CONSEJO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS - Reparatory justice for Africans and people of African descent - Environmental Justice

Reparatory justice for Africans and people of African descent Environmental JusticeReparatory justice for Africans and people of African descent Environmental Justice This explainer is part of a series unpacking key components of reparatory justice for legacies of enslavement, the trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism. Explore the explainers Updates will be published on this webpage regularly www.ohchr.org/reparatoryjusticeWhat is reparatory justice? 1. Over 30 million people were violently uprooted from Africa for enslavement. Yet no country with a legacy of enslavement, the trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism has fully confronted this past or addressed its impact on the lives of Africans and people of African descent today. Reparatory justice means ensuring accountability and redress for these harms, through a variety of measures, including apologies, truth-seeking and reparations in various forms, as defined in international human rights law: Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “Justice denied to people of African descent is a denial of our shared humanity.” Restitution that seeks to restore, whenever possible, the victim to the original situation. Compensation which should be provided for any economically assessable damage. Rehabilitation that should include medical and psychological care as well as legal and social services. Satisfaction, such as formal apologies, public recognition of harm, commemorations and tributes to the victims, verification of facts and full public disclosure of the truth. Guarantees of non-repetition, such as legal and constitutional reforms, history education, and artistic initiatives. Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law See also our dedicated explainers at: www.ohchr.org/reparatoryjustice Explore further 3 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent:

a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law See also our dedicated explainers at: www.ohchr.org/reparatoryjustice Explore further 3 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeEnvironmental degradation, including climate change, poses a threat to people’s ability to enjoy human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Some individuals, groups or communities – including Africans and people of African descent –are affected more than others, and bear the brunt of environmental degradation, such as pollution and climate change. Environmental racism occurs when environmental harms or benefits are distributed unequally based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin. This can occur due to discriminatory laws, policies and practices, whether intentional or not. How are people of African descent affected by environmental racism and climate change? 2. Environmental racism According to the United Nations (UN) Working Group of Experts on People of African descent: • Environmental racism cannot be discussed in isolation – it is rooted in colonialism and enslavement. In many countries, people of African descent have lived in segregated areas, and decisions have been taken that have disproportionately exposed them to environmental harms. The Working Group emphasized that this is due to historical and structural racism, exploitative economic models and the legacy of the trade in enslaved Africans. In the post-colonial period, former colonies were also used as dumping grounds for the Global North, and for the trade in harmful and toxic products. • Environmental protection regulations are often less enforced in communities heavily populated by people of African descent. This can result in high rates of asthma, cancer and other chronic environment-related illnesses, as well as other less visible and long-term effects. • Environmental racism is present within and across nations. At the national level, people of African descent often have reduced access to information about environmental matters, to participation in

ronment-related illnesses, as well as other less visible and long-term effects. • Environmental racism is present within and across nations. At the national level, people of African descent often have reduced access to information about environmental matters, to participation in environmental decision-making and to remedies for environmental harm when compared to other groups. Internationally, hazardous waste continues to be exported to countries in the Global South. • The climate crisis has a disproportionate impact on the lives of people of African descent and on the African continent. Global warming and climate change are a result of human decision-making, including the burning of fossil fuels and the release of excessive amounts of carbon into the environment. Climate change is a by-product of an economic system that is heavily reliant on extraction, exploitation and accumulation through dispossession.

Find out more: Read the 2021 report of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on “Environmental justice, the climate crisis and people of African descent”

4 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeDavid R. Boyd, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment “Environmental injustices related to pollution and the production, export, use and disposal of toxic substances are rooted in racism, discrimination, colonialism, patriarchy, impunity and political systems that systematically ignore human rights.” • In different countries, organizations led by people of African descent are at the forefront of the fight for racial, environmental and climate justice. • In Louisiana (United States), residents of St. James Parish brought a lawsuit seeking a moratorium on new petrochemical plants in a region known as “Cancer Alley,” alleging discriminatory land-use decisions that concentrated toxic pollution in majority-Black neighbourhoods. In 2025, a court recognized the community’s standing to sue based on a longstanding pattern of racial discrimination in zoning and industrial development. Several UN experts had previously raised serious concerns about further industrialization

