Environmental Justice Can’t Wait. Protect the Environment
As You Sow’s Berkeley, California office sits on Chochenyo and Muwekma Ohlone land. As I write this in Chicago, Illinois, I am occupying (Bodwéwadmimwen) Potawatomi, Kiikaapoi, Myaamia, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ and Peoria land. You can find out whose ancestral land you occupy by visiting https://native-land.ca/.
As we watch the climate crisis consume our planet, the role of colonization in the degradation of our environment must be considered. We are witnessing the impacts of extreme temperature changes, raging wildfires, and natural disasters. Environmental racism is a direct result of unchecked corporations polluting communities of color. It is necessary that companies consider the role they play in ongoing displacement of Black, Indigenous people, and communities of color, as well low- to no-income communities.
In our racial justice research, we have found that a number of companies engage in environmentally unjust corporate practices, ultimately disrupting the communities they operate within. For instance, S&P500 company Boeing Co. currently has three active toxic waste dump Superfund sites, one of which is the Boeing Tulalip Test site. This site lies within the Tulalip Tribes Indian Reservation, thus disproportionately harming the Native community of the Tulalip peoples.
Furthermore, our research has found that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. engages in redlining practices by providing unequal access to its real estate services. The Seattle Times has reported that the mobile home unit, owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., “Clayton Homes has used a pattern of deception to help extract billions from poor customers around the country — particularly people of color, who make up a substantial and growing portion of its business.” NBC News reports that Democratic lawmakers are asking the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Bureau to investigate allegations that accuse “the largest U.S. mobile home builder of exploiting Black, Latino and Native American borrowers by driving them into subprime loans they cannot afford, and harming communities by repossessing homes after borrowers default.”
Environmental justice requires an intersectional lens, meaning we must recognize the connection between systemic racism and environmental destruction. This means elevating the voices and meeting the needs of the communities most impacted by environmental racism and global injustice. Companies can engage environmental justice frameworks by working with
Black, Indigenous communities and people of color to come up with strategies for mitigating environmental destruction and healing our home.
True environmental justice and racial equity require community self-determination, accountability, and reparations. Reparations can include companies giving a portion of their profits to Black and Indigenous communities, donating money and energy to support community infrastructures, such as building and funding schools, hospitals and urgent care facilities, grocery stores, parks, and libraries. Some S&P 500 companies will pledge $1 million to social justice organizations, but fail to make it transparent which organizations and communities they are working with. Moreover, these pledges feel insufficient when you realize these donations are less than 1% of a company’s market capitalization.
Companies have a responsibility to know the communities they interact with. Engaging in ESG practices is an important step toward taking accountability for the harms they perpetuate and committing to Climate Action 100+ strategies is necessary for achieving climate neutrality, protecting the environment, and holistic environmental justice.