Understanding Global

Environmental Politics

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 What is Environment?
• The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-
living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term
is most often applied to Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment
encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather and
natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. It is
comprised of;

• Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive

civilized human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil,
rocks, the atmosphere, and natural phenomena that occur within their
boundaries and their nature.
• Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut
boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation,
electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from civilized human
actions.
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• People cannot find absolutely natural environments on Earth, and
naturalness usually varies in a continuum, from 100% natural in one
extreme to 0% natural in the other.
• The massive environmental changes of humanity in the
Anthropocene have fundamentally effected all natural
environments: including from climate change, biodiversity loss and
pollution from plastic and other chemicals in the air and water.
• More precisely, we can consider the different aspects or
components of an environment, and see that their degree of
naturalness is not uniform.
• If, for instance, in an agricultural field, the mineralogic composition
and the structure of its soil are similar to those of an undisturbed
forest soil, but the structure is quite different.
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 Climate and Weather
• Climate looks at the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric
pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other
meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time.
• Weather is a set of all the phenomena occurring in a given atmospheric
area at a given time. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere,
just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day
temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the
average atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used
without qualification, "weather" is understood to be the weather of Earth.
Weather occurs due to density (temperature and moisture) differences
between one place and another.

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 Composition
• Earth science generally recognizes four spheres, the lithosphere, the
hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere as correspondent to
rocks, water, air, and life respectively. Some scientists include as part of
the spheres of the Earth, the cryosphere (corresponding to ice) as a
distinct portion of the hydrosphere, as well as the pedosphere (to soil)
as an active and intermixed sphere.
• Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geographical sciences or
the Earth Sciences), is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to
the planet Earth.
• There are four major disciplines in earth sciences, namely geography,
geology, geophysics and geodesy. These major disciplines use physics,
chemistry, biology, chronology and mathematics to build a qualitative
and quantitative understanding of the principal areas or spheres of
Earth.
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 Composition
• The atmosphere of the Earth serves as a key factor in sustaining the planetary ecosystem. The
thin layer of gases that envelops the Earth is held in place by the planet's gravity. Dry air
consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon and other inert gases, and carbon dioxide.
The remaining gases are often referred to as trace gases.

• The atmosphere includes greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
and ozone. Filtered air includes trace amounts of many other chemical compounds. Air also
contains a variable amount of water vapor and suspensions of water droplets and ice crystals
seen as clouds. Many natural substances may be present in tiny amounts in an unfiltered air
sample, including dust, pollen and spores, sea spray, volcanic ash, and meteoroids. Various
industrial pollutants also may be present, such as chlorine (elementary or in compounds),
fluorine compounds, elemental mercury, and sulphur compounds such as sulphur dioxide
(SO2).
• The ozone layer of the Earth's atmosphere plays an important role in reducing the amount of
ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches the surface. As DNA is readily damaged by UV light,
this serves to protect life at the surface. The atmosphere also retains heat during the night,
thereby reducing the daily temperature extremes.

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 Layers of the Atmosphere
• Principal layers
 Exosphere,
 Thermosphere
 Mesosphere
 Stratosphere
 Troposphere

• Other layers
 Ozone layer
 Ionosphere
 Homosphere and Heterosphere
 Planetary Boundary Layer

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Earth's layered structure: (1) inner core; (2)
outer core; (3) lower mantle; (4) upper mantle;
(5) lithosphere; (6) crust

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 Principal Layers
• Exosphere: The outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere extends from the
exobase upward, mainly composed of hydrogen and helium.
• Thermosphere: The top of the thermosphere is the bottom of the
exosphere, called the exobase. Its height varies with solar activity and
ranges from about 350–800 km (220–500 mi; 1,150,000–2,620,000 ft).
The International Space Station orbits in this layer, between 320 and 380
km (200 and 240 mi). In other way, the thermosphere is Earth's second
highest atmospheric layer, extending from approximately 260,000 feet at
the mesopause to the thermopause at altitudes ranging from 1,600,000 to
3,300,000 feet.
• Mesosphere: The mesosphere extends from the stratopause to 80–85 km
(50–53 mi; 262,000–279,000 ft). It is the layer where most meteors burn
up upon entering the atmosphere.

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 Principal Layers
• Stratosphere: The stratosphere extends from the tropopause to
about 51 km (32 mi; 167,000 ft). The stratopause, which is the
boundary between the stratosphere and mesosphere, typically is
at 50 to 55 km (31 to 34 mi; 164,000 to 180,000 ft).

• Troposphere: The troposphere begins at the surface and extends

to between 7 km (23,000 ft) at the poles and 17 km (56,000 ft) at
the equator, with some variation due to weather. The troposphere
is mostly heated by transfer of energy from the surface, so on
average the lowest part of the troposphere is warmest and
temperature decreases with altitude. The tropopause is the
boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere.

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 Other Layers
• The ozone layer is contained within the stratosphere. It is mainly located in the
lower portion of the stratosphere from about 15–35 km (9.3–21.7 mi; 49,000–
115,000 ft), though the thickness varies seasonally and geographically. About
90% of the ozone in our atmosphere is contained in the stratosphere.
• The ionosphere: The part of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation,
stretches from 50 to 1,000 km (31 to 621 mi; 160,000 to 3,280,000 ft) and
typically overlaps both the exosphere and the thermosphere. It forms the inner
edge of the magnetosphere.
• The homosphere and heterosphere: The homosphere includes the
troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere. The upper part of the
heterosphere is composed almost completely of hydrogen, the lightest
element.
• The planetary boundary layer is the part of the troposphere that is nearest the
Earth's surface and is directly affected by it, mainly through turbulent diffusion.

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 Biogeochemical Cycles
• The nitrogen cycle is the transformation of nitrogen and nitrogen-containing
compounds in nature. It is a cycle which includes gaseous components.
• The water cycle, is the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the
surface of the Earth. Water can change states among liquid, vapour, and ice at
various places in the water cycle. Although the balance of water on Earth remains
fairly constant over time, individual water molecules can come and go.
• The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among
the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.
• The oxygen cycle is the movement of oxygen within and between its three main
reservoirs: the atmosphere, the biosphere, and the lithosphere. The main driving
factor of the oxygen cycle is photosynthesis, which is responsible for the modern
Earth's atmospheric composition and life.
• The phosphorus cycle is the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere,
hydrosphere, and biosphere. The atmosphere does not play a significant role in the
movements of phosphorus, because phosphorus and phosphorus compounds are
usually solids at the typical ranges of temperature and pressure found on Earth.

