Justice-based approaches to environmental harm - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 28

ecosystems (such as clearfelling of old-growth forests). Responding to
these issues demand some type of criteria to weigh up the interests,
options and consequences of particular courses of action. This is the
substantive concern of the rest of this topic.
Environmental social movements have a huge role to play in shaping
the moral calculus (as do researchers and scholars, journalists and
academics). Environmental activism involves many different individuals,
groups and organisations, with diverse aims, missions and interests,
employing a wide variety of tactics and strategies. Key international
non-government organisations (NGOs) include for example:
• Friends of the Earth
• Greenpeace
• World Wide Fund for Nature
• Sea Shepherd
• Bird Life International
• Climate Action Network
• Biodiversity Action Network
• Humane Society International
• Sierra Club
• Environmental Investigations Agency
• Basel Action Network
• Environmental Justice Foundation.
This list of named organisations extends into the hundreds (and indeed,
the thousands), and includes local neighbourhood action groups
through to transnational or global NGOs.
The focus of activists varies greatly (White, 2008a). 'Brown' issues
tend to be defined in terms of urban life and pollution (for example, air
quality), 'green' issues mainly relate to wilderness areas and conservation
matters (for example, logging practices), and 'white' issues refer to
science laboratories and the impact of new technologies (for example,
genetically modified organisms). There is generally a link between
environmental action (usually involving distinct types of community
and environmental groups), and particular sites (such as urban centres,
wilderness areas or seacoast regions). For present purposes it is notable
that groups are also demarcated by particular notions of justice,
including those relating to environmental justice (for example, specific
human communities), ecological justice (for example, protection and
conservation of particular ecosystems) and species justice (for example,
animal rights and welfare). As will be seen, what is considered 'bad' or
'good' in regards to defining environmental harm is generally reflective