Green Social Work and Environmental

Justice in an Environmentally Degraded,

Unjust World

Lena Dominelli
Durham University
Email: Lena.Dominelli@durham.ac.uk

Shaped by the past, creating the future

City of Durham, UK
 Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social workers’ responsibility to endorse social justice, work
to eradicate structural inequalities ranging from poverty to
the sigmatisation of people who are different and working
to realise human rights is spelt out in both the international
definition of social work and ethical codes for professional
practice, e.g., those of BASW, NASW, and CASSW.
• Social workers work primarily with poor, marginalised and
dispossessed populations.
• Tackling social and structural inequalities requires a clear
understanding of the issues including inegalitarian power
relations and unequal distribution of the earth’s resources.
• Affirming social justice today includes addressing issues of
environmental justice and care for the planet and requires
a new vision for the profession.
 Why Environmental Justice?
• To affirm human rights and social justice and
enhance people’s well-being provides the
rationale for social workers’ involvement in
environmental justice.
• To affirm interdependencies between people,
their physical, social, political, economic and
cultural environments as part of one whole.
• To care for others and be cared by others,
including the duty to care for planet earth.
No one and nothing will escape the impact of
climate change on the environment.
 Why Green Social Work?
The Green Social Work Model is necessary to:
• Address social inequalities,
• Change socio-economic models of development
rooted in neoliberalism and environmental
degradation that impact adversely primarily on
disadvantaged communities.
• Get nation-states to become committed to social
justice and adhere to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR, Articles 22-27).
 Neoliberalism

Affirming Tackling
Human Structural
Rights Inequalities
Empowering
Just
Practice

Tackling
Environmental
Degradation

Empowering just practice tackles the oppression of people and degradation of the environment
 Green Social Work Affirms Social Justice
I define green social work as:
‘a form of holistic professional social work practice that
focuses on the: interdependencies amongst people;
the social organisation of relationships between people
and the flora and fauna in their physical habitats; and
the interactions between socio-economic and physical
environmental crises and interpersonal behaviours that
undermine the well-being of human beings and planet
earth. It proposes to address these issues by arguing
for a profound transformation in how people
conceptualise the social basis of their society, their
relationships with each other, living things and the
inanimate world’ (Dominelli, 2012: 25).
 Implementing Green Social Work
Green Social Workers undertake the following tasks:
• ‘tackling structural inequalities including the unequal
distribution of power and resources;
• eliminating poverty and various ‘isms’ of inequality;
• promoting global interdependencies, solidarity and egalitarian
social relations;
• utilising limited natural resources such as land, air, water, energy
sources and minerals for the benefit of all rather than the
privileged few; and
• protecting the earth’s flora and fauna.
The aim of green social work is to work for the reform of the socio-
political and economic forces that have a deleterious impact upon
the quality of life of poor and marginalised populations, secure the
policy changes and social transformations necessary for enhancing
the well-being of people and the planet today and in the future and
advance the duty to care for others and the right to be cared by
others’ (Dominelli, 2012: 25).
Capital is free to move about the world

People’s freedom to move around is curtailed

Income Inequalities Create Security for the
Few and Insecurity for the Many
• Income and wealth distribution have become increasingly
polarised. The top 20 per cent of the world’s population has
accumulated 86 per cent of the wealth in the last 30 years;
the lowest 20 per cent controls only 1.3 per cent.
• The North-South differential rose from 2 to 1 in the 18th
century to 70 to 1 in 2002 (George, 2003:18-19).
• To put it more graphically, in 2007, the world’s richest 3
people had between them more than the total gross domestic
product of the poorest 48 countries.
• In 2005, Bill Gates had more money than 40 per cent of his
fellow citizens combined.
• An employee at the top of the corporate ladder in the West
earns 200 to 300 times more than the average worker
compared to 40 to 60 times more during the 1960s and 1970s
(George, 2003:19).
Confident, Arrogant and Irresponsible Capitalism
Led by Unaccountable Elites

