Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice - The Greens believe that a “good neighbourhood” is one where the streets are free of litter, the air is clean, and noise levels are low. Everyone, irrespective of their wealth or the colour of their skin has the right to live in such a place.

One of the major factors determining the attractiveness of city life is the state of its environment, not, as once was the case, the level of industrialisation. Clean water and air, access to green space and distance from noisy roads are highly desirable characteristics, although often unevenly distributed and considered a luxury. Many European cities are witnessing the appearance of ecological ghettoes, in which poor people, often from ethnic minorities, are forced to live in high rise tower blocks neighbouring waste incinerators, motorways, sewage works and nuclear power stations. Environmental justice also has a global dimension: international corporations are transferring production to many African and Asian cities and polluting their environment as a result.

The European Greens object to the environmental segregation of people. All citizens of cities throughout the world have the right to live in “good neighbourhoods” - where the streets are free of litter, the air is clean and noise levels are low. A cleaner environment brings with it an improved quality of life and local development opportunities. These in turn promote greater safety. According to research carried out into the level of life satisfaction in European cities, the cleanest cities are also the safest according to their inhabitants.

Did You Know?

 * 70% of the world’s electronic refuse ends up in the Southern Chinese city of Guiyu and the surrounding area. That’s millions of tonnes of monitors, printers and mobile phones discarded every year. Processing this dangerous waste involves the work of 150 thousand poor people, including children. Earning 3 dollars a day, they work in conditions extremely harmful both to human health and the environment. Processing the waste in the U.S.A would cost ten times more!
 * In the most polluted areas of England, the number of people from ethnic minorities is four times greater than in unpolluted areas.