World Oceans Day & Environmental Injustice in the Anthropocene Ocean

In the 1980s, the concept of environmental justice emerged in the United States recognising the disproportional distribution of environmental pollution and hazardous waste with Black communities and  socio-economically disadvantaged populations experiencing more environmental burdens and having less access to benefits. Comparably little attention has, so far, been paid to environmental justice issues in connection with marine and coastal environments. Here, too, impacts are "unequally distributed geographically and produce socially differentiated impacts across racial, ethnic, gender, age and socio-economic groups". One of the reasons why marginalised groups experience worse impacts is that they are often inadequately considered and mostly excluded from the deciscion-making process (Bennett et al., 2022). 

These colonial and racist acts fail to recognize ancestral ocean ownership and tenure rights, inclusion of marginalized communities in decisions, respect for human rights, and consideration of social and health impacts in the formulation of pollution prevention approaches. (Bennett et al., 2022)

Bennett et al. (2022) discuss five key hazards in the marine and coastal environment affecting some communities and populations more than others: (1) pollution and toxic waste, (2) plastics and marine debris, (3) climate change, (4) ecosystem, biodiversity and ecosystem service degradation, and (5) fisheries declines.

Liboiron (2021) challenges us to think about plastics as a form of colonialism enabled by global capitalist expansion. The amount of plastic waste generated per capita by individuals in many low- and middle-income countries is substantially less than individuals from high-income countries (Euromap, 2016; UNEP, 2021a). Fifteen countries account for 73.9% of the plastic waste that is exported, 11 of these countries are from the OECD (Pedra & Gonçalves, 2020). However, many Low- and Middle-Income Countries are unable to adequately manage their own plastic waste let alone the burgeoning amount of plastic waste shipped from High-Income Countries (Ritchie & Roser, 2018). The UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics underscored how this issue compounds due to the lack of adequate reception and processing facilities in lower income countries (Orellana, 2021). When combined with local gaps in waste management, this leads to substantially greater land-based inputs of plastics into the ocean with associated increases in environmental and societal impacts for populations in lower income countries (Pedra & Gonçalves, 2020; UNEP, 2021b, 2021a). (Bennett et al., 2022)

Some interesting excerpts:

emerged in the 1980s in the United States from concerns about the disproportionate burdens of pollution that were being placed on and experienced by Black communities and socio economically disadvantaged populations (Bullard, 1994; Cutter, 1995). Environmental justice research demonstrated that polluting infrastructure, such as oil refineries, mining and factories, as well as air pollution emissions and toxic waste disposal sites, were often situated near Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities (Bullard, 2018; Walker, 2012). Such environmental discrimination and racism was shown to be producing numerous negative health effects and wellbeing outcomes for these populations (Brulle & Pellow, 2006). The field of environmental justice has since grown globally and expanded to focus on a broader set of environmental hazards and harms, including climate change, biodiversity and habitat loss, and declines in ecosystem services (Boyd, 2022; Chaudhary et al., 2018; Mutz et al., 2002; Sikor, 2013; Sze & London, 2008; Tsosie, 2007). Environmental justice has also come to refer broadly to both the distribution of environmental burdens and access to benefits, as well as the recognition, meaningful involvement and fair treatment of people in environmental decision making and legal frameworks emerged in the 1980s in the United States from concerns about the disproportionate burdens of pollution that were being placed on and experienced by Black communities and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations (Bullard, 1994; Cutter, 1995). Environmental justice research demonstrated that polluting infrastructure, such as oil refineries, mining and factories, as well as air pollution emissions and toxic waste disposal sites, were often transform-situated near Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities (Bullard, 2018; Walker, 2012). Such environmental discrimination and racism was shown to be producing numerous negative health effects and wellbeing outcomes for these populations (Brulle & Pellow, 2006). The field of environmental justice has since grown globally and expanded to focus on a broader set of environmental hazards and harms, including climate change, biodiversity and habitat loss, and declines in (Boyd, 2022; Chaudhary et al., 2018; Mutz et al., 2002; Sikor, 2013; Sze & London, 2008; Tsosie, 2007). Environmental justice has also come to refer broadly to both the distribution of environmental burdens and access to benefits, as well as the recognition, meaningful involvement and fair treatment of people in environmental decision making and legal frameworks. Historically marginalized groups, groups that rely on subsistence harvesting or small-scale fisheries, and low-income nations tend to be disproportionately exposed to and impacted by increasing chemical and biological contamination in the ocean (Landrigan et al., 2018; Liboiron, 2021), a problem which perpetuates and exacerbates pre-existing inequalities. For example, the worst social-environmental impacts and public health effects of pollution are often experienced and absorbed by Indigenous people, people of color, and women (Landrigan et al., 2018; Liboiron, 2021). Inuit women from the Arctic are still among the most contaminated humans with POPs such as PCB and PFAS, while struggling for food safety and security and being affected by underlying health risks due to chronic and emerging diseases such as breast cancer and endocrine disruption in the face of climate change (AMAP, 2021; Ghisari et al., 2014; Wielsøe et al., 2017). Indigenous populations and small-scale fishers who consume high amounts of fish or mammals are exposed to the effects of methylmercury on their health (Donatuto et al., 2011; Probyn, 2018). Afro-American communities, who have tolerated the burden of colonialism and impacts of top-down government policies for generations, have been disproportionately impacted by offshore oil and gas exploitation in coastal Louisiana where they have faced persistent industrial hazards from the myriad of old pipeline infrastructure that impair coastal marshes and produce health and livelihood impacts (Maldonado, 2018; Randolph, 2021). The golbal nature of the disposal of pollution and other wastes in the ocean reveals patterns of environmental racism, with the dumping of wastes and the breaking of ships often occurring in the lower income countries in Africa and Asia (Frey, 2015; Okafor-Yarwood & Adewumi, 2020; Wan et al., 2021). Oil exploration and exploitation also tends to be more polluting in lower income countries - such as Ecuador, Nigeria or Nicaragua - where corporations take advantage of governance gaps (Alava & Calle, 2013; Allen, 2011; Andrews et al., 2021; Arif, 2019; O’Rourke & Connolly, 2003). (Bennett et al., 2022)

