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Pollution and children’s health - London South Bank University

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The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health found that pollution – air, water, soil, and chemical pollution - was responsible in 2016 for 940,000 deaths in children worldwide, two-thirds of them in children under the age of 5. Pollution is inequitably distributed, and the overwhelming majority of…

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The physical and psychological consequences of environmental crises and human exploitation disproportionately affect women, children, and economically disadvantaged individuals, resulting in profound social injustices that directly threaten the human rights and equity of the world's most vulnerable populations (Center for International Environmental Law 2011; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 2008; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 2014). The loss of food security, shelter, and personal safety frequently associated with waning environmental health and ecological vitality threaten the fundamental human rights embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (United Nations, 1948).

In accordance with the UDHR, all humans are inherently deserving of security and a standard of living suitable for health and well-being. An acceptable standard of living includes the right to adequate nutrition, clothing, housing, and medical care (United Nations, 1948). The consequences of environmental destruction additionally infringe on the economic, social, and cultural rights dictated by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural rights, including the right of self-determination; the right to pursue economic, social, and cultural development; the right to "the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health"; and the right to education (The United Nations General Assembly [UNGA], 1966). From a constitutional standpoint, 118 nations globally maintain the right to a healthy environment in various articulations (Kravchenko, 2008).

Climate Crisis as a Global Crisis

Climate crisis refers to the devastating consequences of climate change driven by failing environmental health and ecosystem vitality faced by the world today. Described in 2018 by United Nations' Sec retary-General António Guterres as "the defining crisis of our time," declining environmental health and ecosystem vitality represents a transnational threat impacting every corner-and every citizen-of the world (United Nations Secretary-General 2018). The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change has warned that "a rapidly changing climate has dire implications for every aspect of human life, exposing vulnerable populations to extremes of weather, altering patterns of infectious disease, and compromising food security, safe drinking water, and clean air" (Watts et al., 2018). Direly, in the 2019 Global Environment Outlook, the United Nations reported that "nearly one-quarter of all deaths globally in 2012 could be attributed to modifiable environmental risks, with a greater portion occurring in populations in a vulnerable situation" (United Nations Environment, 2019, p. 22). Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) correspondingly states that 23% of all deaths in 2012, representing 12.6 million people, were the result of living or working in an unhealthy environment (WHO 2016). Further, research indicates that diverse environmental indicators, including anthropogenic effects such as climate change, have significantly contributed to the global human disease burden (Prüss-Ustün et al., 2017).

Environmental Indicators of Climate Crises

Climate Crisis, Human Insecurity and Displacement

Equally as important as the environmental consequences of climate crisis are the social consequences of climate crisis. Alterations in global weather patterns, including changing rainfall patterns and the increasing emergence of extreme weather events, continue to adversely affect food and habitation security (World Meteorological Association 2020). Rising global temperatures and variability in seasonal rains increasingly contribute to the loss and damage of agricultural lands and crop yields worldwide (Shukla et al. 2019). Between 2006 and 2016 alone, an estimated 26% of the economic costs of climate-related disasters incurred in developing countries were the result of loss or damage of agriculture, primarily in the forms of crops and livestock. Further, climate variability and weather extremes have been shown to be both leading drivers and compounding factors in the recent rise in global hunger (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2019).

In addition to driving food shortages and fueling an impending severe global hunger crisis, natural disasters and extreme weather events are responsible for the displacement of millions of individuals. In 2019 alone, more than 23.9 million people were displaced as the result of nearly 1,900 weather-related disasters occurring across 140 countries and territories (Internal Displacement Monitoring Center 2020). The scope and severity of 2019 weather-related displacements are borne out in the statistics: 3.4 million new displacements in Sub-Saharan Africa in response to cyclones Idai and Kenneth and widespread flooding; 9.6 million new displacements in East Asia and the Pacific as a result of monsoons and typhoons; 631,000 new disaster displacements in the Middle East and North Africa; 9.5 million new displacements in South Asia due to floods, monsoons, and cyclones Fani and Bulbul; and 1.5 million new displacements in North and South America primarily due to flooding (Internal Displacement Monitoring Center 2020).

Although most individuals displaced as a result of climate and disaster-related events remain within their country of origin, displacement across borders is also a common occurrence (Thompson 2019). International displacement, sometimes referred to as forced or involuntary migration, may be one of the few options available to displaced individuals, particularly if the reason for displacement affects an entire country or other large geographical areas (Thompson 2019). A recent example of international displacement can be witnessed in the thousands of Somali refugees who have fled to Ethiopia in response to the loss of crops, livestock die-offs, and famine induced by severe drought (Nguyen 2019).

