Environmental Justice from Centering Black Voices at COP28: A Call for Environmental Justice (Conner, A., 2023).
Social Determinants of Environmental Health and Why They Matter
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. SDOH have a major impact on people’s health, well-being, and quality of life [1].
Examples include:
Fig 1: Social determinants of health equity in World Report (WHO, 2025)
According to a 2016 World Health Organization report, it is estimated that 12.6 million deaths around the world are due to living and working in unhealthy environments [2]. Unfortunately, individuals and communities most affected by environmental factors are marginalized populations who bear the brunt of the impact of environmental health hazards [3].
The communities that experience these environmental health disparities experience higher levels of sickness and disease than wealthier, less polluted communities. While organizations like the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) work toward strategies to reduce these disparities, historical and systemic factors, which include racist practices, are ingrained in industries worldwide [4]. Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and low-wealth communities are disproportionately burdened by environmental health hazards, systemic and structural racism and disinvestment, which is actively negatively impacting their health and well-being [3]. This is the case not only in the United States, but around the globe as well [5].
While the United States Government previously recognized [6] the necessity to strategically and actively address social determinants of environmental health, the issue of a system upheld by racist practices has traditionally been avoided in the conversation [7]. This lack of recognition that climate change is an issue of race and social justice at the federal level has led many Americans to believe that disproportionate exposure to is due to poverty alone, as opposed to environmental racism [8].
[1] Climate Change as a Social Determinant of Health (Ragavan, M.I.; Marcil, L.E., & Garg, A., 2020).
[2] An estimated 12.6 million deaths each year are attributable to unhealthy environments (Geneva, 2016).
[3] What is Environmental Health? (American Public Health Association, 2025).
[4] Environmental health disparities, racism studies collected at EHP (Environmental Health Perspectives, NIEHS, 2020).
[5] Centering Black Voices at COP28: A Call for Environmental Justice (Conner, A., 2023).
[6] Disappearing Data: Trump Administration Removing Climate Information from Government Websites (National Security Archive, Feb 06, 2025).
[7] White House Takes Aim at Environmental Racism, but Won’t Mention Race (Friedman, L., 2022).
[8] Racism drives environmental inequality — but most Americans don’t realize (Miller, B., 2022).
Previously cited research removed by federal government as of May 09, 2025
Environmental Health Disparities and Environmental Justice (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, last reviewed: Mar 7, 2024).
Climate change and Environmental Injustice as Social Determinants of Health (United States Government, 2023).