How can we make environmental justice a reality?

Research team

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Catriona McKinnon – University of Exeter

Alice Moseley – University of Exeter

Ria Poole – University of Exeter

Aims

Many communities feel disconnected from nature and its benefits. RENEW’s people-in-nature approach puts fairness for people at the heart of biodiversity renewal. This means taking environmental injustice seriously. But what is environmental justice, and what does it mean in the context of nature and biodiversity renewal? What is being done about it, and what more needs to be done? 

Working with partners from RENEW and the wider environmental sector, this work aims to:  

• Enhance understanding of nature-related environmental injustices in the UK, and current and potential responses  

• Provide opportunities to discuss these issues in a supportive, respectful and constructive environment, facilitating learning and information exchange 

• Co-create resources to support those who work or are active in this sector to tackle environmental injustices 

Approach

RENEW is convening an Environmental Justice Forum through a series of workshops, bringing practitioners together to discuss, debate, and identify actions and priorities for the environmental sector. This will culminate in a co-produced ‘Environmental Justice Digest’, an online hub to be shared widely with practitioners, activists, policy makers and citizens – hosted on the RENEW website. The hub will include a thematic summary of the forum findings with key recommendations and priorities, and will signpost useful resources and links.

Next steps

The first Forum meeting took place in February 2025, with further meetings planned for later in the year. The final workshop is due to coincide with RENEW’s Biodiversity Parliament in November 2025, which will be dedicated to the theme of environmental justice and informed by this strand of work. The Parliament will provide a safe and inclusive space for the RENEW community to engage in honest conversations about environmental justice and its demands.