The numbers of super-rich

billionaires are growing during
the fiscal crisis, rising from 946
individuals in 2007 to
1011 by 2010.
 Massage the Message:
Disguising the Exploitation of Natural Resources for Profits for the Few

Provide a Right-On Message and

Massage the Facts
Fiscal Crises Destroys Lives and the Environment in Which Daily Life is Embedded

Life is cheap

1 bil no clean drinking H2O,

2.6 bil no sanitation,
1.6 bil no electricity,
15 mil die of diseases
cured cheaply and easily
(Newsweek, 4-11/6/12:49)
 Environmental Degradation
Underpins Environmental Injustice
• Environmental degradation is proceeding apace as ocean
acidity rises, sea levels become higher as glacier ice melts,
soil erosion and exhaustion reduce agricultural yields, and
ill-health especially asthma and other respiratory diseases
are triggered by air pollution.
• Wildfires caused by human negligence and natural events
such as lightning strikes have caused millions of hectares of
forests to burn in both temperate and tropical climes.
• Even setting aside land for agricultural purposes has failed
to secure its future.
• Poor people are disproportionately located in degraded
environments, poor housing, inadequate built
infrastructures including utilities and water and suffer from
health inequalities.
• Toxic wastes are also dumped in poor communities.
Environmental Indifference Jeopardises Food Security

Degradation of Land and Loss of

Self-Sufficiency in Food Production
Food Scarcities? Let Them Eat Virtual Food!

Unequal consumption patterns:

1 billion people are dying of hunger
1 billion people are malnourished
1 billion people over-consume
Food prices are rising rapidly and in
2008 led to riots around the world.
 Environmental Degradation
• Environmental degradation occurs in the course of
meeting people’s needs. Much of it can be reduced by
careful planning and holistic environmental
assessments.
• Involving local people in decision-making processes can
avoid the worst elements of poor decision-making and
lead to the co-production of knowledge and
partnerships across disciplinary divides and between
local people and experts.
• Top-down decision-making can lead to forced
migration of large numbers of people and unforeseen
problems, e.g., dead water and drought as a result of
building the Three Gorges Dam in China.
Extracting Minerals Damages the Environment and People’s Health

Mining for coal, gems

and minerals is unsafe
and environmentally
destructive work,
especially when driven
by the profit motive.

Poor countries are at

the forefront of this
devastating approach to
mineral extraction.
 Meeting Development Needs
• Meeting development needs to raise people out of poverty may
cause extensive environmental degradation if growth is not
planned sustainably (meeting the needs of the present without
destroying the potential to meet the needs of the future).
• This does not always happen because multinational firms are
not held accountable by national governments or local people.
• The expropriation of lands, especially those of indigenous
peoples for development purposes, often without their having a
say in what happens or receiving compensation for what is lost,
leaves them in precarious situations.
• REDDS Plus is arguing that indigenous people who forego
current consumption for the greater good, e.g., not cutting
down Amazonian rainforests, could preserve lands in their
current form if indigenous people are paid compensation.
Hydropower can Degrade the Environment if Lacking a Holistic Impact Assessment
Failing to Care for the Earth and Its Creatures Reduces Humanity’s Chances of Survival

Indoor air pollution (use of

cardboard and dung for fires
causes 1.4-2 million
deaths annually.
Outdoor air pollution
kills 1 million people
a year.
 Defining Disasters
There are many different kinds of disasters that impact on
the physical environment and living things:
• ‘Natural’ disasters include:
– Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, landslides, floods.
• (Hu)man-made disasters include:
– Poverty, armed conflict, pollution, over-urbanization (mega-
cities lacking public health infrastructures and utilities),
industrial accidents, e.g., Bhopal, environmental crises caused
by deforestation of tropical and temperate rainforests, climate
change.
• The line between different types of disasters are blurred.
• Poverty aggravates the impact of all types of disaster.
 Environmental Crises
Will Increase in Frequency
Earthquakes in Chile (10) and China (08) Raised Questions about Building Standards

