Environmental Justice in Relationship with Sustainable Development: Evolution and Beyond

Abstract

Environmental justice (EJ) has emerged as a central discourse of environmental and social movements over recent decades. The complexity of EJ today has expanded significantly, evolving beyond traditional concerns of EJ to encompass the climate justice issue. Understanding the relationship between EJ and sustainable development (SD) has become increasingly important for achieving equitable economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. Despite growing scholarly attention to EJ and SD, existing research frequently examines these concepts as separate fields. By using a qualitative analysis, this paper seeks to provide valuable insight into the linkage between EJ and SD. The study contributes to the growing discourse on SD by demonstrating that EJ is not merely a complementary objective but a prerequisite for achieving SD.