Environmental Crises and Human Exploitation

Be it international or intranational, both forced and voluntary migration are frequently associated with environmental changes and interrelated with conflict and violence (Berlemann and Steinhardt, 2017; Thompson 2019). While displaced individuals of all genders are at increased risk of victimization, migrant women and girls, in particular, are frequently the target of violence, harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual and labor exploitation (Banford and Froude 2015; Beneria et al. 2012; Danailova-Trainor and Laczko, 2010; Nobre et al., 2019). Women and girls often suffer most in temporary housing, lacking proper infrastructure (Nobre et al. 2019). Unsafe living environments, such as those characteristic of refugee camps, "tent cities," and transitory settlements, place women and girls at greater risk of being victimized by human traffickers (United Nations 2016).

The United Nations defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation" (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes [UNODC] 2016a). While there is no universally acknowledged definition, "trafficking in persons," "human trafficking," and "modern slavery" are umbrella terms used to refer to all forms of coerced exploitation, including sex trafficking, forced organ donation, forced marriage, and all forms of compelled labor (Craig et al. 2019; Walk Free Foundation [WFF] 2018). These terms will be used interchangeably throughout this manuscript.

Human Trafficking as a Human Rights Crisis

Victims of human trafficking suffer severe physical and psychological consequences due to the prolonged and interpersonal nature of the abuse, such as complex posttraumatic stress disorder, dissociation, shame, and stigma (Hossain et al. 2010; Iglesia-Rios et al. 2018; Jina and Thomas 2013; Katona et al. 2015; Meng et al. 2016; Oram et al. 2012). The act of human trafficking itself, as well as the consequences borne of the act, violate the fundamental human rights embodied in the UDHR, such as the right to freedom from slavery and servitude, and the right to safety and security (United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 2014; United Nations, 1948). Specifically, the UDHR affirms, "no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms" (United Nations, 1948). As human rights are universal, all victims of trafficking are entitled to the full breadth of fundamental human rights and protections set forth by the United Nations and upheld by international law, regardless of sex, gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, migratory status, or other distinction. By this definition alone, modern slavery, like climate change, is a global human rights crisis demanding the immediate attention of all governing bodies.

Climate Crises and Structural Gender Inequality

Environmental risk factors are further compounded by economic stressors and social inequities that traditionally place women in the line of violence and exploitation. Environmental stressors that lead to a scarcity of resources, such as loss of crop yields and livestock, and prompt migration are known correlates of increased rates of physical violence and adverse health outcomes (Banford and Froude 2015; McMichael, 2015; Memon, 2020; Otto et al., 2017; Rezaeian, 2013). Similarly, a substantial body of research has provided strong evidence that poverty and economic migration are foundational push factors for human trafficking (Aronowitz 2009; Cameron and Newman 2008; Cameron et al. 2019b; Cho 2015; David et al., 2019; Gjermeni et al. 2008; Noyori-Corbett and Moxley 2016; Rao and Prestini 2012; United Nations Children's Fund 2005; World Bank Group 2017).

Climate Change and Gender Inequality

Research has indicated that women are disproportionately vulnerable to human trafficking and the negative consequences of climate change, both of which are intensified under inequitable social conditions driving gender inequality (Arora-Jonsson 2011; Enarson 2012; Cameron et al. 2019b, 2020; Fisher, 2010; Heckenberg and Johnston, 2012; Sidun and Flores 2020; Tomkins et al. 2018; Walby et al. 2016). Structural barriers to female equality include women's inability to access resources independently, limited influence on decision-making processes, unequal educational opportunities, the feminization of poverty, and high rates of violent gender-based victimization (Cameron et al. 2019b; Enarson 2012; Felten-Biermann 2006; Melo 2019; Okech et al. 2018; Parkinson and Zara 2013; Sety et al. 2014; Sidun and Flores 2020; True 2016). Also, stereotyped social and cultural roles may prevent women and girls from learning essential survival skills (Nguyen 2018). Additionally, research indicates that women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than men, especially women in the global South (Arora-Jonsson 2011), the same region with the lowest scores on the EPI Index (Wendling et al. 2020).

Additionally, over 88% of the global disease burden attributable to climate change occurs in children younger than five years of age (Sheffield and Landrigan, 2011). A robust body of literature documents the detrimental effects of climate change trauma in pediatric populations, such as increased susceptibility to disease, stunting due to nutritional deficiencies, psychological problems, substance use, and sleep disorders (Bartlett 2008; Bunyavanich et al. 2003; Dyregrov et al. 2018; McDermott and Cobham 2012; Perera 2017). As the majority of responsibility for childcare is assumed by women and girls, particularly those that are poor and vulnerable, the obligation to care for sick and ailing children falls traditionally to the mother or other female family member (Samman et al. 2016). As childcare is both time- and resource-intensive, women and girls burdened with the inequitable division of care are inhibited from advancing in other areas of their lives. According to the Overseas Development Institute (Samman et al. 2016), "care responsibilities not only reduce possibilities for female education and inhibit labour force participation, they also affect the types of jobs women do, how productive they are and how much they earn" (p. 9).

