How fair can be green: exploring the connections between equality and sustainability

The report argues that inequality and sustainability are deeply interlinked, with the wealthiest individuals contributing most to environmental degradation while the poorest bear the brunt of its impacts. Through case studies in the UK, India, and Kenya, and analysis of the energy, transport, waste, and food sectors, it identifies recurring patterns of 'double injustice' where marginalised groups are most vulnerable to climate change and pollution. The document highlights 'win-win' examples—such as distributed solar power in Bangladesh, Bus Rapid Transit in Bogotá, and insect farming in Thailand—to show that sustainable development can be designed to reduce inequality.

• There is a global and national pattern where the wealthiest individuals have the highest carbon footprints and contribute most to pollution, yet are the least vulnerable to the resulting environmental harm.
• In the United Kingdom, environmental inequalities are cumulative, with the poorest populations disproportionately affected by flooding and air pollution despite contributing less to these problems.
• The UK energy system concentrates profits among a few large companies while leaving over 2.5 million households in fuel poverty; furthermore, green levies are regressive as they cost poorer households more as a proportion of their income.
• India's economic growth has been accompanied by extreme wealth concentration and the systematic exclusion of women and lower castes, who are most vulnerable to water scarcity and air pollution.
• In India, the mining sector often exacerbates inequalities, with coal reserves frequently located in regions inhabited by lower caste Adivasi tribes who face forced displacement and human rights abuses.
• Kenya's national economic growth often fails to translate into local prosperity, as large-scale mechanised agricultural projects in areas like the Tana River Delta create few jobs and displace nomadic communities without formal land tenure.
• In Kenya's Turkana County, the discovery of oil risks deepening inequality through land grabbing and the privatisation of communal lands, which may exclude nomadic people from future revenues.
• Decentralised renewable energy can reduce rural-urban inequalities; for example, Bangladesh's distributed solar programme has connected four million households and created 75,000 jobs.
• Transport inequalities are evident in the fact that the richest travel more in polluting vehicles, while the poorest are more likely to be displaced by road infrastructure or killed in road accidents.
• Waste management often reflects racial and economic segregation, with hazardous waste sites and landfills frequently located near low-income or minority communities.
• The global food system is inefficient and inequitable, with meat production contributing 14.5% of global emissions and biofuels competing with food crops, which triggers price spikes that disproportionately affect the poor.

APA

Green Economy Coalition (n.d.). How fair can be green: exploring the connections between equality and sustainability. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/GEC-Can-Green-Be-Fair-Report-March-2019-WEB.pdf

Chicago

Green Economy Coalition. How fair can be green: exploring the connections between equality and sustainability. n.d. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/GEC-Can-Green-Be-Fair-Report-March-2019-WEB.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Economy Coalition |title=How fair can be green: exploring the connections between equality and sustainability |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/GEC-Can-Green-Be-Fair-Report-March-2019-WEB.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greeneconomycoalitionndhow, author = {{Green Economy Coalition}}, title = {{How fair can be green: exploring the connections between equality and sustainability}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/assets/reports/GEC-Reports/GEC-Can-Green-Be-Fair-Report-March-2019-WEB.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }