Creating the Global Environment from Below. The United States Environmental Justice Movement in the World Arena

This article explores some aspects of the evolution of US environmentalism from the 1960s and 1970s to the rise of the grassroots Environmental Justice (EJ) movement in the early 1990s, emphasising its significant role in creating the concept of a ‘global environment’. Tracing its trajectory, the paper examines how the EJ movement redefined environmentalism by addressing the intersection of environmental issues with race, income, and power relations. It highlights key milestones, including the recognition of environmental racism, the establishment of the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice at the 1991 People of Colour Environmental Leadership Summit, and collaborations with mainstream environmental organisations to address inequities. The global prominence of EJ became evident at the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio, where grassroots activism reshaped the global environmental agenda by integrating justice, equity and development concerns. This gathering marked the emergence of a unified, albeit multi-faceted, global environmental consciousness that emphasised the interconnectedness of environmental and economic challenges. By advocating for the agency of grassroots movements in shaping modern environmentalism, this article argues that the EJ movement’s local struggles and global advocacy have been crucial in redefining the environment-development nexus. It offers a historical approach that bridges local and global perspectives, and stresses the enduring influence of EJ principles in advancing inclusive and sustainable solutions. This article was published open access under a CC BY 4.0 licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .