雅思阅读

📖 Reading Passage

The concept of 'environmental justice' has evolved significantly since its inception in the 1980s. Initially, it focused on the disproportionate exposure of minority and low-income communities to environmental hazards. However, contemporary scholarship extends this framework to include procedural justice, which demands equitable participation in environmental decision-making processes. Recent studies indicate that even when distributional outcomes are improved, marginalized groups often remain excluded from policy forums due to systemic barriers such as language, literacy, and lack of technical expertise. This exclusion perpetuates a cycle of environmental inequality. Therefore, achieving true environmental justice requires not only redistributive policies but also transformative measures that empower communities through education and capacity-building. Without addressing these underlying power asymmetries, formal legal protections may remain ineffective in practice.