concentrated toxic pollution in majority-Black neighbourhoods. In 2025, a court recognized the community’s standing to sue based on a longstanding pattern of racial discrimination in zoning and industrial development. Several UN experts had previously raised serious concerns about further industrialization in this area, stating in a 2021 press release that the development of petrochemical complexes is a form of environmental racism. • In Suriname, the Saramaka people – descendants of self-liberated enslaved Africans – brought a case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights after Suriname granted logging and mining concessions to foreign companies within their territory without consultation. The Court ruled this violated their communal property rights and ordered the State to provide collective reparations. Examples Climate change affects people, nature, economies, and the full enjoyment of human rights. “Loss and damage” is a term used in international climate negotiations to describe the harm caused by climate change impacts. Economic losses can include reduced agricultural productivity, for example, while non-economic losses may include loss of life, cultural heritage, or biodiversity. Loss and damage from climate change is a contemporary manifestation of historical injustice. It disproportionately affects Africans and people of African descent. This is partly due to the legacies of colonialism, the trade in enslaved Africans, and unfair economic and trade systems. • In a 2022 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that the vulnerability of ecosystems and people to climate change varies among and within regions, noting that these differences are due to “historical and ongoing patterns of inequity such as colonialism,” among other factors. • In a 2024 report, the UN Secretary-General explores the linkages between human rights and loss and damage from climate change. The report identifies frameworks and approaches for solutions, and effective remedies for loss and damage. Explore further 5

other factors. • In a 2024 report, the UN Secretary-General explores the linkages between human rights and loss and damage from climate change. The report identifies frameworks and approaches for solutions, and effective remedies for loss and damage. Explore further 5 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeHow is climate justice related to reparatory justice? 3. Climate justice seeks to share the burdens and benefits of climate change fairly – between people, countries, and generations, across space and time. It highlights how certain groups today suffer more from the impacts of climate change even though they contributed least to it. Climate justice requires acknowledging that the climate crisis is rooted in the past of extraction and exploitation, dating back to enslavement and colonialism. Within the broader movement for environmental justice, climate justice seeks action to address climate change that also achieves: E. Tendayi Achiume, former UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance “Climate justice requires racial justice, and […] racial justice requires climate justice” Historical accountability from nations and entities responsible for climate change.

Justice for ongoing violations: emissions continue to accumulate, violating human rights today and deepening climate impacts.

The dismantlement of structural inequity: transforming the economic systems, political hierarchies, and legal frameworks that perpetuate systemic racism and colonial patterns in the context of climate change and actions to address it. 6 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeClimate action refers to measures seeking to combat climate change and its impacts. It should integrate human rights, in line with the reparatory justice framework for addressing legacies of enslavement and colonialism (see question 1 above).

It includes: Climate finance: the UN Human Rights Council has noted that developing countries under debt

integrate human rights, in line with the reparatory justice framework for addressing legacies of enslavement and colonialism (see question 1 above).

It includes: Climate finance: the UN Human Rights Council has noted that developing countries under debt stress face significant human rights challenges, and emphasized the urgent need to scale up grant-based, earmarked and accessible international financing for climate action.

Mitigation: reducing or preventing greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.

Adaptation: enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change.

Addressing loss and damage from climate change. A central avenue to climate justice is a “just transition” towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all that • is fair, equitable and inclusive • creates decent work opportunities • reduces inequalities and poverty • and enhances and upholds all human rights.

Find out more: UN Secretary-General’s 2025 report on just transition and human rights Historical emissions from industrialization and colonial extraction created the climate crisis. Given their different contributions to global environmental degradation, States have agreed that they have “common but differentiated responsibilities” to address climate change.

Find out more: • Principle 7 of the 1992 Rio Declaration

• The 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate

Change • The 2015 Paris Agreement In 2025, the International Court of Justice stated that human rights law is central to addressing the devastating consequences of the climate crisis. The Court stated that the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities acknowledges “the historical responsibility of certain States” and that “the measures which can be expected from all States with respect to addressing climate change are not the same”.

Find out more: International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion, Obligations of states in respect of climate change, 23 July 2025

Just transition Common but differentiated responsibilities States’ obligations related to climate change

respect to addressing climate change are not the same”.

