ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE: Indigenous & Third World Rights

Third World Issues

Quite a lot of the environmental problems experienced by Third World Countries are not necessarily created by them. One of the things that people from First World countries should acknowledge is that our own lifestyles are propped up by unfair trading arrangements with these countries. Many of these trading arrangements are worked out by the World Trade Organisation, an organisation which has come in for much criticism from environmental and fair trade charities all around the world.

Unfair trading arrangements, which may include paying an immorally low price for traded goods, lack of export benefits, protectionism and asking Third World countries accept and dispose of polluted waste, all contribute to the environmental degradation that some Third World citizens have to face.

Artificially low prices may drive Third World economies into debt and make earning a living in such countries hard or even impossible. Once indebted, the very act of trying to meet their obligations may further lower the living standards of their people. Lack of export benefits and protectionism means that these same countries cannot trade directly in First World countries because the playing field is not a level one. This means that they cannot even compensate against low prices by their own ingenuity. Finally, in asking Third World countries to take polluted and toxic substances for treatment, we are not only exporting our own problems to countries that may not have the expertise to deal with them, we are also asking individuals to take risks which would be legally unacceptable in our own country.

What can you do to help?