Environmental Inequalities in Global Health

Abstract

Vast differences in environmental exposures exist between socioeconomic groups at the global, regional, and local level. The associated adverse health outcomes are largely avoidable by policy decisions and therefore unfair and unjust. The definitions of environmental inequality and environmental justice are not clear-cut and depend on the local context. Nevertheless, limited access to scarce resources, power dynamics, and socioeconomic differences seem to be the common denominators underlying environmental inequalities. This chapter explores inequalities in environmental health through the urban lens, focusing on accelerated urbanization, the built and physical urban environment, disproportionate health effects of environmental exposures, and general recommendations to decrease environmental inequalities in cities. Integrating health into urban planning is critical. Emphasis should not exclusively be on the built environment, but also on immaterial dimensions such as perceptions of security, belonging, participation, and, above all, on equity. In order to overcome environmental inequalities, this chapter concludes by calling for transdisciplinary collaboration, a reinforced focus on policy integration in line with the Health in All Policies (HiAP) concept and equal involvement and participation of socioeconomic groups in policy decisions.