People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights

People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights
Name	People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights
Formation	Various dates
Type	Social movement
Region served	Global

People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights Movements for environmental and economic rights comprise diverse networks of activists, communities, labor unions, indigenous groups, nongovernmental organizations, political parties, and transnational coalitions that mobilize to secure recognition of ecological protections and economic justice. These movements intersect with campaigns led by notable figures, organizations, and institutions across continents and engage legal, political, and grassroots strategies to challenge extractive projects, advocate for redistribution, and seek reparations.

Overview and Definitions

Advocacy for environmental and economic rights brings together actors such as Greta Thunberg, Wangari Maathai, Vandana Shiva, Naomi Klein, and organizations like Greenpeace International, Friends of the Earth International, Sierra Club, 350.org, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch with local unions including United Auto Workers, National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa), and AFL–CIO. Movements define terms using instruments like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Paris Agreement, Stockholm Declaration, Aarhus Convention, and regional frameworks such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Escazú Agreement, and European Convention on Human Rights. Campaign vocabularies draw on cases and institutions including International Criminal Court, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, International Labour Organization, and World Trade Organization dispute mechanisms.

Historical Movements and Milestones

Historical trajectories include campaigns linked to the Chipko Movement, led by activists related to Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna, struggles such as the Battle of Orgreave that influenced labor-environment alliances, and turning points like the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro). Landmark events include the rise of Solidarity (Poland), crossings between environmentalism and labor in the Zapatista uprising, anti-dam mobilizations at Narmada Bachao Andolan with Medha Patkar, and anti-colonial resource sovereignty campaigns involving leaders like Evo Morales and organizations such as Movimiento al Socialismo. Other milestones include legal victories like Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency-era activism, transnational campaigns exemplified by Make Poverty History, and contemporary climate strikes inspired by actions at UN Climate Change Conferences such as COP21 and COP26.

Organizational Structures and Strategies

Groups range from community-based organizations like Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo-style assemblies and La Via Campesina to networks such as Global Witness, Transparency International, Open Society Foundations, The Sierra Club Foundation, and broad coalitions like The Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion. Strategies include direct action exemplified by Earth First! and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, litigation pursued through entities like Earthjustice and ClientEarth, coordinated lobbying by Greenpeace USA and Friends of the Earth U.S., labor-environment partnerships such as BlueGreen Alliance, and electoral engagement with parties like Green Party, Labour Party (UK), Democratic Socialists of America, and Partido dos Trabalhadores. Funding and capacity building involve philanthropies including The Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and institutions such as United Nations Environment Programme and World Bank.

Key Issues: Environmental Justice and Economic Rights

Movements address toxic exposure campaigns like those confronting ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, and Shell plc operations, land rights disputes involving Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Ogoni people, and Mapuche people, and labor insecurities in sectors represented by United Steelworkers and International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Economic demands span universal measures advocated by Basic Income Earth Network, International Monetary Fund critiques, debt relief campaigns tied to Jubilee 2000, and minimum wage and living wage drives associated with Fight for $15. Environmental justice intersects with biodiversity protections promoted by Convention on Biological Diversity, indigenous stewardship highlighted by Chief Raoni Metuktire, and climate liability litigation pursued in courts like the Supreme Court of the Netherlands and cases invoking principles from Principles on Human Rights and the Environment.

Case Studies by Region

- Africa: Anti-extraction mobilizations against Glencore and TotalEnergies link to movements led by groups like Ogiek, Landless Peoples Movement (South Africa), and campaigns tied to African Union policy debates. - Asia: Campaigns such as the Chipko Movement, anti-coal protests near Jharia coalfields, and labor-environment coordination involving All India Trade Union Congress and ActionAid India illustrate regional dynamics. - Latin America: Resource sovereignty and anti-extraction resistance include Cocalero movement, struggles in the Cerro de Pasco region, actions by Movimiento de los Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra (MST), and pressure on actors like Pacific Rubiales. - North America: Indigenous-led resistance at Standing Rock, environmental litigation by Sierra Club v. Morton-era defenders, and urban environmental justice organizing by groups like WEACT for Environmental Justice and WEACT showcase varied tactics. - Europe: Campaigns against fossil infrastructure and austerity link activists around Extinction Rebellion, labor alliances with European Trade Union Confederation, and policy debates in institutions like the European Commission.

Legal, Policy, and Institutional Responses

Responses include statutory recognition such as rights of nature rulings in Ecuador and municipal ordinances inspired by City of Paris climate commitments, regulatory actions by agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (United States), transnational litigation at forums such as the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and policy frameworks advanced within United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change processes. Judicial remedies have emerged via cases in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and national constitutions amended in countries like Bolivia and Ecuador to enshrine environmental rights.

Challenges, Criticisms, and Future Directions

Movements face repression exemplified by attacks on activists such as Berta Cáceres and legal pressures encountered by organizations like Sea Shepherd; fragmentation between environmentalist organizations and labor entities including tensions between Green Party agendas and trade union priorities; and funding dilemmas tied to philanthropy critiques by scholars linked to Noam Chomsky-style analysis and institutions like Harvard University study centers. Future trajectories highlight alliances across networks like La Via Campesina, climate science communities associated with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and policy advocacy at venues such as COP28, with adaptive strategies leveraging litigation, electoral politics, community land trusts, and transnational solidarity actions coordinated through platforms including Socialist International and International Trade Union Confederation.

Category:Environmental movements