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Conception and History of Global
Environmental Politics
Lec: 2

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 What is GEP?
• Multiple yet ambiguous term
• Empirical, implicit and explicit
• About the production (causes)
• Outcomes/impacts
• Environmental security
• Actor specific direction
• Mathew suggests that they assume that the origins of global
environmental change are in either
(a) an interstate ‘tragedy of the commons’, and/or
(b) a set of secular trends which are treated as exogenous to
any conceptual or theoretical enquiry
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 3Qs
• 3 questions define it as a field of study
i. the production of environmental problems (why do they
occur?)
ii. the differential effects of environmental problems by a
variety of categories (class, nationality, race, gender)
iii. responses to these problems (what should we do?)

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 Liberal Agenda and GEP
• A transnational and interstate issue
• Started during 1970s
• multiplicity of actors
• less utility of physical force
• Institutions
• Regimes

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 Int. Regimes as Liberal Agenda
• As a consequence of this theoretical shift, the ‘problem’ for liberal
institutionalists in terms of transnational problems is almost necessarily a
question of explaining collective action. Since global politics is understood
as international relations, as a realm of sovereign states interacting in an
anarchic setting, any social or political problems which transcend state
boundaries are necessarily understood as collective action problems, or
alternatively, as problems concerning the provision of public goods.
• Such goods, characterised in technical language by ‘jointness of supply’
(so that, for example, no country can single-handedly provide a stable
climate globally) and ‘non-excludability of benefits’ (no country can
insulate itself from the impacts of climate change, or make sure that only
it benefits from a stable climate), must be resolved through collaboration.
• International regimes have been the descriptive device on which
explanations of such collaboration have been centred.

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 Regimes are Crucial
• the first point to note about regime analysis is that regimes are not
the same as specific agreements; nor are they synonymous with
particular organisations.
• Regimes are usually regarded as subset of institutions – while the
latter are broad in scope and content, regimes are narrower,
confined to particular issues (‘a given area of international
relations’).
• Thus it is possible to have regimes where there are no written
agreements through which they can be defined, yet ‘principles,
norms, rules, and decision-making procedures’ can be identified
which make up the regime.
• And as institutions, they are not to be treated as the same thing as
organisations
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 How Regimes are formed?
Hahn and Richards, for example, suggest that the
likelihood of regime formation and effectiveness
increases with
• (a) greater scientific consensus
• (b) increased public concern
• (c) perceptions of fairness by negotiating partners
• (d) increased short-term political payoffs
• (e) the existence of previous, related agreements.
However, It decreases with
i-the increasing costs of action
ii-the increasing number of participants
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 Focus of Regime
Stokke suggests that the focus of regime analysis
has been on four sets of questions (maintainability, creation,
consequences, effectiveness )

i. The first of these concerns how regimes are

maintained. Struck by the resilience of regimes
even after the conditions which led to their
establishment have waned (the classic example in the
literature being the Bretton Woods regime), regimes
scholars have investigated the reasons for such
durability
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 Focus of Regime
ii. The second concerns how regimes are formed, the various factors which
might influence the possibility of establishing regimes
iii. The third question concerns the consequences of particular regimes.
iv. This final category of questions is for Stokke the most complex, as
effectiveness proves rather difficult to define. It can be taken to mean the
resolution of the problem for which the regime was established. Alternatively,
it can be interpreted in terms of its effects on actors behaviour, an
interpretation which again has a number of ways of being put into practice
game theory, the branch of rational choice theory devoted to situations
involving strategic action (i.e. where outcomes for A are dependent on
actions by B, C, etc.). In this perspective, regimes ‘matter’ because of the
ways in which they alter incentives facing states, change the patterns of
information available to them, thus changing their behaviour.

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 Focus of Regime
• The second position suggests, by contrast, that the (re)production of
social meaning is a driving force behind behaviour, that ‘people act
toward objects, including other actors, on the basis of the meanings that
the objects have for them’ . In this perspective, institutions, including
regimes, play a deeper role than that conceived by ragimes

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 Regime Analysis
• Using regime analysis, a number of authors have tried to explain how interstate
collaboration to respond to specific global environmental problems has emerged
and developed work on the;
• Mediterranean Action Plan and on ozone depletion
• chapters by Parson on ozone depletion
• Levy on acid rain
• Haas on the Baltic and North Seas,
• Mitchell on oil pollution,
• and Peterson on fisheries management in Haas,
• Keohane and Levy’s Institutions for the Earth (1993), Vogler’s (1995) analysis of
oceans, Antarctica,
• outer space, ozone depletion, and climate change, applications by Young of his
approach to climate change,
• fisheries and seabed mining ,
• nuclear accidents and various aspects of environmental politics in the Arctic
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 Regime Agenda Weakness
• Theoretically and politically, regime analysis still suffers principally from
being bound to three problematic characteristics.
• First, It is committed to an overly restrictive notion of what constitutes
international relations – the interactions of sovereign states in an anarchic
environment. This limits the relevant questions which can be asked,
primarily by focusing always on consequences for the international system,
rather than on a diverse range of questions in which structures of global
power are implicated, such as environmental ones.
• Second, it tends to have an (implicitly) liberal notion of political economy –
that states and capital/markets are fundamentally separate spheres of
social life, which interact contingently rather than in a systemic fashion.
• Thirdly, it is committed to a positivist notion of the purposes of social
science, which again narrows the range of questions which can be asked, in
ways effectively criticised by Cox in his account of ‘problem-solving’ theory’

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 Conclusion
• To summarise, the liberal institutionalist research agenda of
global environmental change has to date been concerned only
with identifying the conditions under which states in an
anarchic international system can cooperate over global
environmental change.
• Regimes are the descriptive device which has come to be used
to characterise such cooperative efforts

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Realist Agenda

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 GEP: Perception of Realism
• Nature of the issue
-State-Centric or not?

• Interstate issues
• Discrete trends population technology
• Resource conflicts = power struggle
• Environmental Security
• Ethics and Morality
• Why humanity?

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 Realism?
• State Centric
• Human nature
• International system=anarchic
• 3S= statism, survival, self-help
• Rational Actors
• Pursuit of National Interests
• Morality and collective issues?

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 Some Climate Initiatives
• The Paris Agreement
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• Kyoto Protocol
• The Ozone Treaties: Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol
• Convention on Biological Diversity (includes the Nagoya and Cartagena Protocols)
• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous
Wastes and their Disposal
• Aarhus Convention
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES)
Can Realism explain these initiatives?