Psychological Consequences of Climate Crises

Extreme weather events and natural disasters can trigger psychological problems such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder, anxiety, depression, complicated grief, survivor guilt, vicarious trauma, recovery fatigue, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation (American Psychological Association 2014; Beaglehole et al. 2018; Doherty and Clayton 2011; WHO 2015; Willox et al. 2015). Populations that are already vulnerable and marginalized, frequently women and children, assume the majority burden of mental and physical health effects of climate-related trauma and stressors (WHO 2015). Sex and gender differences in the development of psychiatric disorders demonstrate that women are two to three times more likely to develop PTSD following a traumatic experience compared to men (American Psychiatric Association 2013; Olff 2017). Similar differences between genders have also been observed in the development of comorbid disorders of anxiety disorders and major depression (American Psychiatric Association 2013), suggesting that women may be disproportionately vulnerable to the detrimental psychological consequences of weather-related disasters and climate-related stressors.

Psychological Consequences of Human Exploitation

In addition to the already-mentioned psychological consequences of climate crises, victims of human trafficking can face additional, specific effects of trauma (Abas et al. 2013; Katona et al. 2015; Meng et al. 2016; Zimmerman and Kiss, 2017 ). Unlike severe weather events or natural disasters, human trafficking has interpersonal intentionality that creates an additional layer of psychological trauma (Hossain et al. 2010; Iglesia-Rios et al. 2018; Park 2016). For example, complex PTSD can occur after prolonged, repeated experiences of interpersonal trauma, specifically in a context where the individual has little or no chance of escape (Abas et al. 2013).

Study Rationale

Past research has addressed both macro- and micro-level contributors to human trafficking, with studies indicating that structural inequality and gendered violence against women play a significant role in increasing women's vulnerability to trafficking (Bales 2007; Barner et al. 2014; Cameron et al. 2019a; 2019b; Cho 2015; Heath and Jayachandra 2016; Melo 2019; Okech et al. 2018; Sidun and Flores 2020). Additionally, studies have indicated that women and girls are disproportionately vulnerable to both human trafficking and the negative consequences of climate change, which is intensified under inequitable social conditions (Arora-Jonsson 2011; Cameron et al. 2019b; Enarson 2012; Noyori-Corbett and Moxley et al. 2016; Sidun and Flores 2020; Tomkins et al. 2018). However, no research has yet looked at the complex relationship between environmental indicators related to climate change, structural inequality, and human insecurity as evidence of increased vulnerability to modern slavery. We posit that there is an important association between the effects of climate change and structural inequality and the cultural roles assigned to women and children, which further contributes to complex vulnerability. We hypothesized that specific indicators of environmental stressors associated with climate change and structural inequality would be associated with increased vulnerability to modern slavery victimization.

Method

Indicators of Structural Gender Inequality

Indicators of structural gender inequality were chosen based on the human rights framework established in the United Nations 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, with specific consideration given to indicators of extreme poverty and hunger, universal primary education, and gender equality and empowerment of women (United Nations Statistics Division (UNSTATS) 2019). Data for the predictors of structural gender inequality were obtained from the UNDP ( 2019b). Five selected structural gender inequality indicators were included in this study, percentage of women (25 and older) with some secondary education, mean years of schooling for women, share of seats in parliament for women, labour force participation rate for women ages 15 years and above, and estimated gross national income for women.

Indicators of Environmental Stressors Associated with Climate Change

The EPI (Wendling et al. 2018) is a method of quantifying environmental performance, defined as environmental health and ecosystem vitality of a state's policies, and was developed within the framework of the environmental goals proposed in the United Nations 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (UNSTATS 2019) and the Paris Climate Agreement (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2015). The 2018 EPI includes scores for 24 performance indicators across 10 issue categories for 180 countries. All 10 issue categories were used in our analysis, including air quality, water and sanitation, heavy metals, biodiversity and habitat, forests, fisheries, climate and energy, air pollution, water resources, and agriculture. Issue categories track performance and progress on two broad policy objectives of environmental health, and ecosystem vitality (Wendling et al. 2018). See Fig. 1 for the specific variables that comprise the 10 issue categories of the 2018 EPI. Comprehensive information regarding the 2018 EPI can be found at https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/.

