ABSTRACT
Fairness, justice and injustice are critical when considering the practical realities of resource sharing and environmental decision making. Resource sharing has a long history of conflict. Many would argue that the central issue in resource conflicts is the wielding of power and the clash of interests between those involved. Self-interest is a recurring and dominant theme in explanations for resource-sharing disputes. For example, Not-in-My-Backyard, or NIMBYism, is a well-known explanation based on self-interest that describes local opposition to infrastructure such as roads, energy facilities, waste dumps and other types of large development. Those accused of being NIMBYs are often seen as selfish and not wanting to share their local amenity with public infrastructure that others view as vital for the common interest. The sharing of resources and the way decisions are made about infrastructure planning, siting and building is the domain of fairness and justice. The way in which people think about their families and livelihoods, their future security and their communities is intimately connected with their interests in the natural resources on which they depend. To be labelled a selfish NIMBYist when one has the perspective that one is protecting one’s family and livelihood may well be perceived as an injustice in itself. The NIMBY explanation needs to be thoroughly examined. No doubt there are people who fit the NIMBY description (‘I support it somewhere else but not in my neighbourhood’), but on the other hand there are many who are called NIMBYs who are not. They have genuine concerns that underpin their opposition to a proposed development. Name-calling and accusations about hidden agendas, such as ‘who’ is funding ‘what’ group, are prevalent in resource conflicts around the world. But these claims are largely irrelevant when real — and universal — concerns are routinely glossed over by opposing campaigns. The remedy for the NIMBY claim is that local questions and concerns must be answered and put to rest before decisions about the public interest are made. Such matters of injustice, fairness and justice have a broad reach, from local contexts through to how societies are organised for the common good.