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 Position of Super Power
• President Barack Obama revealed the new Clean Energy Plan,
which will move the country towards renewable energy and
away from coal energy, by proposing to cut carbon emissions
from power plants by 32% by 2030 (Vaughan 2015)

• Similarly, the European Union (EU) has vowed to cut its

carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 (Nelsen 2014). These
commitments precede the Conference of the Parties (COP21)
meeting in Paris this December, to be attended by all United
Nations (UN) member states to try and agree on a set of
international climate goals.

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 A realist response to GED
• The carbon bandwagoning
If one state is reducing its carbon emissions by 25% and another state
has increased its carbon emissions by 20%, the latter will deem the
policy a success as emissions have been reduced yet it has been able to
burn more cheap energy.
For example, if the US were to reduce carbon emissions and begin
investing in renewable energy, it would allow China to free-ride off the
back of the resultant cut in global emissions, and continue using fossil
fuels to feed its demanding economy.
• Climate wars
• Pragmatic?

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Walt’s theory of balance as a climate-realist
approach
• If states cannot work together to protect the planet, species,
and all of humanity, from the effects of climate change, then a
self-interest style approach can provide a rationale for doing
so. Walt’s (1985) theory of balancing can be used to provide a
rationale for states to act on climate change.
• States should enter into alliances and balance against this
threat, just as states have done in the case of revisionist states
(for example, Imperial Germany, Nazi Germany, and Imperial
Japan). By balancing against the threat, states can ensure
their security and help mitigate the root causes of climate
change.

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Green Theory & GEP

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 Green Theory: An Introduction
• Environmental problems began to take an important
place in global politics by the end of the 20th century.
With the emergence of environmentalism, as a social
and intellectual movement, green politics has also
started to become a part of International Relations and
has profoundly occupied the literature with the
increase in environmental problems.
• To prevent any confusion, environmentalism and Green
Theory have some fundamental differences. The
growing significance of Green Theory in International
Relations is …
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 Contd…
• Related to the damaging effect of global warming and carbon
emission that are the concerns not only of a particular state but
whole states altogether.
• The green theory has an ecocentric world view that does not
precede the human and perceive it as just a part of the
ecological system.
• J. Barry explains it with his own words and says that “Green
Political Theory can be seen as an attempt to bring humanity
and the study of human society down to earth”. (Barry, 2014: 2)
• As a result of this, main assumptions of Green Theory in
International Relations are challenging the traditional
understanding of state, security, development and so on
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 Background
• Green political thinking generally is seen as a new ideology emerging at the
end of the twentieth century while the first ecological movements can be
traced back to the nineteenth-century rebels against industrialization.
• The modern green ideology is formed from a complex mix of organizations,
communities, and cultures. The increasing impact of industrialization,
globalization and technological developments have been beneficial for our
lives but also have created many problems.
• Environmental problems are among those problems and they have become
increasingly influential on the political agenda as more people have realized
that the environment must be protected for the continuation of humanity
(Tarhan, 2018: 155- 156).
• Green ideology criticizes the economic and technological developments that
damage nature. Hence, green theorist, or ecologist, mainly argues that the
development of technology is posing a threat to human existence and other
species as well

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 Background: Early Movements
• Acts of preservationism and resource conservationism
• The first international treaty on flora (plants) was signed in 1889 in Bern,
Switzerland to prevent the spread of plant disease affecting vineyards in
Europe. The treaties followed the Bern Treaty in the 1920s and the 1950s
which also aimed protection of the European agricultural lands from the
disease
• International awareness on pollution and environmental problems began to
increase after the Second World War when economic boom during the post-
War years provided problems as well as benefits, and environmental
problems stood out among the former. Therefore, the 1960s can be
considered as the beginning of the “modern” environmental consciousness.
• In 1972, representatives of the 114 countries gathered in Stockholm for the
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
• Oil Crises of 1973 = spread awareness of resource depletion

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 Background: Movements
• During the 1980s, environmental politics, women and gender issues,
peacemaking and nuclear non-proliferation played the main role in green
politics, and first green political parties were established in Europe. Major
issues of the green parties were ecological responsibilities, social justice,
non-violence, and grassroots democracy.
• Until 1984, 12 green parties were established in Western European
countries. In the following years, these parties gained seats in the
parliaments of several European democracies and became part of politics in
five countries including Germany, France and Italy
• Not just political parties, also nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
became more and more involved in environmental problems and
international conferences during these years. NGOs like Greenpeace, World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) have sent delegation to all conferences where nation-
states represent themselves with diplomats.
• End of Cold War = further proliferated climate consciousness
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 Background: Movements
• In the 1990s, with the second wave, transnationalisation has gained importance
in green political thought when global effects of environmental problems and
need for a global solution were increasingly understood.
• This shift in perspective is important as it brought Green Theory closer to
International Relations discipline. In other words, inter-state relations integrated
Green Theory into International Relations where globalization and transnational
relations became more important than ever.
• Another significant development of the 1990s was the Rio Earth Summit also
known as the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED).
• Twenty years after the Stockholm Conference, Rio Earth Summit gathered in 1992
with a huge attendance from all over the World. Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration
on Environment and Development, and the Statement of Principles for the
Sustainable Management of Forests were adopted by more than 178
governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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 Green Theory: Assumptions
• The main differences between the Greens and Environmentalists is that
Environmentalists accept the framework of the current political, social and
economic structures of world politics as it is and believe that those
problems can be solved within those structures while Greens’ approach to
those structures as the main reason of the environmental problems and
suggest that those structures must be challenged
• Environmentalists suggest that ecological and environmental problems can
be solved by the elites of the international system. They always want
states to get involved in a solution of the prevailing environmental
problems because states are the only actors in international relations able
to handle such problems. Quite the contrary, green political theory sees
this standpoint very problematic. According to greens, the involvement of
states is not going to solve the ecological problems, moreover, states are
already harming the ecological balance and are worsening the scenario.

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 Green Theory: Assumptions
• “Thinking Green” and “Green Thought”
• “Green Thought” is a radically different way of thinking in International
Relations problematizing relations between human and nature and
construction of social practices.
• “Thinking green” is an idea, held by environmentalists, that has a concern
about the environmental issues like acid rains, global warming and so on,
but they argue that these problems can be solved through international
cooperation.
• The view of “Green Thought” is, however, more nature-centered. Green
Thought does not distinguish or prioritize the human being from the rest
of the nature, instead assumes human beings as a part of the nature. This
non-hierarchical approach called “ecocentrism” is the central feature of
green thought.

