Environmental Justice

Environmental justice means that no population group should bear a disproportionate share of pollution, environmental hazards, or resulting health risks. It combines fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens with meaningful participation, equal protection, access to information, and effective remedies for affected communities.

How pollution exposure becomes unequal

Exposure is unequal when hazardous facilities, contaminated land, waste sites, or polluted air and water impose greater risks on some communities than on others. Environmental justice examines both the distribution of pollution and the social conditions that shape vulnerability.

• Low-income or socially marginalised communities may have less influence over land-use and facility-siting decisions and fewer resources to avoid or remedy exposure.
• Several pollution sources can create cumulative impacts, even when each source is assessed separately.
• Children, older persons, and people with existing illnesses may suffer greater harm from a similar level of exposure.

Core requirements of environmental justice

Justice requires more than identical pollution standards. It asks whether burdens are disproportionate, whether decision-making is inclusive, and whether harm is prevented or repaired.

• Distributive justice requires a fair allocation of environmental risks, benefits, and public resources.
• Procedural justice requires timely information, consultation, public participation, transparent assessment, and access to grievance redress.
• Corrective justice applies accountability, compensation, restoration, and the polluter pays principle where environmental damage occurs.
• The precautionary principle supports preventive action where serious environmental harm is threatened, even amid scientific uncertainty.

Constitutional and statutory basis in India

Environmental justice draws support from equality, the right to life, environmental governance duties, and specialised adjudication.

• Article 14 guarantees equality before law and equal protection of laws.
• Judicial interpretation of Article 21 has brought a healthy environment within the protection of life and personal liberty.
• Article 48A directs the State to protect and improve the environment, while Article 51A(g) makes environmental protection a fundamental duty of citizens.
• Under Section 20 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, the Tribunal applies sustainable development, the precautionary principle, and the polluter pays principle.

How UPSC asks this