Environmental Discrimination in the Age of Waste

Rasool Mogooei

PhD Student in International Relations, University of Isfahan

The quality of life in societies is closely linked to the quality of their surrounding natural and environmental space. Environmental discrimination refers to a situation in which specific groups within a society or across the world—based on factors such as race, ethnicity, social class, or economic status—are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards. These hazards include particulate pollution, sewage, toxins, waste, and other pollutants that directly endanger the health and even the lives of affected individuals. The phenomenon of environmental discrimination has emerged and expanded with industrialization and is now prevalent in most urban and industrial societies. The urban environment, coupled with industrial development in various parts of the world, has led to increased environmental pollution, urbanization, high population density, and severe ecological degradation.

Vulnerable populations, including those living in extreme poverty, women, children, individuals with disabilities, and people suffering from specific illnesses, are often the most affected. Many of these individuals belong to marginalized groups such as refugees, migrants, ethnic and racial minorities, and those excluded from society, including addicts and former prisoners.

This form of discrimination violates several fundamental human rights, including the right to life, health, access to clean water and food, a healthy environment, and freedom from discrimination. People living in environmentally hazardous conditions often consume contaminated food and water, are directly or indirectly exposed to various diseases, suffer from governmental neglect and discrimination, experience high mortality rates, and, most importantly, do not live in a healthy environment. Environmental discrimination is not necessarily confined to urban slums, border regions, or informal settlements; rather, it encompasses a broader scope, affecting groups such as people of color, rural populations, and foreign laborers. Furthermore, this discrimination is not limited to national borders; it may also occur on an international scale.

A critical example of this phenomenon—sometimes referred to as environmental racism—is the transboundary movement of toxic and electronic waste from European countries to Asia and Africa. The world’s largest electronic waste dump is located in Ghana, near its capital, where impoverished workers, including young children, are engaged in scavenging valuable metals from imported waste, exposing themselves to hazardous substances such as lead. This practice has been ongoing for years; for instance, in 2006, the Netherlands shipped 500 tons of waste to Côte d’Ivoire. Similarly, in Asia, countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Malaysia continue to receive waste from European and American countries despite government restrictions and widespread criticism. The presence of toxic substances such as cadmium, lead, mercury, arsenic, and other harmful chemicals endangers the lives of those involved in waste processing. In addition to the direct health and environmental consequences for recipient countries, the waste trade has become a lucrative business for intermediaries, traders, and buyers who exploit cheap labor—often children—to maximize their profits.

Given these facts, environmental discrimination is not merely a domestic issue but an international one. Developed countries, by differentiating between their own citizens and those of developing nations, export their waste to these countries along with the associated environmental consequences. The transboundary movement of waste violates numerous international conventions, including:

1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Article 3 of this declaration recognizes the right to life, which environmental discrimination—particularly waste exports—violates by causing widespread disease and severe pollution. Additionally, Article 25 highlights the right to health, welfare, and medical care, which are undermined by environmental injustice.
2. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR): Article 11 emphasizes the right to an adequate standard of living, while Article 12 affirms the right to the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health. Environmental discrimination, by creating unhealthy and unsanitary living conditions, directly violates these provisions.
3. The Basel Convention: This convention, adopted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), aims to regulate the transboundary movement and disposal of hazardous waste. Article 4 prohibits the transfer of waste to countries that lack the capacity to manage and recycle it safely. The same article also obligates waste-producing and exporting nations to minimize waste production to protect human and environmental health. Article 16 further mandates assistance to developing countries in waste management efforts.
4. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): Article 24 of this convention stresses the necessity of ensuring adequate living conditions for children, while Article 27 recognizes their right to a standard of living sufficient for their development. Environmental discrimination contradicts these principles by exposing children to toxic environments and exploiting them in waste-related labor.
5. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas: Article 10 of this declaration affirms the right to a healthy environment and access to clean water for local and rural populations. However, given the environmental degradation caused by climate change and rising environmental discrimination, these rights are increasingly at risk.

References

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966). Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights
• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989). Retrieved from https://www.basel.int/TheConvention/Overview/TextoftheConvention/tabid/1275/Default.aspx
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child
• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (2018). Retrieved from https://documents.un.org/access.nsf/get?OpenAgent&DS=A/C.3/73/L.30&Lang=E