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 Green Theory: Assumptions
• In short, while Green Political Theorists have an ecocentric world view, Environmentalists
stand closer to anthropocentric view.
=>Anthropocentrism refers to a human-centered worldview which regards the nature within the
human values. Modern human culture is based on anthropocentrism and positivist social science
is based on anthropocentric perspective. An alternative view of the anthropocentrism is holistic
“ecocentrism”
=>Ecocentrism is the term that Green Politics is mainly based on. The ecocentric political
philosophy denies the human-centered view and denotes a nature-centered ethical view.
According to ecocentrism, there is no supremacy over the creatures. So, ecocentrism denies the
superiority of human against the other living species.
• Finally, while from Stockholm to Rio, all the attempts of the international community to solve
the environmental problems were seen important and necessary by environmentalists,
Green Political Theorists think exactly opposite way, claiming that the international
community is already the main responsible actor for those problems. For example, Rio Earth
Summit in 1992 is accepted by Environmentalists as a milestone for “saving the World”, by
contrast, Green Political Theorists see the Summit rather differently, suggesting that the
UNCED was a failure for the environmental movement since it marked the final cooperation
of environmentalism by the ruling elites.

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 Green Theory: Assumptions
• The other major subjects of the dispute between Environmentalists and
Greens are “sustainable development” and “ecological modernization”
• Sustainable development, which is a new phenomenon, is derived from
the idea that both economic growth and economic protection can be
maintained at the same time. Sustainable development was defined
earlier in 1987 by the Brundtland Commission also known as World
Commission on Environment and Development as: “development which
meets the needs of the present, without compromising the needs of
future generations”.

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 Conclusion
• Thus, the Greens argue that the search for a state-centered solution was doomed to fail. Instead, they offer
the idea of decentralization -which has hampered the state as a central actor- at the center of green
politics. However, not all the greens favor decentralization over central-state. According to Eckersley, the
goal of decentralization can be achieved through the inclusive practices, such as the establishment of
virtuous relationships between states and societies in a coordinated manner, the adoption of ecological
and critical modernization policies, and internationally active environmental citizenship

• However, even if this proves beneficial towards domestic environmental problems, it is difficult to solve
such matters as ozone perforation or ocean pollution because it comes down to the point that the states
are approaching events with a relative gains logic. According to Paterson, the nation-state is both very
large and very small to solve these problems. It is large because environmental problems can only be
solved by local measures; small because the problems have a global feature

• The nature of Green Politics is also against the idea of development. More precisely, Green Political
Theorists believe that the World has already reached to the limits of growth and any growth in population
or economy would possibly harm the ecology and humanity. In the famous book, “The Limits of Growth”,
Meadows et al. explain the damage that economic and technological growth has brought to the World in
previous years, potential threats of further development are also presented in the book (Meadows,
Randers & Meadows, 2004). The book also shows some tables and claims that in developing countries,
agricultural production rates decline constantly in contrast with technological and economic
developments, and the argument that the World has already reached the limits of growth is asserted. We
know that most of the claims of the book are now refuted but the main idea of the book and the Green
thinkers’ assertion that “infinite growth is impossible in a finite system” is still valid today (Paterson, 2005:
240). As it is seen, there is an inverse proportion between the protection of the environment and
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economic growth.
 Conclusion
• The other major subjects of the dispute between Environmentalists and Greens are “sustainable development” and
“ecological modernization”. Sustainable development, which is a new phenomenon, is derived from the idea that
both economic growth and economic protection can be maintained at the same time. Sustainable development was
defined earlier in 1987 by the Brundtland Commission also known as World Commission on Environment and
Development as: “development which meets the needs of the present, without compromising the needs of future
generations”. This definition is vague and open to large variety of political interpretations. “Report of the World
Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future,” published by Rio Earth Summit indicates the
reformist concept of “sustainable development” by outlining the building of a just, sustainable, and peaceful global
society in the 21st century when fundamental principles of the development discourse do not have to be rethought
but need to be managed rather differently
• The second alternative of greening capitalism is ecological modernization. It is also a new variation of sustainable
development that leads countries to protecting the environment (Carter, 2007: 227). However, both concepts
“sustainable development” and “ecological modernization” are controversial topics for the scholars’ works in the
field. While “Shallow Environmentalist” scholars argue that sustainable development can be the solution for many
environmental problems, Green Theorists object to this idea again. As long as Shallow Environmentalists, like liberals,
keep their anthropocentric view when dealing with the environment, it continues to lead them to lack of questioning
the aim of human progress.
• Greens claim that there is a need both to challenge this view and reclaim a set of beliefs about the nature of the
ecological crisis and to suggest that radical changes are necessary in order to respond to these problems. From a
Green Perspective, world order, as it is currently constituted, is based upon capitalism, industrialization and the
consumer culture. These major forms of social and political organizations are built upon and perpetuate oppressive
social relationships – class inequalities, patriarchy and the destruction of indigenous peoples and communities.
Modern social practices and forms of organization across the globe are also giving harm to the globe

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Re-thinking IR Concepts With Green Theory

• Green Security
• Green State
• Green Economy

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Social Constructivism & GEP

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Constructivism: An Introduction
 All the meaning and realities are socially constructed.
 Contexts of norms, identities, culture, ideologies shape international relations rather
material forces.
 Norms/Identities are not static rather changing
 Change in norms/identities leads to change in behavior of states (“anarchy is what states
makes of it”) Alexander Wendt
 “Identities and interests of states are not simply structurally determined, but are rather
produced by interactions, ideologies, norms, cultures and narratives, which determines
the manner in which states interact”. Alexander Wendt
 Agent Structure Debate:
 Agents : Actors (State and Non-State)
 Structure : Structure of International System

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Constructivism: An Introduction

Q: Does structure of system shape behavior of actors, or do actors shape structure of

international system?

 Realists: Nature of International System shapes state’s behavior

 Liberalists: Behavior of actors shapes nature of International System

 Constructivists: Norms, identities, ideas and social meaning shape both

international system and actors

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 Constructivism: An Introduction
• As an IR theory, constructivism acknowledges the importance of both
materials as well as normative features of the international system.
According to Colin Hay, constructivism argues that ‘the material and
ideational are complexly interwoven and interdependent’.
• This indicates a major difference between constructivism and more
positivist theories of International Relations, which give primacy to
material factors. Another distinction between constructivism and
other IR theories is that it does not treat structure in the same way
as other IR theories do.
• In comparison to other IR theories, like neorealism and neoliberal
institutionalism, which analyze International Relations through the
structural parameters set by the international system, constructivists
allow for a more dynamic notion of structure.