Nature and Human Action Interact

 The 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka Killed 38,000 People Mainly Living in Coastal Areas

Land tenure inequalities mean that poor people living near the sea have no where else to go
‘Natural’ Disasters Cause Environmental Degradation

• ‘Natural’ disasters can cause severe environmental

degradation, e.g., the earthquake that produced the
tsunami that damaged the nuclear reactors at
Fukushima Daiichi in Japan in March 2011.
• In this case, as when other nuclear reactors broke-
down, e.g., Chalk River in Canada, Three Mile Island in
the USA, Chernobyl in the Ukraine, human error
exacerbated mechanical malfunctions. In Japan’s case,
advise to refrain from building that particular type in
that spot or to strengthen the earthquake proof-ness
of the reactor was ignored for years.
The Japanese Tsunami in 2011 Destroyed Towns and Villages and Killed 20,000 People

As in Hurricane Katrina, older people

died in disproportionate numbers.
Assessing vulnerability and taking
preventative is necessary to reduce
deaths and increase resilience.
Social Workers Support People in Evacuation Centres and Camps

Sri Lanka, Tents during the 2004 Tsunami

Surviving disasters in India
 Landslides are Hazardous in Any Situation

Landslides can be caused by poor

development practices, rain, and
movements of the earth. If coming
down a mountain, the flow of debris
can be extremely fast.

The death toll may never be known.

Meager Creek, BC, August 2010

Poverty Aggravates the Impact of Disasters

• Countries in the Global South bear 76 per cent of

damages caused by disasters; 92 per cent of
people affected by disasters live in them; and 65
per cent of the economic losses occur (IFRC,
2009).
• The poor state of the infrastructure
(transportation network, communication links,
power, utilities, and buildings including houses,
hospitals, medical clinics and schools).
• Lack of resources to recover, e.g., social networks,
money, insurance.
• Disasters exacerbate social inequalities.
 Pakistan Floods, 2010

Unequal Access to Resources during Disasters

Getting Aid in a Relief Camp set up for Pakistan Floods, 2010

Where is dignity in their treatment?

Droughts in North Korea Exacerbate Existing Food Shortages
Social Workers Assist in Getting Water to Refugees of Environmental Disasters
Resilience After the Tsunami: Rebuilding Schools

Getting children back to

the routines of school is
useful in recovery processes.
Rituals Help in the Recovery Process
 Environmental Degradation Leads to Ill-Health

• People’s health can be adversely affected by

pollutants in the atmosphere, the water, the soil,
and in their houses.
• People’s expectations about receiving health care
at the point of need are being revised as higher
costs become a reason that politicians use for
asking for a greater contribution from the end
user, the patient.
• Such policies can be exclusionary because poor
people cannot afford to purchase medical care.
• Privatisation turns a public good into a
commodity for the market and that excludes poor
people.
 Snow on the Peaks in England
More cold snaps are predicted
What happens to vulnerable people who are fuel poor?

30,000 older people in the

UK die yearly of preventable
respiratory illness due to
cold, damp houses.
 Increasing Health Inequalities
Destroy Public Health Care, Privatise It and Reserve Best Services for the Rich

This is not the prerogative of the West. This cartoon is about China’s Health Service
Education for the Masses: Deprive State Schools of Resources and then Privatise

Globally, more girls

and women than boys
and men are illiterate.

Increasing primary school

education for girls and women
is one of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
Democratic Deficit and Authoritarian Populism

Protest becomes unacceptable if it challenges elite interests

Holding Politicians Accountable for Environmental Policies is as
Important as Fiscal Accountability.

How often does this happen?

