principles of environmental justice
The First National People of Color
Environmental Leadership Summit October 24-27, 1991 Washington, D.C.
PREAMBLE
WE, THE PEOPLE
OF COLOR, gathered together at this multinational People of Color Environmental
Leadership Summit, to begin to build a national and international movement
of all peoples of color to fight the destruction and taking of our lands and
communities, do hereby reestablish our spiritual interdependence to the sacredness
of our Mother Earth; to respect and celebrate each of our cultures, languages
and beliefs about the natural world and our roles in healing ourselves; to
insure environmental justice; to promote economic alternatives which would
contribute to the development of environmentally safe livelihoods; and, to
secure our political, economic and cultural liberation that has been denied
for over 500 years of colonization and oppression, resulting in the poisoning
of our communities and land and the genocide of our peoples, do affirm and
adopt these Principles of Environmental Justice:
- Environmental Justice affirms
the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence
of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction.
- Environmental Justice
demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all
peoples, free from any form of discrimination of bias.
- Environmental Justice
mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and
renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and
other living things.
- Environmental Justice
calls for universal protection from nuclear testing and the extraction production
and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons that threaten the fundamental
right to clean air, land, water, and food.
- Environmental Justice
affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental
self-determination of all peoples.
- Environmental Justice
demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous wastes,
and radioactive materials, and that all past and current producers be held
strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and the containment
at the point of production.
- Environmental Justice demands
the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making
including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation.
- Environmental Justice
affirms the right of all workers to a safe and healthy work environment,
without being forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood and unemployment.
It also affirms the right of those who work at home to be free from environmental
hazards.
- Environmental Justice protects
the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive full compensation
and reparations for damages as well as quality health care.
- Environmental Justice
considers governmental acts of environmental injustice a violation of international
law, the Universal Declaration On Human Rights, and the United Nations Convention
on Genocide.
- Environmental Justice
must recognize a special legal and natural relationship of Native Peoples
to the U.S. government through treaties, agreements, compacts, and covenants
affirming sovereignty and self-determination.
- Environmental Justice
affirms the need for an urban and rural ecological policies to clean up
and rebuild our cities and rural areas in balance with nature, honoring
the cultural integrity of all our communities and providing fair access
for all to the full range of resources.
- Environmental Justice
calls for the strict enforcement of principles of informed consent, and
a halt to the testing of experimental reproductive and medical procedures
and vaccinations on people of color.
- Environmental Justice
opposes the destructive operations of multi-national corporations.
- Environmental Justice opposes
military occupation, repression and exploitation of lands, peoples and cultures,
and other life forms.
- Environmental Justice
calls for the education of present and future generations which emphasizes
social and environmental issues, based on our experience and an appreciation
of our cultural perspectives.
- Environmental Justice
requires that we, as individuals, make personal and consumer choices to
consume as little of Mother Earth's resources and to produce as little waste
as possible; and make the conscious decision to challenge and reprioritize
our lifestyles to insure the health of the natural world for present and
future generations.
- Adopted October 27, 1991
the First National People of color Environmental Leadership Summit Washington,
D.C.