65
 Constructivism and GEP
• Constructivist scholars understand climate change as a social process.

• According to Pittenger constructivism can ‘lead us to understand how certain

meanings have emerged and been framed, while others have been obscured’.
For instance, concepts like sustainable development or historical responsibility
may be understood differently by different actors.

• Similarly, important contested concepts such as sustainable development

manifests itself within negotiations over climate change policy.

• Constructivism also provides the scope to analyze the influence of non-state

actors which is also known as ‘climate policy entrepreneurs’. The term climate
policy entrepreneurs given by Fogel which have become increasingly crucial
within the formulation of climate change policy, particularly at the domestic
level.
66
 Constructivism and GEP
• Furthermore, constructivism can investigate why states have come to regard
climate policy as a national interest in the first place.

• Why is it that ‘governments have added the inspirational norm of ecological

integrity to the traditional goals of wealth and power’? Due to constructivism’s
acknowledgement of both ideational and material factors, it provides the
foundation necessary to question some of the assumptions underlying state
behaviour in climate negotiations. For example, Bernstein has highlighted the role
of a normative consensus on carbon markets and its effect on the structure of the
global climate governance architecture as a crucial element shaping climate
politics.

• It captures the very political nature of climate change as an issue and can put it in
the respective historical and social context. So, there is enough space for climate
change politics in constructivism. They see the gross domestic product as a social
fact in climate politics.
67
 Critical Questions
• State centric approach = a new identity for
climate politics?
• Institutionalism/Regimes = as a social identity
for GEP?
• Green Security = an emerging identity?
• What identity/construction is more relevant?
• What about underlying dynamics?

68
Environmental Activism

69
 Intro
• Environmental activists are individuals or groups
dedicated to advocating for the protection and
preservation of the environment.
• They work to raise awareness, influence policy,
and take action against environmental
destruction.
• Activists may focus on issues like climate
change, deforestation, pollution, biodiversity
loss, and sustainable development.
70
 History
1. Early Conservation Efforts (Pre-19th Century)
• Ancient civilizations, such as the Greeks,
Romans, and Chinese, implemented laws to
protect forests and water sources.
• Indigenous communities worldwide practiced
sustainable land management.
• In the 17th century, some European nations
began enacting laws to regulate hunting and
deforestation.
71
 History
2. The Rise of Conservation Movements (19th Century)
• The Industrial Revolution led to deforestation, air pollution, and
wildlife destruction.
• Early activists focused on protecting natural resources and national
parks.
• Key Events and Figures:
• Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): His book Walden (1854)
emphasized simple living and harmony with nature.
• John Muir (1838-1914): Founded the Sierra Club (1892) and played
a key role in the creation of U.S. national parks, including Yosemite.
• Yellowstone National Park (1872): The world’s first national park,
established in the U.S.

72
 History
3. The Birth of Modern Environmentalism (20th Century)
• Growing industrialization led to increased pollution, deforestation, and species
extinction.
• Environmental laws and organizations emerged to protect nature.
Key Events and Movements:
• 1900s-1930s: National parks and conservation laws expanded globally.
• Silent Spring (1962): Rachel Carson’s book exposed the dangers of pesticides (DDT),
leading to environmental regulations.
• Earth Day (1970): Millions participated in the first Earth Day, leading to policy changes.
• Formation of Greenpeace (1971): Known for direct action against whaling, nuclear
testing, and pollution.
• Major Policies Introduced:
• Clean Air Act (1970) & Clean Water Act (1972) – Established in the U.S. to regulate
pollution.
• Endangered Species Act (1973) – Helped protect threatened wildlife.

73
 History
4. Global Environmental Awareness (Late 20th Century)
• The world began recognizing climate change and global
pollution as serious threats.
Key Events:
• The Montreal Protocol (1987): Agreement to phase
out ozone-depleting chemicals.
• The Earth Summit (1992): Led to global discussions on
sustainable development.
• Kyoto Protocol (1997): First major international
agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
74
 History
5. Climate Change Activism and the 21st Century
• Climate change became the central issue of environmental activism.
• Activists used social media, protests, and legal action to push for policy
change.
Key Events:
• Fridays for Future (2018): Greta Thunberg’s school strikes inspired global
climate protests.
• Paris Agreement (2015): A global treaty to combat climate change.
• COP Summits (Ongoing): International meetings to address climate policies.
• New Environmental Challenges:
• Plastic pollution and ocean conservation.
• Deforestation in the Amazon.
• Corporate greenwashing (false environmental claims by companies).

75
 Types of Environmental Activism
• Grassroots Activism – Local community-based efforts to
protect the environment.
• Legal Advocacy – Using lawsuits and lobbying to
influence environmental laws.
• Direct Action – Protests, demonstrations, and civil
disobedience to draw attention to environmental issues.
• Scientific Activism – Conducting research and using
data to support environmental causes.
• Corporate Activism – Working within businesses to
promote sustainability and ethical practices.

76
 Types of Environmental Activism
a) Grassroots Activism
• Involves local communities advocating for environmental protection.
• Often focuses on issues like deforestation, water pollution, or industrial
waste.
• Examples: Community-led protests against mining, indigenous land rights
campaigns, local tree-planting initiatives.
b) Legal Advocacy
• Activists use the legal system to enforce environmental laws and hold
polluters accountable.
• Methods include filing lawsuits, petitioning governments, and lobbying
for policy changes.
• Example: The Sierra Club’s legal actions against the U.S. government to
enforce clean air regulations.

77
 Types of Environmental Activism
Direct Action
• Involves protests, demonstrations, and sometimes civil disobedience.
• Aimed at drawing attention to environmental destruction and pressuring
policymakers.
• Example: Greenpeace activists blocking whaling ships or pipeline constructions.
d) Scientific Activism
• Uses research and evidence to support environmental campaigns.
• Scientists and researchers provide data on issues like climate change and pollution.
• Example: Climate scientists presenting evidence at international climate summits.
e) Corporate Activism
• Focuses on promoting sustainable business practices within industries.
• Includes efforts to push for ethical sourcing, renewable energy use, and waste
reduction.
• Example: Companies committing to carbon neutrality or reducing plastic packaging

78
 Challenges Faced by Environmental
Activists
• Government resistance and legal crackdowns.
• Corporate opposition from industries that
benefit from environmental exploitation.
• Public apathy or misinformation about
environmental issues.
• Personal risks, including threats and violence
in some countries.

79
 Challenges Faced by Environmental
Activists
a) Government Resistance and Legal Crackdowns
• Some governments pass laws restricting protests and activism.
• Environmentalists in authoritarian regimes often face arrests or
suppression.
• Example: Activists in Brazil and the Philippines facing threats for
opposing deforestation.
b) Corporate Opposition
• Large corporations involved in fossil fuels, deforestation, and
pollution often resist activism.
• Some companies fund misinformation campaigns to downplay
environmental issues.
• Example: Oil companies lobbying against climate regulations.

