Welcome to my blog! 🙂

I’d like to start off by introducing myself. I’m Hope, and I enjoy listening to music, being out in nature (see photo), and connecting with people. I’m now studying Environmental Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and am looking to work in conservation in the future.

In this blog, I’ll be exploring the topic of environmental justice, and the disproportionate impacts of climate change on different communities. Why, you ask? 

With COVID-19 and other recent events, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, many societal flaws and injustices have been brought to light. That sparked my interest in learning more about the connections between environmental issues and social justice. It also occurred to me that in my experience, these topics, when talked about in day-to-day conversations, were always separate. Therefore, in hopes of spreading more awareness about this subject, I decided to share my learnings and thoughts with you all in this blog!

So, what is environmental injustice?

Environmental injustice: the notion that some communities disproportionately experience greater vulnerability and exposure to environmental hazards than others. Environmental injustices usually arise due to differences in geographical locations, economic and political disparities, and a multitude of other factors that I will be discussing in subsequent posts.

Let’s dig up the brief history of this concept. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it first surfaced in the 1980s in the USA during the Civil Rights Movement, when patterns between environmental risk and societal disparities became clearer. Poorer neighbourhoods were more adversely affected by problems such as waste pollution. This idea was gradually picked up by different disciplines, such as geography, sociology, philosophy, and more. Today, together with the spread of the concept, the issue has become global, especially with the advent of climate change. Organisations such as the Environmental Justice Foundation have also been founded.

I’ll be covering this issue in different contexts and communities around the world – cities, indigenous communities, climate refugees, and more. I will also delve into the relevance of this topic in our local context, as with access to green spaces, compared to other cities. If possible, I hope to document and discuss the links between media coverage and environmental injustice.

I look forward to sharing new and exciting insights with you on this journey!

– Hope 🙂