Environmental justice and sustainable development: solutions to environmental racism in Brazil

The origin of the term environmental racism dates back to the 1980s, based on the finding of a relationship between toxic waste disposal sites and the homes of the black population in the United States. Currently, the term refers to any socio-racial discrimination in addressing environmental impacts for a particular portion of society, which now lacks equal access to an ecologically balanced and healthy environment. The objective of this paper is to discuss environmental racism in Brazil, as well as to propose a model that can minimize the disparity in the distribution of negative externalities in the country. Thus, it starts with the following problem: to what extent can the ideals of environmental justice and sustainable development contribute to the fight against environmental racism in Brazil? For this, it is used the hypothetical -deductive method, developed through a bibliographical research through the reading, understanding and interpretation of books, scientific articles and jurisprudence about the themes presented. In the end, it is concluded that the adoption of a sustainable development model with environmental justice is an ideal that must be realized, in order to reconcile economic growth, environmental protection and equitable access to natural resources.