80
 Challenges Faced by Environmental
Activists
c) Public Apathy and Misinformation
• Some people do not see climate change or pollution as urgent
threats.
• Social media and news outlets sometimes spread misinformation,
making activism harder.
• Example: Climate change denial movements backed by corporate
interests.
d) Personal Risks and Threats
• Many activists, especially in countries like Colombia, Brazil, and
the Philippines, face threats, violence, or even assassination.
• Example: Berta Cáceres, a Honduran environmentalist, was killed
for opposing a dam project.

81
 Notable Environmental Activists
• Greta Thunberg – Swedish climate activist known for
school strikes and global climate protests.
• Wangari Maathai – Founder of the Green Belt
Movement in Kenya, Nobel Peace Prize winner.
• Rachel Carson – Author of Silent Spring, which
exposed the dangers of pesticides.
• David Attenborough – Natural historian and
documentary filmmaker advocating for climate action.
• Jane Goodall – Primatologist and conservationist
focused on habitat protection and biodiversity.
82
 Notable Environmental Activists
a) Greta Thunberg
• Swedish teenager who started the Fridays for Future climate
strike movement.
• Has addressed world leaders at the UN and COP climate summits.
• Advocates for urgent climate action and reducing carbon
emissions.
b) Wangari Maathai
• Kenyan environmentalist and founder of the Green Belt
Movement.
• Led reforestation efforts, planting millions of trees to combat
deforestation.
• First African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize (2004).
83
 Notable Environmental Activists
c) Rachel Carson
• American biologist and author of Silent Spring (1962).
• Exposed the dangers of pesticides (especially DDT) to wildlife and human health.
• Her work led to the modern environmental movement and the creation of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
d) David Attenborough
• British natural historian and documentary filmmaker.
• Has raised awareness about biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution through
films like Planet Earth and Our Planet.
• Advocates for sustainable living and protecting endangered species.
e) Jane Goodall
• Primatologist and conservationist known for her work with chimpanzees.
• Founded the Jane Goodall Institute, focusing on wildlife conservation and habitat
protection.
• Promotes environmental education and sustainable community development.

84
Environmental Justice

85
 Introduction
• Environmental justice essentially means that everyone—regardless of race,
color, national origin, or income—has the right to the same environmental
protections and benefits, as well as meaningful involvement in the policies
that shape their communities. But rarely has this been the reality for
people of color and those with low incomes. That’s because virtually all
environmental injustice is shaped by the same patterns of racism and
inequality that have existed in the United States since its founding and
continue to influence every facet of our society, from education to housing
to health care
• The environmental justice movement—championed primarily by Black
people, Latines, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Indigenous People
—was born of a statistical fact: Those who live, work, and play in America's
most polluted environments are commonly people of color and those
living in poverty. Because of environmental justice advocates, we now
know this as environmental racism, and it’s precisely what communities of
color have been battling for decades. 86
 Intro…
• Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs
when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource
extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has
generated hundreds of studies showing that exposure to environmental harm is
inequitably distributed
• The movement began in the United States in the 1980s. It was heavily influenced by
the American civil rights movement and focused on environmental racism within
rich countries. The movement was later expanded to consider gender, international
environmental injustice, and inequalities within marginalized groups. As the
movement achieved some success in rich countries, environmental burdens were
shifted to the Global South (as for example through extractivism or the global waste
trade).
• The movement for environmental justice has thus become more global, with some
of its aims now being articulated by the United Nations. The movement overlaps
with movements for Indigenous land rights and for the human right to a healthy
environment.

87
 Intro…
• The goal of the environmental justice movement is to achieve
agency for marginalized communities in making environmental
decisions that affect their lives. The global environmental justice
movement arises from local environmental conflicts in which
environmental defenders frequently confront multi-national
corporations in resource extraction or other industries. Local
outcomes of these conflicts are increasingly influenced by trans-
national environmental justice networks.

• Environmental justice scholars have produced a large

interdisciplinary body of social science literature that includes
contributions to political ecology, environmental law, and theories
on justice and sustainability
88
 Definition
The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice
a;
“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. Fair treatment
means that no group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socio-economic groups,
should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences
resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of
federal, state, local, and tribal programs and policies”
• Environmental justice is also discussed as environmental racism or
environmental inequality.

• Environmental justice is typically defined as distributive justice, which is the

equitable distribution of environmental risks and benefits. Some definitions
address procedural justice, which is the fair and meaningful participation in
decision-making. Other scholars emphasise recognition justice, which is the
recognition of oppression and difference in environmental justice communities.

