with an environmental justice community, we encourage you to read Pellow and Brulle’s “Power, Justice, and the Environment” and Frank Fischer’s “Citizens, Experts, and the Environment.” Also, please review Defining the Role and Principles of Lawyers and Academicians in the Environmental Justice Movement, a provisional document prepared by the African American Environmental Justice Action Network (AAEJAN 1997). This document addresses the shift of EJ dialogue beyond EJ communities and grassroots organizations to spaces dominated by academics, scientists and lawyers. The document details why traditional “experts” should defer leadership and decision-making to community residents and activists (the real “experts”) in their struggle for self-determination.

Our gratitude to Kay Jowers for sharing these resources.