 Climate Change
• Climate change is the warming of the earth’s
atmosphere through the processes of industrialisation
and the burning of fossil fuels for industrial, leisure and
domestic purposes.
• Air temperatures will rise by more than 2°C between
now and 2050 because greenhouse gases/carbon
emissions have not been reduced to below 1990 levels.
• Greenhouse gases are made up of water vapour,
carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous
oxide (N2O) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that trap
infrared rays and heat air temperatures.
• The impact of climate change is contested:
the ‘sceptics’ and the ‘greens’ (Giddens, 2009).
Individual efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
 Climate Change Exacerbates Inequalities

• Climate change is considered by many as the most

crucial contemporary social issue.
• Climate change makes existing ‘natural’ disasters worse
and can potentially increase their frequency and
intensity, e.g., earthquakes and volcanoes if the
(Ant)Arctic ice sheets melt.
• The impact of climate change impacts badly on the
potential for the survival/recovery of poor people, e.g.,
African Americans in Hurricane Katrina.
• Poor people suffer most when the built infrastructure
fails in heat waves and cold spells.
Floods in Sheffield and Durham in the UK in June 2012
Flood in Northern England in 2007
Profiting From Climate Change
 Climate Change Increases Likelihood of
Extreme Weather Events
• Climate change is likely to lead to an increase
in the frequency and intensity of extreme
weather events including storms, heat waves,
cold spells and associated flooding and
drought that lead to higher levels of death
especially amongst women, children and older
people (Oven et al., 2011).
 Extreme Weather Events
• Extreme weather events can stress health and
social care provisions when the infrastructure
fails, e.g., when the roads become impassable
due to snow and ice and the lack of vehicles that
are equipped to navigate slippery and icy terrain.
• This situation calls for partnerships between the
public and private sector and informal carers
living in the community, most of whom are
women (Dominelli, 2012).
 Red Cross Ambulance to the rescue in snowbound Britain 2010

Lack of vehicles that can navigate icy roads indicates infrastructural inadequacy
 Extreme Weather Events
• Extreme weather events, whilst likely to increase are
not predicted to be frequent.
• This makes being aware of the consequences of
preparing for them (or not) difficult for residents in
what Dupuy (2005) called ‘enlightened catastrophism’.
• There is need for consciousness-raising and publicity
that will: alert people to potential dangers, highlight
what steps they need to take to mitigate the risk and
be prepared, know who and where to go for help and
which resources to access if disaster strikes.
• Social workers can undertake this work.
Climate Change Unsettles All Our Assumptions about the Weather
Climate Change Beneficiaries Ignore Global Interdependencies

Social workers can

highlight how destroying
the environment through
climate change creates
winners and losers.
Rising sea levels jeopardise
the survival of small
island states and threaten
coastal cities, towns and
villages.
 Armed Conflicts Exacerbate Inequalities
• Violence and armed conflicts are both an
expression of and another source of inequality.
• They contribute to environmental degradation
through the ordinance that is fired and contribute
to global warming as a result.
• They injure people and destroy their homes.
• They can also prevent people from receiving
humanitarian aid or reaching camps, e.g., Sudan.
• The disputes may linger for years.
• The international community seems to be
incapable of intervening to establish peace as the
principle of national sovereignty over-rides the
state’s duty to protect its citizens/residents.
Peace in Situations of Armed Conflict can Prove Elusive
 Why Involve Social Workers?
• To support people in eradicating structural
inequalities and affirming their human and social
rights.
• To support people in protecting the environment;
to enhance the well-being of human beings and
the ecosphere; and obtain environmental justice.
• To mobilise people in various partnerships and
alliances that promote people’s and the earth’s
well-being.
• To empower marginalised individuals,
communities and groups, especially in influencing
institutional routines and policy/decision-makers.
 What Do Social Workers Address?
Areas of concern to progressive green social workers:
• Human rights violations.
• An economic system that perpetuates inequalities and lacks
corporate accountability.
• The neglect of cultural diversity and non-affirmation of
aboriginal and indigenous lifestyles.
• Lack of people-friendly localities and supportive community
relationships.
• Lack of provision for the health and well-being of people.
• Lack of care for the physical environment.
• Lack of recognition of the interdependency among peoples
and between people and the geo/ecosystem.
• Lack of resilient structures, resources and community.
Social Work Tasks in Tackling Structural
Inequalities
Social work tasks in tackling structural inequalities:
• assessing need;
• co-ordinating and delivering goods and services;
• assisting families to meet their obligations;
• supporting individuals and communities in rebuilding
their lives, developing resilience and building
capacity to minimise future risks; and
• advocating, lobbying and mobilising for changes that
aim to: prevent the continuation of structural
inequalities; and develop sustainable alternative
models for socio-economic development.
Capacity Building in Social Work Practice
 Social Workers’ Roles in Mobilising People
Against Structural Inequalities
Social workers are active players in eradicating social and environmental
injustices and can act as:
• Facilitator.
• Coordinator.
• Mobiliser of people, resources and systems.
• Negotiator or broker between communities and different levels of
government.
• Mediator between conflicting interests and groups, including those based
on gender relations.
• Consultant to government and other agencies.
• Advocate for people’s rights and entitlements.
• Educator and trainer giving out information about accessing resources for
tackling inequalities.
• Cultural interpreter.
• Interdisciplinary translator
• Therapist helping people deal with the emotional consequences of social
and environmental injustices (Dominelli, 2009).
Cycle of Intervention in Tackling Structural Inequalities