Estimated Prevalence of Modern Slavery

The 2018 Global Slavery Index (WFF 2018) provides an estimate of the number of people currently victimized by modern slavery across 198 countries. Estimates are comprised of the subestimates of forced labor and forced marriage. Forced labor was further conceptualized as forced labor occurring in the private economy, forced sexual exploitation, and state-imposed forced labor. A more detailed explanation of how modern slavery estimates were calculated for the Global Slavery Index 2018 can be found at https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/about/the-index/.

Procedure

Results

A correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationships between independent and dependent variables (see Table 1). Regression analysis with backward removal was used to test the hypothesis and find the best model of indicators of structural gender inequality and environmental stressors associated with climate change that predict the estimated prevalence of modern slavery victims (per 1000 in the population) across countries. The assumptions of normality, homoscedasticity, linearity, and absence of multicollinearity were met.

Table 1 Gender inequality and climate change indicators predict estimated modern slavery cases across countries: correlations and descriptive statistics (N = 91)

All models were significant at p < 0.001. The full model ( F(15, 75) = 4.924, p < 0.001, adj. R ² = 0.40) contained the ten environmental indicators of water and sanitation, agriculture-sustainable nitrogen management, climate and energy, air quality, forests-tree cover loss, biodiversity and habitat, heavy metals-lead exposure, water resources-wastewater treatment, air pollution, and fisheries. The five predictors of structural gender inequality in the full model were labor force participation rate percentage for females 15+, the share of seats in parliament for women, percentage of females 25+ with some secondary education, estimated gross national income per capita females, and mean years schooling females. This model predicted 40% of the variance in the estimated prevalence of modern slavery victims across countries. The results of the backward regression analysis for the full model with t -scores and beta weights can be found in Table 2.

Table 2 Results of the backward regression analysis for the full model

The final model (model 11) achieved the largest effect size, F(1, 84) = 15.581, p < 0.001, adj. R ² = 0.45 and contained three climate change predictors: agriculture-sustainable nitrogen management, air quality, and forests-tree cover loss; and two structural gender inequality indicators, the share of seats in parliament for women, and percentage of females 25+ with some secondary education. This set of predictors predicted 45% of the estimated prevalence of modern slavery across countries. Table 3 represents the predictors from model 11. Both sets of results were consistent with our hypothesis that specific indicators of structural gender inequality and environmental stressors associated with climate change would significantly predict the estimated prevalence of modern slavery.

Table 3 Results of the backward regression analysis for the final model

Beta values indicate relationships between variables and compare the strength of the effect of each individual predictor and the criterion variable. In the full model, the strongest beta values of the climate change predictors were tree cover loss ( β = 0.41) and air quality ( β = − 0.21), and both were correlated with the estimated prevalence of modern slavery as predicted. As expected, all of the gender inequality predictors except for labour force participation rate for women were negatively correlated with the estimated prevalence of modern slavery. Labor force participation rate for women was positively correlated with the estimated prevalence of modern slavery. The beta values of the final and most significant model were consistent with the values seen in the full model.

Discussion

We hypothesized that specific indicators of environmental stressors associated with climate change and structural gender inequality would be associated with increased vulnerability to modern slavery victimization. While the entire model was significant, certain indicators of climate change and structural inequality played a larger role than others in predicting the estimated prevalence of modern slavery victims, such as secondary education for women over the age of 25, the number of seats in parliament for women, tree cover loss, agricultural management, and air quality. Additionally, we propose that due to the disproportional effects of climate change and human exploitation on women and girls, a gender and sex-based analysis should be a crucial component of all recommendations and interventions within a human rights-based framework.

Forest Management

The final model identified tree cover loss ( β = 0.38) as one of the strongest significant predictors of modern slavery when considered within the context of the other predictors in the model. This facet of forest management represents a significant human rights issue as forests are integral to human quality of life. About 1.6 billion people worldwide rely on forest ecosystems as their source of income, and approximately 300 million people live in forests including more than 60 million indigenous people (Resource Watch, 2020). Further, tree cover is inextricably linked to key environmental systems that are related to human security such as the water cycle, soil health, climate, and air quality.

Agricultural Management

The agricultural management predictor ( β = 0.19) refers to the sustainable nitrogen management index, which measures the Euclidean distance from an ideal point with optimal nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and crop yield (Oenema et al. 2015; Wendling et al. 2018). Increasing a plant's ability to utilize nitrogen efficiently is an important consideration for environmental sustainability and food security. Unsustainable agricultural practices are one of the most significant causes of global food scarcity, which has been linked to forced migration (Morales-Muñoz et al. 2020). According to the United Nations, about 690 million people are undernourished worldwide, and by 2050 that number is expected to increase by an additional two billion people (Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations et al., 2019). Additionally, increased food insecurity and threat of widespread famine are being driven by the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has emphasized existing inequalities and vulnerabilities (Smith and Wesselbaum 2020). While the optimization of crop production and NUE is a complex problem, greater NUE values are generally indicative of increased crop yields (Oenema et al. 2015). While a yield increase may contribute to increased food security, it also drives the need for more labor. An estimated 42% of trafficking victims are trafficked within their country of origin (UNODC 2018a), and the estimates that there are about 3.5 million people worldwide who currently work under forced labor conditions in the agricultural industry.

