An anthropocentric approach to harm

Environmental justice is a ‘relatively recent concept in the larger context of environmental protection’. It is concerned with ensuring that ‘environmental burdens and benefits have to be shared fairly’. This means ensuring sufficient protections for those communities which are more at risk from environmental harms.  

This book breaks down and explains complex ideas in accessible language. Hill also uses contemporary and detailed examples to explain and contextualise her points. For example, the Covid pandemic and why people from low-income backgrounds or ethnic minority groups suffered higher mortality rates than those from higher-income or white backgrounds. The Bhopal gas leak in India also features. Other examples come from within the US, but this does not reduce the ability of the reader to understand and contextualise the point within their own country. 

Hill also takes an anthropocentric approach to harm, focusing on how environmental harms affect humans rather than where nature is the primary victim. This brings attention to overlooked communities suffering harm from both extreme natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and from proximity to waste disposal plants and attendant air pollution. 

The author also explores the overarching concept of environmental justice, incorporating ‘sustainable development’ and the environmental justice movement. There is a critique of approaches taken by groups and governments; Hill’s proposals to resolve these issues take a democratic, socialist approach. 

Michael Smith is currently studying an LLM in Legal Practice (SQE 1&2) at the University of Law