Ali, Asghar
                     Working Paper
                     A conceptual framework for environmental justice
                     based on shared but differentiated responsibilities
                     CSERGE Working Paper EDM, No. 01-02
                     Provided in Cooperation with:
                     The Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE),
                     University of East Anglia
                     Suggested Citation: Ali, Asghar (2001) : A conceptual framework for environmental justice
                     based on shared but differentiated responsibilities, CSERGE Working Paper EDM, No.
                     01-02, University of East Anglia, The Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global
                     Environment (CSERGE), Norwich
                     This Version is available at:
                     http://hdl.handle.net/10419/80259
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              A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
              FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
                BASED ON SHARED BUT
             DIFFERENTIATED RESPONSIBILITIES
                     by
                    Asghar Ali
              CSERGE Working Paper EDM 01-02
                    A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
                    FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
                       BASED ON SHARED BUT
                  DIFFERENTIATED RESPONSIBILITIES
                               by
                            Asghar Ali
                     School of Environmental Sciences
                              and
                 The Centre for Social and Economic Research
                       on the Global Environment
                        University of East Anglia
                      Norwich NR4 7TJ, Norfolk UK
                      telephone: (44)(0)1603 592542:
                      email - Asghar.Ali@uea.ac.uk
        Acknowledgements
        The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is gratefully
        acknowledged. This work was part of the interdisciplinary research programme of the ESRC
        Research Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE).
        The author wishes to thank Tim O'Riordan for his support and comments on an earlier
        version of this paper.
        ISSN 0967-8875
      Abstract
      Environmental justice has become a major issue in the discourses of
      environment. The calls for environmental equity and justice are now part of
      major environmental negotiations like the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, to
      give some examples. In this paper I locate the issues of environmental justice
      within the broader framework of environmental sustainability and the
      contemporary debates about theories of justice. The environmental justice
      movement in the USA, which has gained popular momentum in recent years, is
      briefly studied. This particular grassroots movement appears to be redefining
      the sustainability agenda with a strong social justice content. It has similarities
      with environmentally informed social justice movements in the developing
      world, the so- called ‘environmentalism of the poor’. Employing a critical
      discursive methodology I briefly and critically review some of the well-known
      theories of justice based on different principles of justice like need, desert and
      entitlement. These are looked at within the contemporary debates of
      universalism versus particularism or the ‘abstract’ liberal versus communitarian
      theories and some other critical perspectives on justice. I argue for a broader
      conception of environmental justice that takes into account particularities but is
      also sensitive to the global nature of many of the environmental problems that
      are spread and have impacts across regions, territories and even countries. In
      such situations it becomes necessary as a matter of justice to take into account
      differentiated impacts arising out of disproportionate contributions to
      environmental harms or ‘bads’. I further argue that a theory of justice, which
      will recognize this fact, will also have to consider differentiated responsibilities.
      Key words: Sustainability, sustainable development, equity, justice, distributive
      justice, vulnerabilities, responsibility.