Air Quality

The EPI 2018 air quality predictor ( β = − 0.31) refers to household solid fuels, PM 2.5 1 exposure, and PM 2.5 exceedance. Household air pollution has been identified as a significant human factor in the climate crisis, and factors related to household cooking technology are a major source of household air pollution across the globe (Boyd et al. 2019). Approximately three billion people continue to depend on solid fuels for cooking and heating (WHO) including the majority of rural sub-Saharan Africa (Boyd et al. 2019; Pachauri et al. 2012). Solid fuels are typically utilized with poorly ventilated traditional indoor cooking and heating methods that use open fires and inefficient stoves, such as with the traditional Injera baking stove in Ethiopia (Adane et al. 2020). Traditionally, women and young children experience the highest exposure levels from household air pollution due to food preparation and household management being customary household roles (Amegah and Jaakkola, 2016; Pachauri and Rao 2013; Perera 2017; WHO). A human-rights approach to improving air quality must include innovative solutions for introducing safe, environmentally sound household cooking and heating options, which will also contribute to reducing vulnerability to exploitation for already marginalized populations across the globe.

Education for Women

Results indicated that percentage of women (25 and older) with some secondary education had an inverse relationship with the estimated prevalence of modern slavery across countries ( β = − 0.146). As established by the United Nations human rights framework, women's education is a key indicator of gender parity (UNDP 2016a; UNSD 2019). Gender stereotypes that suggest women are intellectually inferior to men commonly drive the exclusion of women from traditionally male-dominated fields of study such as science and technology, as well as other forms of higher education (Razavi & Turquet, 2016). Lacking educational opportunities comparable to their male counterparts, women are frequently consigned to "unskilled" domestic, household, and childcare work. As a result, women are over-represented in low or unpaid occupations, placing them at a significant socioeconomic disadvantage. The feminization of poverty, combined with the hardships and dangers of displacement and migration, place women at increasingly escalated risk of exploitation (Cameron et al. 2019a; Melo 2019; Olubukola 2020). Additionally, research has demonstrated the association between human trafficking and lack of education for women (Cameron et al. 2020).

Share in Seats of Parliament for Women

Results indicated that the share of seats in parliament for women ( β = − 0.15) had an inverse relationship with the estimated prevalence of modern slavery across countries, indicating that the lack of women in critical governing bodies may increase women's vulnerability to trafficking. Studies have noted that political exclusion increases women's vulnerability to adverse experiences overall (Davies and True 2017) and where women have higher levels of rights and increased representation in government human trafficking laws are more likely to be enforced (Cho et al. 2014). Further, when women's participation in leadership is limited, human rights issues that directly affect females are not as commonly addressed, which may result in increased victimization by traffickers (Razavi and Turquet 2016). These results were not unexpected and highlight the urgent need for women to obtain equal rights and representation in decision making at national levels.

Water and Sanitation

While not represented in the final model, water and sanitation was significant in the full model ( β = − 0.25) and should be part of a gender and sex-based analysis due to its importance within a human rights framework that addresses gender inequality. Access to clean water is at the very core of human adaptation to environmental stressors and climate change, serving as a crucial link between society and the environment, and is a major human rights consideration (United Nations 2020). Statistics show that it is mainly women and children who are affected by the unsafe management of human waste (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 2017) and that 1 in 3 people globally do not have access to clean drinking water.

Recommendations

In alignment with past research, we argue that strict anti-trafficking policies have not been sufficient to combat the egregious human rights crisis of modern slavery. Additionally, current climate agreements have been inadequate to solve the growing climate crisis. Instead, policies and actions that are in alignment with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and that address structural gender inequalities and climate change, as well as the specific predictors in our model, are needed. Targeted and culturally appropriate interventions, novel technologies, solutions, and further analysis are needed to prevent and control emerging physical and mental health threats associated with the interaction between environmental stressors associated with climate change, structural gender inequality, and modern slavery. Additionally, public health interventions are needed to target the needs of climate refugees, especially during migration, to minimize associated risks such as vulnerability to human trafficking.