Bennett et al – Environmental Justice in the Ocean 9 2.3.2 Impacts and Distribution The litany of climate change impacts and knock-on effects described above are having substantial but differentiated implications for coastal communities and ocean-dependent populations around the world. Extreme weather events, coastal inundation and erosion, saltwater intrusion, marine heatwaves and HABs can have detrimental effects on economic benefits from the fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture and tourism sectors (Bindoff et al., 2019; Misana & Tilumanywa, 2019; Narita et al., 2012; Oppenheimer et al., 2019; Ritzman et al., 2018; K. E. Smith et al., 2021). Shifts in the abundance, productivity and location of fish stocks and shellfish from warming oceans and acidification are affecting fisheries jobs, revenues, and food security for many coastal populations (Cheung et al., 2010; Doney et al., 2020; Fernandes et al., 2017; Lam, Cheung, Reygondeau, et al., 2016; Narita et al., 2012; Tigchelaar et al., 2021). Rising sea levels, combined with increased storm and flooding events, are harming community infrastructure, housing and health in both rural areas and urban centers (Heberger et al., 2011; Liwenga et al., 2019; Rahimi et al., 2020; Ryan et al., 2016) and leading to forced retreat or migration away from the ocean (Ahmed & Eklund, 2021; Dannenberg et al., 2019; Dasgupta et al., 2022; Hauer, 2017; Schwerdtle et al., 2018). Climate change impacts on ecosystems can undermine provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting ecosystem services that are fundamental for human well-being (Doney et al., 2012; E. J. Nelson et al., 2013; Singh et al., 2019; Smale et al., 2019). In short, climate change threatens the human rights of coastal populations and nations to food, livelihoods, health and physical security (Ahlgren et al., 2014; Elver & Oral, 2021; Levy & Patz, 2015). There is substantial evidence that different racial, ethnic, gender, age and socio-economic groups experience the impacts of climate related changes to a greater or lesser extent (Benevolenza & DeRigne, 2019; Bindoff et al., 2019; Dankelman & Jansen, 2010; Flores, Collins, et al., 2021; N. Islam & Winkel, 2017; Thomas et al., 2019). For example, pre-existing social and structural inequalities tend to situate Black populations, women and the poor in more vulnerable positions when it comes to coastal flooding, storms, and other hazards related to climate change (Ahmed & Eklund, 2021; Gotham et al., 2018; Hardy et al., 2017). Communities and groups (e.g., small-scale fishers or Indigenous Peoples) who have a high level of resource dependence - either for livelihoods or food security - will also be more susceptible to changes to ecosystems, ecosystem services and fisheries brought on by climate change (Guillotreau et al., 2012; Lauria et al., 2018; Marushka et al., 2019). Similarly, groups with lower adaptive capacity - due to less access to financial resources, lack of alternative livelihood options, or structural barriers - will experience greater impacts (Cinner et al., 2018; Senapati & Gupta, 2017). Climate change adaptation and mitigation programs can further marginalize local populations when their needs and voices are not taken into account. Managed retreat, for instance, can have disruptive public health implications, including declining mental health, social capital, food security, water supply, and access to health care, that disproportionately affect Indigenous people (Dannenberg et al., 2019). In Bangladesh, climate adaptation projects have excluded and further marginalized women and minorities, and worsened income inequality (Sovacool, 2018). (Bennett et al., 2022)

8th of June was first declared as World Oceans Day in 1992 and designated by the United Nations in 2008. More on the day: LINK

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- Nathan J. Bennett, Juan José Alava, Caroline E. Ferguson, Jessica Blythe, Elisa Morgera, David Boyd, Isabelle M. Côté (2022). Environmental Justice in the Ocean, Working Paper, University of British Columbia, link

- photograph by Pierre Verger via