Environmental justice and harm to humans - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 63

Conclusion: measuring the value of human life
Environmental victimisation is not a socially neutral process, but is
constructed at the intersection between social inequality, unequal
power relationships and the subjective experience of victims. The
majority of victims of environmental degradation - stemming from
industrial and commercial activities, global warming, loss of biodiversity
and increased waste and pollution - are very often the poor and the
dispossessed. While all are threatened by global environmental disaster,
there remain large social differences in the likelihood of exposure and
subsequent resilience to injury, harm and suffering. For those who
disproportionately bear the brunt of global patterns of environmental
transformation, degradation and victimisation, big questions arise as to
who will compensate them for their often prolonged suffering, now
and into the future.
When it comes to measuring the value of human life some people
count more than others and in some circumstances the health and
wellbeing of certain people will be sacrificed on the altar of profit. This
can be quantified in terms of United Nations figures on world poverty,
on disease, on illnesses related to air pollution, on life expectancy and
other similar measures. It is also measurable in terms of production
processes worldwide in which destruction of local environments is part
and parcel of resource extraction and the recycling of commodities.
The open burning, acid baths and toxic dumping pour
pollution into the land, air and water and exposes the men,
women and children of Asia's poorer peoples to poison. The
health and economic costs of this trade are vast and, due
to export, are not born by the western consumers nor the
waste brokers who benefit from the trade. (Basel Action
Network/Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, 2002: 1)
In this example, the atrocity and suffering related to environmental
harm is linked a basic denial of human rights. This is not only evident in
disparities in access to resources or in environmental living conditions; it
is also found in the activities of regimes and companies that use violence
against those who would dare threaten their economic and political
interests. This has led some to argue that since environmental injustice
and human rights are inextricably interwoven, the former should be
recognised as a major component of the latter (Adeola, 2000: 687).
This story is familiar the world over, including within developed
countries. It is a story of lack of care for those who are culturally and