Further, to provide appropriate physical and mental health care (prevention, screening, and treatment) for victims of climate crises and human trafficking, assessments and interventions should address possible chronic conditions, mental health problems, and trauma symptoms. A trauma-informed approach to all forms of care is crucial for addressing the effects of trauma due to the associated consequences of climate crises, such as migration, economic insecurity, food insecurity, disease, physical injury, and exploitation.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that specific indicators of environmental stress associated with climate change may exacerbate structural social inequalities and increase vulnerability to modern slavery. When examined together, environmental predictors of air quality and agricultural management, and gender inequality indicators of women's share of seats in parliament and percentage of women over the age of 25 with secondary education, were found to play a particularly large role in increasing vulnerability. Awareness of the relationship between environmental stressors, gender inequality, and modern slavery provides a meaningful contribution to our understanding of factors driving human exploitation and provides an empirical foundation for recommendations and interventions that serve to ameliorate the causes and consequences of climate crisis and modern slavery that are associated with human suffering.

With a burgeoning recognition of the role of climate change in human exploitation, anti-trafficking efforts should seek to address underlying environmental and ecological conditions that contribute to women and girls' heightened vulnerability. Concurrently, anti-trafficking efforts must continue to combat existing gender inequalities repeatedly shown to be at the very heart of the modern slavery trade. Until theses contributors are addressed, climate change and extreme weather events will continue to adversely affect food and habitation security, driving food shortages and mass displacement, and heightening the vulnerability of millions of people to the risk of violent victimization and exploitation.

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1. Student in Clinical Psychology, School of Psychology, Fielding Graduate University, 2020 De La Vina St, Santa Barbara, CA, 93105, USA

Erinn C. Cameron, Samantha L. Hemingway & Fiona J. Cunningham

2. Psychology Department Chair and Professor of Psychology, School of Psychology, Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, USA

Kristine M. Jacquin

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Correspondence to Erinn C. Cameron.

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Cameron, E.C., Hemingway, S.L., Cunningham, F.J. et al. Global Crises: Gendered Vulnerabilities of Structural Inequality, Environmental Performance, and Modern Slavery. Hu Arenas 4, 391-412 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-020-00154-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-020-00154-2

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Keywords

Human trafficking

Gender inequality

Modern slavery

Climate crisis

Human rights

Environmental performance index

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Global Crises: Gendered Vulnerabilities of Structural Inequality, Environmental Performance, and Modern Slavery - Human Arenas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Climate change and modern slavery are two of the most significant human rights crises of our time. Women and children are disproportionately vulnerable to such crises, which are intensified under inequitable social conditions and driven by structural barriers to female equality.

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"Research now demonstrates that the continued functioning of the Earth system as it has supported the well-being of human civilization in recent centuries is at risk. Without urgent action, we could face threats to water, food, biodiversity and other critical resources: these threats risk intensifying economic, ecological and social crises, creating the potential for a humanitarian emergency on a global scale. In one lifetime our increasingly interconnected and interdependent economic, social, cultural and political systems have come to place pressures on the environment that may cause fundamental changes in the Earth system and move us beyond safe natural boundaries. But the same interconnectedness provides the potential for solutions: new ideas can form and spread quickly, creating the momentum for the major transformation required for a truly sustainable planet. The defining challenge of our age is to safeguard Earth's natural processes to ensure the well-being of civilization while eradicating poverty, reducing conflict over resources, and supporting human and ecosystem health. As consumption accelerates everywhere and world population rises, it is no longer sufficient to work towards a distant ideal of sustainable development. Global sustainability must become a foundation of society. It can and must be part of the bedrock of nation states and the fabric of societies."
~ Planet Under Pressure: State of the Planet Declaration

Pressures on the planet's ecosystem are now so great that future generations could face falling living standards.

The population is expected to increase from roughly 7 billion people today to more than 9 billion in 2050. The global economy is expected to recover from the financial crisis and ultimately quadruple in size. However, the financial cost of failing to address climate change could result in an up to 14% loss in per capita consumption worldwide by 2050, according to some estimates.

Pollution will become the biggest cause of premature death, killing an estimated 3.6 million people per year by 2050.

Air pollution alone will be a major killer, overtaking both poor sanitation and a lack of clean drinking water as a global health threat.

Due to dependence on fossil fuels, carbon dioxide emissions from energy use will grow by 70%, the OECD found. This will help drive up the global average temperature by 3° to 6 ° Celsius by 2100. Not only does this far exceed the internationally agreed-upon global warming limit of two degrees, but three degrees may be the "tipping point" where climate change could run out of control, scientists say.

Because the population will grow so dramatically, there will be a 55% increase in demand for water, and 40% of the world's population will be living under severe water stress.

Groundwater depletion will be the biggest threat to agriculture and to urban water supplies, while pollution from sewage and waste water-including chemicals used in cleaning-will put further strain on global water supplies.

Biodiversity will decline by 10% on land, with the worst impacts felt in Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

According to a World Health Organization analysis of 192 countries on the impact environmental factors have on human health, reducing environmental risks worldwide could save 13 million lives every year.