89
 History: How Warren County protests led to
a national movement?
• The story of how the environmental justice movement became a national one
can generally be traced back to Warren County, North Carolina. In the late
1970s, the state’s government was deliberating where it could store 6,000
truckloads of soil located with toxic PCBs. It decided on rural, poor, and
overwhelmingly Black Warren County. That quickly became the focus of
national attention.
• Residents were furious that state officials had dismissed concerns over PCBs
leaching into drinking water supplies. Many veterans of the Civil Rights
Movement—often affiliated with Black churches—shared their sentiments and
showed up. Among them were Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. and Reverend Joseph
Lowery, then of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Reverend
Leon White of the United Church of Christ's Commission for Racial Justice. The
dump trucks still rolled into Warren County in mid-September 1982, headed for
a newly constructed hazardous waste landfill in the small community of Afton.
• But the same frustrated residents and their allies stopped the trucks by lying
down on roads leading into the landfill. Six weeks of marches and nonviolent
street protests followed, and more than 500 were arrested—the first arrests in90
U.S. history over the siting of a landfill.
 History…
• Other communities of color had organized to oppose environmental threats before
Warren County. In the early 1960s, Latine farmworkers organized by Cesar Chavez
fought for workplace rights.
• In 1967, Black students took to the streets of Houston to oppose a city garbage dump
in their community that had claimed the lives of two children. In 1968, residents of
West Harlem, in New York City, fought unsuccessfully against the siting of a sewage
treatment plant in their community.
• But the Warren County protests and accompanying legal challenges are considered by
many to be the first major milestone in the national movement for environmental
justice.
• The people of Warren County ultimately lost the battle, and the toxic waste was
deposited in that landfill. But their story—one of ordinary residents driven to protect
their homes from a toxic assault—fired the imagination of many across the country
who had lived through similar injustices. These events even inspired a new faction
within the Civil Rights Movement.
• In fact, several early environmental justice leaders came out of it. They understood that
the environment was another front in the struggle for justice, and they brought with
them many of the same tactics—like marches, petitions, coalition building, community
91
empowerment, litigation, and nonviolent direct action.
 History…
• By 1990, leaders of the growing environmental justice movement, who had chiefly relied
on coalition building and community empowerment, began to look for allies among the
traditional, primarily white—and more well-resourced—environmental organizations.
These were groups that had long fought to protect the wilderness, endangered species,
clean air, and clean water. But they had had little or no involvement in the environmental
struggles of people of color.
• That year, several environmental justice leaders cosigned a widely publicized letter to the
"Big 10" environmental groups, including NRDC, accusing them of racial bias in policy
development, hiring, and the makeup of their boards, and challenging them to address
toxic contamination in the communities and workplaces of people of color and the poor.
• As a result, some mainstream environmental organizations developed their first
environmental justice initiatives, added people of color to their staff, and resolved to take
environmental justice into account when making policy decisions.
• Environmental justice leaders also pushed their agenda within the government. In 1990, a
meeting between a group of prominent academics and advocates within the movement
and a top official in the first Bush administration led to the creation of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Equity Workgroup.
• the summit produced the "Principles of Environmental Justice" and the "Call to Action,"
two foundational documents of the environmental justice movement. 92
 History….
• By 1992, when Bill Clinton became president, it was clear that
environmental justice was becoming important to leaders of a core
constituency of the Democratic Party. Clinton appointed two leaders,
Chavis and Bullard, to his natural resources transition team, where they
helped make environmental justice an important part of the president’s
stated environmental policy.
• And then, on February 11, 1994, Clinton signed Executive Order 12898
—a groundbreaking order directing federal agencies to identify and
address the disproportionately high adverse health or environmental
effects of their policies or programs on low-income people and people of
color. It also directed federal agencies to look for ways to prevent
discrimination by race, color, or national origin in any federally funded
programs dealing with health or the environment. What began in the
streets of Warren County had made it to the White House.

93
 Emergence of global movement
• Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, grassroots movements and environmental
organizations advocated for regulations that increased the costs of hazardous
waste disposal in the US and other industrialized nations. However, this led to a
surge in exports of hazardous waste to the Global South during the 1980s and
1990s. This global environmental injustice, including the disposal of toxic waste,
land appropriation, and resource extraction, sparked the formation of the global
environmental justice movement.

• Environmental justice as an international subject commenced at the First National

People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, held in Washington,
DC. The four-day summit was sponsored by the United Church of Christ's
Commission for Racial Justice. With around 1,100 persons in attendance,
representation included all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico, Brazil, Chile, Mexico,
Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and the Marshall Islands

• The summit adopted 17 Principles of Environmental Justice, which were later

disseminated at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil. The 17 Principles have a
likeness in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
94
 Emergence of global movement
• In the summer of 2002, a coalition of non-governmental organizations met in Bali to
prepare final negotiations for the 2002 Earth Summit. Organizations included CorpWatch,
World Rainforest Movement, Friends of the Earth International, the Third World Network,
and the Indigenous Environmental Network. They sought to articulate the concept of
climate justice.
• During their time together, the organizations codified the Bali Principles of Climate
Justice, a 27-point program identifying and organizing the climate justice movement.
• At the 2007 United Nations Climate Conference, or COP13, in Bali, representatives from
the Global South and low-income communities from the North created a coalition titled
“Climate Justice Now!”. CJN! Issued a series of “genuine solutions” that echoed the Bali
Principles
• Initially, the environmental justice movement focused on addressing toxic hazards and
injustices faced by marginalized racial groups within affluent nations. However, during the
1991 Leadership Summit, its scope broadened to encompass public health, worker safety,
land use, transportation, and other issues. Over time, the movement expanded further to
include considerations of gender, international injustices, and intra-group disparities
among disadvantaged populations.

95
Transnational Movement Networks
• Many of the Environmental Justice Networks that began in the United States expanded
their horizons to include many other countries and became Transnational Networks for
Environmental Justice. These networks work to bring Environmental Justice to all parts
of the world and protect all citizens of the world to reduce the environmental injustice
happening all over the world. Listed below are some of the major Transnational Social
Movement Organizations
 Amazon Watch
 Basel Action Network
 Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade (EJOLT)
 GAIA (Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance)
 GR (Global Response)
 Global Witness
 Greenpeace International
 Health Care without Harm
 Indigenous Environmental Network
 International POPs Elimination Network
 NDN Collective
 PAN (Pesticide Action Network)
 Red Latinoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Ambientales 96
 Environmentalism of the poor
• Joan Martinez-Alier's influential concept of the
environmentalism of the poor highlights the ways in which
marginalized communities, particularly those in the Global
South, are disproportionately affected by environmental
degradation and the importance of including their
perspectives and needs in environmental decision-making.
• Martinez-Alier's work also introduces the concept of
"ecological distribution conflicts," which are conflicts over
access to and control of natural resources and the
environmental impacts that result from their use, and
which are often rooted in social and economic inequalities

97
 Slow violence
• The violence wrought by climate change, toxic drift, deforestation, oil spills,
and the environmental aftermath of war can be characterized as slow
violence. The term “slow violence” was coined by author Rob Nixon in his
2011 book Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor.
• Slow violence is defined as “violence that occurs gradually and out of
sight, a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and
space, an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all”.
• Environmental justice as a social movement addresses environmental
issues that may be defined as slow violence and otherwise may not be
addressed by legislative bodies. Slow violence exacerbates the vulnerability
of ecosystems and of people who are poor, disempowered, and often
involuntarily displaced, while fueling social conflicts that arise from
desperation

98
 Critical Environmental Justice
• Drawing on concepts of anarchism, posthumanism, critical
theory, and intersectional feminism, author David Naguib
Pellow created the concept of Critical Environmental Justice
(CEJ) in his work What is Critical Environmental Justice.
• Critical EJ is a perspective intended to address a number of
limitations and tensions within EJ Studies. Critical EJ calls for
scholarship that builds on research in environmental justice
studies by questioning assumptions and gaps in earlier work in
the field, embracing greater interdisciplinary, and moving
towards methodologies and epistemologies including and
beyond the social sciences.
• Critical EJ scholars believe that since multiple forms of
inequality drive and characterize the experience of
environmental injustice, the EJ field would benefit from
expanding in that direction 99
 Differentiation between conventional
environmental studies and Critical EJ
Differentiation between conventional environmental studies and Critical EJ studies is done
through four distinctive "pillars". These include, in David Pellow's writing:

