Environmental Racism? What’s That All About?

A deep dive into environmental justice, environmental racism, and the communities they affect.

BY: JENNIFER MNGADI AND LILY LAM

Photo courtesy of AzerNews

Environmental justice. Environmental racism. Both have become buzzwords in the age of climate change talks. So, what do they really mean?

Each term has a distinct connotation around the world. Generally, environmental racism applies a racial lens to the issue, focusing on the exposure of racialized and Indigenous populations to harmful chemicals, pesticides and other contaminants in their communities (Harwood 2001). It describes the way that racism moves beyond a social construct and impacts people in their real lives in very tangible ways. 

In South Africa, most Black South Africans continue to live in the most polluted neighbourhoods near coal-fired power stations, steel mills, incinerators and waste sites (Cock, 2015). For instance, the South Durban community shares their neighbourhood with two of the country’s biggest oil refineries literally on the residents’ doorsteps (Firmin, 2019). This area is situated in KwaZulu-Natal and is considered one of the most heavily air-polluted areas in southern Africa (Nriagu, et al., 1999; Matooane, et al., 2004); it still experiences the consequences left behind by the apartheid regime, which provides the historic backdrop to the continued social and environmental injustice experienced today. 

South Durban Beach // Photo courtesy of Sifiso Mngoma

In Canada, environmental racism affects Indigenous communities. Canada is a settler colony and upon settlement by European populations, Indigenous communities signed treaties that gave up most of their native land and were assigned land that was infertile and remote. Canadian news presently reports on protests of the proposed Coastal GasLink pipeline that would impact the Wet’suwet’en community in British Columbia (Brown and Bracken 2020). The proposed pipeline would infringe upon Indigenous land rights and titles and affect their health along with their relationship to their land. If the pipeline were to be built, it would surely bring about the possibility of oil leakages into their homes and increase their exposure to environmentally hazardous sites with long-term health consequences. 

In both instances, the inability to diverge from the fossil fuel industry has exacerbated inequalities that are felt by Black South Africans and Indigenous communities in Canada. This is not simply a coincidence. Systematic, historic issues of racism and discrimination have worked to unevenly distribute the burden of the fossil fuel industry. South Africa’s system of apartheid and Canada’s settler colonialism both play a role in the continuing racialization of bodies in their respective contexts.

Photo courtesy of Globe Forum

In thinking about the fight for climate action, it needs to be kept in mind that the consequences of this fight are not equal. Specifically, inaction will not be felt equally. Inequality exists not only at the local level but also the global level. Canada and South Africa have different statuses on the world stage, and climate change also affects them differently. Many of the environmental justice struggles on the African continent are against the dispossession and toxic pollution involved in the extractive industry (Cock, 2015). In Canada rising global temperatures look to affect the land in the northern territories, melting away permafrost in areas that have never experienced this before  (Government of Canada, 2019).

All over the world, the discourse of environmental justice is forging alliances locally and globally between north and south, utilizing the principles of social justice and ecological sustainability. The South African and Canadian cases described here are unfortunately not unique. But what is unique is the collectivity that can be created. Exemplified by this op-ed, two students, one from South Africa and one from Canada, can bring together two seemingly different contexts but derive very similar themes of action surrounding justice and equity.

Here’s the good news. Action is being taken around the world. Amidst all the environmental injustice, a number of organizations have emerged over the past decades in South Africa. These include Earthlife Africa, Groundwork, the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance. They are involved in building popular power and developing near strategies and forms of communal solidarity. A proposed bill in Canada will explicitly address environmental racism through the development of a national strategy to address the links between race, socio-economic status and environmental risk (Gunn 2020). It would be created in consultation with representatives of all levels of government and community members of affected areas. It seeks to hold the government more accountable for the undue burden it places on marginalized communities across the country.

Whether in Canada, South Africa or elsewhere, environmental racism persists as an underlying factor to further disadvantage racialized groups. Thus, environmental justice works within a framework that acknowledges the intersection of the environment with other systemic issues. This involves an equitable division of benefits and consequences. Without the proper attention to environmental racism and its roots, climate action would be incomplete and continue to perpetuate racial inequalities.