"When the last tree is cut, the last river poisoned, and the last fish dead, we will discover that we can't eat money" ~ Cree Indian Prophecy

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"Research now demonstrates that the continued functioning of the Earth system as it has supported the well-being of human civilization in recent centuries is at risk. Without urgent action, we could face threats to water, food, biodiversity and other critical resources: these threats risk intensifying economic, ecological and social crises, creating the potential for a humanitarian emergency on a global scale.

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Race, class and global politics of environmental inequality.

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Race, Class and the Global Politics of Environmental Inequality

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Abstract. The politics of natural resource access, control and exploitation assume fundamental relations of social power; they imply them and consolidate them. Environmental issues reflect broader patterns of domination and social exclusion at work in global politics which enable us to understand wh…

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Social inequalities and the environmental crisis: need for an intergenerational alliance

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Social inequalities and ecological crisis have the same historical rootsThomas Piketty (1) has described the close relationship between the development of the “extractive” economy that led to the current environmental crisis, and the origins of social inequalities in the world, between countries a…

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Abstract

Rising economic inequality, often considered intrinsically harmful, is increasingly being viewed as having a number of secondary impacts as well, including impacts on health and economic growth. The ongoing nature of today's environmental crisis also raises questions about inequality's role in environmental deterioration. Despite the large number of papers that have been written on this topic, no theoretical or empirical consensus presently exists. Firstly, our article identifies that authors' conclusions in this area depend on their hypotheses regarding 1) the relationship between individual income and individual environmental pressure, 2) the impact of inequality on the social norms that influence individual environmental pressure, 3) the interests that social groups have in degrading or protecting the environment, 4) how these interests play out in terms of political demands, and 5) how these political demands translate into political decisions. Secondly, the study shows that, despite enabling a general test of the causal relationship between inequality and the environment, the empirical methods utilised do not account for the full range of theoretical mechanisms in play. Hence the suggestion that a research programme be launched to conduct empirical studies of the five aforementioned hypotheses by applying a recursive approach.

Introduction

The contemporary period is characterised by intensification of global social and environmental crises. The social crisis has manifested in rising economic inequality since the 1980s in most countries worldwide, with levels sometimes approximating those seen in the United States in the early 20th century (Piketty, 2014, OECD, 2011, OECD, 2014). The environmental crisis has manifested, especially since the 1950s, in the rapid rise in environmental pressures ¹ (Steffen et al., 2011), resulting notably into widespread changes in natural ecosystems (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005) and climatic disturbances (IPCC, 2013). The simultaneous worsening of each of these crises raises a question as to whether they are mutually reinforcing. It is against this background that an environmental justice literature analyses how, and to what extent, the environmental crisis reinforces social inequality by superimposing environmental inequality onto economic inequality (Laurent, 2011). In particular, this literature shows that poor people are highly dependent on their environment and suffer more from the effects of pollution (Martinez-Alier, 2002) and climate change (Olsson et al., 2014). In the opposite way, the social crisis could exacerbate the environmental crisis and prevent its resolution. Indeed, some studies analyse how social inequalities usually inhibit cooperation in the case of local common-pool resource management (Baland et al., 2007). However, this literature does not explore the impact of the social crisis on the environment at a larger scale, i.e. the national or regional level. A number of studies investigate this last phenomenon by analysing the effects of economic inequality on environmental policies and pressures.

Despite many different contributions, this literature has yet to reach a theoretical or empirical consensus. From a theoretical perspective, Boyce (1994), Magnani (2000) and Wilkinson and Pickett (2010) propose a variety of original explanations that imply that inequality negatively affects the environment. Scruggs (1998) and Heerink et al. (2001) develop explanations defending the opposite view. In the first group, Wilkinson and Pickett (2010) consider that inequality has led to individuals adopting consumerist and individualistic behaviours toward the environment. Magnani (2000) theorises that inequality means poorer median segments, hence policies promoting growth rather than environmental protection. Lastly, according to Boyce (1994), inequality reinforces the power of the affluent, who has no interest in protecting the environment. In the second group, Heerink et al. (2001) consider that inequality implies a concentration of wealth amongst the affluent, whose economic behaviours generate fewer environmental pressures. Scruggs (1998) asserts that by concentrating power in situations of great inequality, affluent groups actually encourage environmental protection policies. Such a range of explanations implies that there is a competition between them. The present paper develops an analytical structure that helps detecting the mechanisms that participate to the differentiation of the explanations. Furthermore, it demonstrates the necessity of comparing such mechanisms using observable data. Existing empirical studies can help to substantiate the hypothesis that inequality adds to environmental deterioration, but they have not been conducted at a sufficiently detailed level to advance understanding of which mechanisms are actually at work.

