ABSTRACT
As a result of a number of global environmental threats becoming increasingly evident over the past three decades, a transnational environmental movement involving a wide range of actors united by a shared ethic of preserving the environment has emerged. Since the UN Conference on the Human Environment in June of 1972, the notion of sustainable development has become central to the elaboration and understanding of contemporary international environmental law and policy. Despite the key status attained by the idea of sustainable development there are good reasons to adopt a critical stance towards the concept of sustainable economic development, particularly when it comes to considering its implications for the demands of global justice which emphasize the good of humanity over the narrow interests of states and multinational corporations. Environmental justice begins from the recognition that marginalisation of the environment and marginalisation of poor communities are strongly linked together and stem from common attitudes and practices dismissive of basic principles of justice.