(1) questions concerning the degree to which scholars should place emphasis on one or
more social categories of difference (e.g., race, class, gender, sexuality, species, etc.)
versus a focus on multiple forms of inequality;

(2) the extent to which scholars studying EJ issues should focus on single-scale versus multi-
scalar analyses of the causes, consequences, and possible resolutions of EJ struggles;

(3) the degree to which various forms of social inequality and power—including state power
—are viewed as entrenched and embedded in society;

(4) the largely unexamined question of the expendability of human and non-human
populations facing socioecological threats from states, industries, and other political
economic forces

100
 Black Lives Matter and CEJ
• David Pellow applies his concept of Critical EJ towards modern-day
movements in his publication Toward A Critical Environmental Justice
Studies, in which he applied the aforementioned pillars towards the Black
Lives Matter movement and the problem of state violence.
• Pellow argues that within conventional studies, “the Black Lives Matter
movement and the struggle against environmental racism … is a connection
that many scholars might not make at first glance because police brutality
and environmental politics would appear to be only tangentially related.”
• Four pillars of Critical Environmental Justice (CEJ);
First Pillar: Intersectionality
Second Pillar: Scale
Third Pillar: Social Inequalities
Fourth Pillar: Indispensability

101
 First Pillar: Intersectionality
• The first pillar of Critical EJ Studies involves the recognition that social
inequality and oppression in all forms intersect, and that actors in the
more-than-human world are subjects of oppression and frequently agents
of social change.
• Developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, intersectionality theory states
that individuals exist in a crossroads of all their identities, with privilege
and marginalization in the intersection between their class, race, gender,
sexuality, queerness, cis- or transness, ethnicity, ability, and other facts of
identity.
• As David Nibert and Michael Fox put it in the context of injustice, “The
oppression of various devalued groups in human societies is not
independent and unrelated; rather, the arrangements that lead to various
forms of oppression are integrated in such a way that the exploitation of
one group frequently augments and compounds the mistreatment of
others.”
• Thus, Critical EJ views racism, heteropatriarchy, classism ,nativism, ableism,
ageism, speciesism (the belief that one species is superior to another), and
other forms of inequality as intersecting axes of domination and control 102
 Second Pillar: Scale
• The second pillar of Critical EJ is a focus on the role of scale in the production and possible
resolution of environmental injustices. Critical EJ embraces multi-scalar methodological and
theoretical approaches order to better comprehend the complex spatial and temporal causes,
consequences, and possible resolutions of EJ struggles.
• Julie Sze writes, “thinking globally and acting locally also demands that people more fully
comprehend the relationship between the local and the global or, in other words, to consider
scale”.
• Scale is deeply racialized, gendered, and classed. While the conclusions of climate scientists
are remarkably clear that anthropogenic climate change is occurring at a dramatic pace and
with increasing intensity.
• David Pellow writes in his 2016 publication Toward A Critical Environmental Justice Studies
that “this is also happening unevenly, with people of color, the poor, indigenous peoples,
peoples of the global South, and women suffering the most.

• Pellow further contextualizes scale through temporal dimensions. For instance, how does the
emergence and use of coal-fired power plants and petroleum-based economics develop and
change over historical periods, and in turn unveiling the social causes of our ecological crises.
Pellow observes in his 2017 publication What is Critical Environmental Justice that while “a
molecule of carbon dioxide or nitrous oxide can occur in an instant, … it remains in the
atmosphere for more than a century, so the decisions we make at one point in time can have
dramatic ramifications for generations to come”. Pollution does not stay where it starts, and
so consideration must be taken as to the scale of an issue rather than solely its effects. 103
 Third Pillar: Social Inequalities
• The third pillar of Critical EJ is the view that social inequalities - from
racism to speciesism - are deeply embedded in society and
reinforced by state power, and therefore the current social order
stands as a fundamental obstacle to social and environmental justice.
• Pellow argues in his 2017 publication What is Critical Environmental
Justice that social change movements may be better off thinking and
acting beyond the state and capital as targets of reform and/or as
reliable partners.
• Furthermore, that scholars and activists are not asking how they
might build environmentally resilient communities that exist beyond
the state, but rather how they might do so with a different model of
state intervention.
• Pellow believes that by building and supporting strongly democratic
practices, relationships, and institutions, movements for social
change will become less dependent upon the state, while any
elements of the state they do work through may become more
robustly democratic 104
 Fourth Pillar: Indispensability
• The fourth pillar of Critical EJ centers on a concept David Pellow calls
“Indispensability”.
• Joen Márquez introduces the concept of “racial expendability” in his book Black
and Brown Solidarity, in which he argues that “black and brown bodies are, in the
eyes of the state and its constituent legal system, generally viewed as criminal,
deficient, threatening, and deserving of violent discipline and even obliteration.”
• Critical EJ builds on this work by countering the ideology of white supremacy and
human dominionism, and articulating the perspective that excluded, marginalized,
and other populations, beings, and things - both human and nonhuman - must be
viewed not as expensable but rather an indispensable to our collective futures.
• Pellow uses racial indispensability when referring to people of color and
socioecological indispensability when referring to broader communities within and
across the human/nonhuman divide and their relationships to one another.
• Pellow expands writing in Toward A Critical Environmental Justice Studies that
“racial indispensability is intended to challenge the logic of racial expendability and
is the idea that institutions, policies, and practices that support and perpetrate
anti-Black racism suffer from the flawed assumption that the future of African
Americans is somehow de-linked from the future of White communities.”
105
 The legacy and future of environmental
justice
• In the roughly 40 years since the dump trucks first
rolled into Afton, hundreds of environmental justice
grassroots groups—like WE Act for Environmental
Justice, the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Poverty, Asian
Pacific Environmental Network, and the Southeast
Environmental Task Force—have formed. They
represent strong and enduring forces for environmental
protection and social change in their communities.
Their work has also continued to ensure that
environmental justice is a central issue within
environmentalism and progressive politics.
106
• Now, environmental justice leaders who once influenced policy as
outsiders are more likely to have seats at decision-making tables.
Take LaTricea Adams, who founded Black Millennials for Flint and
also sits on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council
(WHEJAC).
• Plus, environmental justice has become more embedded across
federal policy. The Justice40 Initiative, which directs 40 percent of
federal investments in climate and clean energy toward
disadvantaged communities, is a prime example.
• And mainstream environmental groups have also learned from and
increasingly worked alongside environmental justice organizations.
For example, NRDC often provides technical advice and resources,
supplies expert testimony at hearings, and joins in litigation.

107