The rest of the paper is organised as follows. Section 2 offers a theoretical structure of this field and compares existing developments. Section 3 analyses empirical studies' contributions and limitations. Section 4 offers a conclusion.

Section snippets

From Inequality to Environmental Pressure: Structuring a Theoretical Field

The present section summarises and compares theories explaining how economic inequality impacts environmental quality and places them within a coherent framework. Boyce (1994) is one of the first to focus on inequality as a potential cause of environmental deterioration. After the answer proposed by Scruggs (1998), some authors attempted to integrate these opposing analyses (Boyce, 2003, Boyce, 2007, Heerink et al., 2001). Nevertheless, academic literature would subsequently hone in on this

Do Existing Empirical Studies Discriminate Between These Different Theoretical Mechanisms?

Literature discussing the causal relationships between inequality and environmental deterioration has produced a large number of empirical tests since the late 1990s. After building a table summarising the results of these tests (3.1), we suggest studying possible statistical patterns in order to achieve an initial discrimination between the theoretical mechanisms identified in the second Section (3.2). In the end, because they mask the intermediary stages between inequality and environmental

Conclusion and Perspectives

The paper reviews theoretical explanations linking economic inequality and environmental deterioration. We demonstrate that some rival explanations come to the same conclusions regarding the nature of this relationship. Two channels, economic and political, are identified, each containing their own internal diversity. The first relates to aggregate environmental deterioration due to the economic behaviour of individuals, the second to the implementation of public policy aimed at protecting the

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank colleagues, and especially Nathalie Gaussier, as well as the four anonymous reviewers and the associate editor for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this paper.

The research leading to these results was funded under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2011) under grant agreement n225349 (ICaTSEM project) and under the MOVIDA program of the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. All errors and

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Mechanisms explaining the impact of economic inequality on environmental deterioration

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Rising economic inequality, often considered intrinsically harmful, is increasingly being viewed as having a number of secondary impacts as well, incl...

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This article talks about how inclusion of environmental justice in contemporary social work practice. It also argues by exploring the implications of environmental degradation.
Found this article on the lsbu library website

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Promoting environmental justice through green social work practice: A key challenge for practitioners and educators - London South Bank University

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Environmental crises associated with disasters exacerbate existing socio-economic and cultural inequalities. This article argues for the inclusion of environmental justice in contemporary social work practice as one way of promoting inclusionary social work that meets some of the challenges of the 2…

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Lots of sources/references

https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/05Chapter3.pdf

Report/book

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https://discovery.lsbu.ac.uk/permalink/44LSBU_INST/176ek5p/cdi_proquest_journals_2857216175

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A significant part of the population in developing regions live in a “low elevation coastal zone” making them more prone to flooding.
Book posted on the United Nations website.
Found through Google.
United Nations is a reliable source because it’s a trusted government website.

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This source is from the Library search.
This is reliable because it is from a journal based on psychology and culture and it was also written in 2021, so it is relevant to this time.
It is also relevant to the essay title because it talks about how climate change affects women and children the most.

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How does environmental crisis exacerbate inequalities?

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How does environmental crisis exacerbate inequalities?

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Citizen journalism. Vol. 2 : global perspectives

Thorsen, Einar.; Allan, Stuart, 1962-

2014

- The source is from an academic book
- Found via library search
- Relevant to topic through natural disaster i.e Syria earthquakes

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In this volume the editors seek to build upon the agenda set in motion by the first volume, by: offering an overview of key developments in citizen journalism since 2008; providing a new set of case studies highlighting important instances of citizen reporting of crisis events in a complementary range of national contexts; and introducing new ideas, concepts and frameworks for the study of citizen journalism.

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Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives- Volume 2 (14) (Global Crises and the Media)

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In this volume the editors seek to build upon the agenda set in motion by the first volume, by: offering an overview of key developments in citizen journalism since 2008; providing a new set of case studies highlighting important instances of citizen reporting of crisis events in a complementary ...

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Architectural technology responds to the environmental crisis: participatory design in an emergency context / La tecnologia dell’architettura risponde alla crisi ambientale: la progettazione partecipata in ambito emergenziale - London South Bank University

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Within the framework of the research and innovation strategy RIS3 “Sustainable Living” (POR-FSE, funded by the Veneto Region), for the improvement of the resilience and adaptation capacity of the Veneto territory to environmental crises and emergencies, the subject of the contribution returns the re…

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Source:
- Kopp, T. & Nabernegg, M. (2022) Inequality and Environmental Impact – Can the Two Be Reduced Jointly? Ecological economics.

- The source is an academic article
- I found the source via Library search
- The prompts in the article title are relevant to the essay topic and the article is based on research within my discipline.

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Share your sources here with a brief explanation of the following:

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Share your sources here with a brief explanation of the following:

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