Agency

Social Contexts

P
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w
R e
Resilience Risk
e r
s
o R
u e
r l
c a
e t
s Adaptation Shock i
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n
s

Physical Environment

Knowledge
 Conclusions
• Green social work is an essential part of the endeavour
to reduce the footprint that people make on the
environment, while ensuring that resources are shared
equitably across all of the earth’s inhabitants, its flora
and fauna.
• Green social work is based on the realisation of
people’s human rights, social and environmental justice
and citizenship.
• It includes a critique of consumerism, hyper-
urbanisation, neoliberalism and expert-led solutions to
social challenges currently facing humanity.
• It includes a commitment to facilitating local residents’
action (agency), valuing their knowledge and co-
producing solutions.
• Green social work practice is also good social work
practice and draws on empowering values and skills.
Active listening is crucial in co-producing solutions with local communities
Young people’s views of a good social worker
 References
• Davis, M (1998) Ecology of fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster.
New York: Metropolitan Books.
• Dominelli, L (2011) ‘Climate Change: A Social Work Perspective’, International
Journal of Social Welfare, October, 2011, 20(4): 430-438.
• Dominelli, L (2012) Green Social Work. Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Dupuy, J P (2005) Petite metaphysique des tsunamis, Paris: Seuil (Enlightened
catastrophism).
• Giddens, A (2009) The Politics of Climate Change. Cambridge: Polity.
• Klinenberg, E (2002) Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Laugier, S and Paperman, P (eds) (2006) Le souci des autres: Ethique et
politique du care. Paris: Editions de l’ EHESS
• Oven, K, Curtis, S. Reaney, M. Riva, R. Ohlemüller, C.E. Dunn , S. Nodwell, L.
Dominelli and R. Holden (2011) ‘Climate change and health and social care:
Defining future hazard, vulnerability and risk for infrastructure systems
supporting older people’s health care in England’, Journal of Applied
Geography, doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2011.05.012.
• Robine, J M, Cheung, S, Le Roy, S, Van Oyen, H, Griffiths, C, Michel, J P and
Herrmann, R (2007) Death Toll Exceeded 46,000 in Europe during the Summer
of 2003, Comptes Rendues Biologies, 331(2): 171-178.
• Schmidtlein, M., Deutsch, R., Piegorsch, W., Cutter, S. (2008) ‘A sensitivity
analysis of the social vulnerability index’, Risk Analysis, 28(4): 1099-1114.
• Wisner, B. et al. (2004) At Risk: Natural Hazards, People’s Vulnerability, and
Disaster. London: Routledge.
 Thank You!

Email: Lena.Dominelli@durham.ac.uk

Questions?

Shaped by the past, creating the future