Find out more: International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion, Obligations of states in respect of climate change, 23 July 2025

Just transition Common but differentiated responsibilities States’ obligations related to climate change UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent “There will be no sustained climate and environmental justice nor any inclusive and just transition to sustainable development without global reparatory and economic justice.” 7 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeWhat measures can contribute to achieving reparatory and climate justice? 4. States that have contributed most, both historically and currently, to climate change should take the lead in delivering reparatory and climate justice. UN Experts have outlined concrete steps to achieve this: Historical accountability Transformative remedies Community-centered approaches Recognize that current climate harms result from cumulative emissions originating primarily in former colonial powers. Engage with people of African descent on measures to halt and reverse the lasting consequences of enslavement and colonialism. Seek climate solutions that also serve to rectify historical inequities. Address the root causes of the ecological crisis and dismantle the systemic racism embedded in fossil fuel economies. Reorient political institutions, economic systems and legal principles to include racial justice and equality priorities. Decolonize or transform laws that can be an obstacle to historical responsibility for climate change. Include the leadership, experience and expertise of frontline communities, including communities of people of African descent. This should be done in a meaningful and equitable way in all stages of environmental policies, processes and implementation. Recognize the rights of people of African descent to ancestral territories and value ancestral knowledge to mitigate climate change. 8 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeProvide funding that doesn’t create debt Direct grant-based climate adaptation and mitigation funding to communities that have

scent to ancestral territories and value ancestral knowledge to mitigate climate change. 8 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeProvide funding that doesn’t create debt Direct grant-based climate adaptation and mitigation funding to communities that have historically experienced discrimination. Recognize that climate change exacerbates the debt crisis. In some cases, countries are forced to borrow for climate recovery – only to become more indebted as they implement climate action plans or because the infrastructure they built is destroyed because of climate change. Business responsibility and regulation Transnational corporations and other business enterprises should recognize their responsibility in cases of environmental racism and historically-rooted climate harm. They should take action to address and mitigate any potential adverse human rights impacts – and, when harms occur, take step to remedy them.

Find out more: UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights Explore further Reform the global financial system to provide climate-vulnerable countries with the fiscal space needed to address the climate crisis.

Share tax resources in a way that is fairer, cancel debt, and honor pledges – climate finance should be seen as an obligation rather than charity. 9 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeHow can reparatory justice and climate justice respond to the needs of people of African descent? 5. Civil society, notably organizations led by people of African descent, have been instrumental in spurring States, the UN and others to take bolder steps towards reparatory justice. Reparatory justice and climate justice initiatives must be designed and implemented with the meaningful, safe, and inclusive participation of Africans and people of African descent.

States should: This includes cultivating long-term, authentic engagement with Africans and people of African descent – ensuring their participation is not superficial or symbolic. States should respond to the specific needs of these communities. For instance, they can tailor their outreach efforts and create dedicated means of participation.

This includes cultivating long-term, authentic engagement with Africans and people of African descent – ensuring their participation is not superficial or symbolic. States should respond to the specific needs of these communities. For instance, they can tailor their outreach efforts and create dedicated means of participation. Excluding Africans and people of African descent risks deepening harm. “We stress that sustained global climate justice is inseparable from global reparatory justice and urge … to: Establish an official COP30 space dedicated to climate justice and reparatory justice, with the active participation and leadership of Africans, people of African descent and Indigenous peoples and representative civil society organizations and grassroots movements…” Create a safe and enabling environment  for people working to combat systemic racism, environmental racism and climate change, and advance reparatory justice. Eliminate barriers to the effective participation of these communities in climate policymaking. Open Letter from about 150 organizations from over 40 countries to the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, September 2025 10 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental Justice6. Why should environmental justice efforts pay specific attention to women and girls of African descent? Environmental and climate injustices intersect with other forms of discrimination, creating compounded discrimination and particularly severe impacts for women and girls of African descent. Entrenched and systemic discrimination can result in gender-specific impacts on health, food security, livelihoods and human mobility. Women and girls of African descent are particularly affected, with their overall health, and reproductive health disproportionately harmed by environmental pollution. They experience disproportionate exposure to lead contamination, air pollution, and other environmental toxins that cause developmental delays in children, learning disabilities, and chronic health conditions. This perpetuates intergenerational cycles of disadvantage and violates the rights to health and to a healthy environment, among others.

