Environmental justice and harm to humans - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 53

Specific places demand specific analysis, yet these are intrinsically
linked to considerations that are universal in their relevance and
application. For instance, transnational environmental harm is always
located somewhere. That is, while risk and harm can be analysed in
terms of movements and transference from one place to another, it
is nonetheless imperative that threats to the environment be put into
specific regional and national contexts. This is important for several
reasons. First, environmental threats originate in particular factories,
farms, firms, industries and localities. Second, the political and policy
context within which threats to the environment emerge is shaped
by the nature of and interplay between local, national, regional and
international laws and conventions. What happens at the local and
regional level counts - whether we are referring to Nordic countries,
those of South Eastern Europe, Australasia or Latin America. What
happens at the local level is likewise implicated in decisions and
processes that transcend the merely local, given the complex ties and
international connections between businesses, governments, workers
and activists. For example, externalising harm frequently takes the
form of transferring waste from Europe, the United States and Japan
to non-metropole countries and regions such as Latin America, the
Caribbean, Africa and South and Southeast Asia (Pellow, 2007).
Place is defined in many different ways, and this shapes the
transference of harm across various types of boundaries. Some of
these are geographical, others are conceptual. For instance, consider
the distinction between 'built' and 'natural' environments. Pollution
from cars and factories in cities ends up in countrysides, while animal
waste from sprawling farms release odours in the air and toxic materials
into waterways that affect city dwellers downstream. A red sandstorm
generated of the land in South Australia ends up in the streets of
Sydney, many thousands of kilometers away.
While there are broad similarities in the types of environmental
crimes that traverse borders - such as pollution, the international
transfer of hazardous wastes, and the illegal trade in wildlife - it is still
necessary to examine such crimes in the context of their immediate
geographical and criminal specificity. The export of e-waste to South-
East Asia and to Africa, for example, has the same general drivers
as does the export of hazards, especially related to agriculture and
mining, to Latin America, but has quite different specific dynamics
(Elliot, 2007; Cifuentes and Frumkin, 2007). Illegal fishing varies
greatly depending upon location, and particular types of illegal fishing,
such as abalone (Australia), lobster (Canada) and toothfish (Southern
Ocean), show great variation in motives, techniques, local cultures