They experience disproportionate exposure to lead contamination, air pollution, and other environmental toxins that cause developmental delays in children, learning disabilities, and chronic health conditions. This perpetuates intergenerational cycles of disadvantage and violates the rights to health and to a healthy environment, among others. Women and girls of African descent are also often excluded from environmental decision-making and climate action, limiting the effectiveness of actions to address climate change and further increasing climate harms, despite women’s crucial roles in resource management and community resilience. 11 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeHow is UN Human Rights working on reparatory justice and environmental justice? 7. The struggle against racism and other forms of discrimination is at the heart of the work of UN Human Rights. UN Human Rights supports States and other stakeholders – particularly people of African descent and their organizations – in promoting and delivering transformative change for racial justice and equality. This includes sharing knowledge, building skills, and producing reports, tools and guidance. Active listening and two-way dialogue with Africans and people of African descent is central to UN Human Rights’ work on racial justice and equality. This ensures its work is anchored in lived experiences and reflects their knowledge and expertise. In addition, UN Human Rights promotes a human rights-based approach to environmental action. These efforts include supporting the integration of human rights in climate laws, policies, and processes, and the inclusion of rights-holders in environmental decision-making processes. Research to address Tracie L. Keesee, Expert, International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement; Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Paul Empole Losoko Efambe, Vice-President of the Human Rights Council. UN Photo/Amock Lameck Alikuleti harms caused by environmental degradation, particularly to groups in vulnerable situations, is also a

Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Paul Empole Losoko Efambe, Vice-President of the Human Rights Council. UN Photo/Amock Lameck Alikuleti harms caused by environmental degradation, particularly to groups in vulnerable situations, is also a key part of UN Human Rights’ work, along with advocacy on behalf of environmental human rights defenders. UN Human Rights also supports UN human rights mechanisms addressing issues related to racial discrimination, reparatory justice, and the environment, including climate change. 12 Reparatory justice for Africans and People of African Descent: Environmental JusticeUnited Nations • High Commissioner’s work on racial justice and equality, including reports on the right to participate in public affairs for people of African descent, on intersectionality as an essential framework to combat systemic racism, and on reparatory justice for legacies of enslavement, the trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism • High Commissioner’s Agenda towards transformative change for racial justice and equality for Africans and people of African descent (English | Français | Русский | Español || 中文 | Português) • UN Secretary-General’s 2023 report on reparatory justice for people of African descent • High Commissioner and Secretary-General’s work on climate change, including reports on the rights of older persons, people in vulnerable situations, the right to food, loss and damage, and just transition. • UN Human Rights information materials on climate change, including on “The Right to Development and its Synergy with the Right to a Healthy Environment” and human rights and hazardous substances, as well as a joint publication with UNEP and UNDP on “What is the Right to a Healthy Environment?” (English| Español) UN human rights mechanisms • The 2021 report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on “Environmental justice, the climate crisis and people of African descent” • The 2022 report of the former Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia

UN human rights mechanisms • The 2021 report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on “Environmental justice, the climate crisis and people of African descent” • The 2022 report of the former Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, E. Tendayi Achiume, on “Ecological crisis, climate justice and racial justice” • The 2022 report of the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, David R. Boyd, on “The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment: non-toxic environment” • The 2023 report of the former Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Fabián Salvioli, on “Financing of reparation for victims of serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law” • The 2023 report of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on its first and second sessions • The 2025 report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, Elisa Morgera, on “The imperative of defossilizing our economies” • The 2025 report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, Elisa Morgera, on “ A human rights-based approach to the energy transition” • The 2025 report of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, Attiya Waris, on “Understanding the landscape of climate finance, debt, tax and illicit financial flows and human rights” 13 Additional resources Read the other explainers on reparatory justice www.ohchr.org/reparatoryjustice 1314 This explainer is part of a series outlining key aspects of reparatory justice for legacies of enslavement, the trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism with the aim of making this topic more accessible to the

Read the other explainers on reparatory justice www.ohchr.org/reparatoryjustice 1314 This explainer is part of a series outlining key aspects of reparatory justice for legacies of enslavement, the trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism with the aim of making this topic more accessible to the public. The content is based on UN reports and draws on consultations on racial justice and equality undertaken by UN Human Rights with approximately 200 individuals since 2021, mostly people of African descent, from more than 50 countries. 3 December 2025