General introduction

The question of environmental justice occupies the thoughts of many people today—much more so, it seems, than past eras due to the grave effects of environmental degradation. Yet in pondering this issue we might like, as Pope Francis encourages us in his encyclical Laudato si’, to stress “the effects on people’s lives of environmental deterioration, current models of development and throwaway culture.”1 The natural outcomes of our current system and the problems of environmental injustice are being confronted throughout the world in various forms of pollution, solid and liquid waste, climate change, water scarcity, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, depletion of natural resources as a result of accelerated modes of production, and urban congestion. This occurs, it should go without saying, to benefit the developmental priorities that unfairly favor the interests of a small, select group of stakeholders. Still it has become increasingly apparent that urgent action is needed to prevent further environmental degradation, and that every person of good will has the moral responsibility to work for the benefit of environmental justice. In recent decades, the Catholic Church has increasingly realized its role in this environmental matter, repeatedly calling upon Catholics—and those beyond the confessional parameters—to acknowledge the injustice and that coincides with the environmental devastation that is occurring. Several contemporary pontiffs—specifically Paul vi, John Paul ii, and Benedict xvi—are protagonists, in this respect, articulating a Catholic environmental ethics by exhorting the church to become active participants in safeguarding environment. In the apostolic letter Octogesima adveniens, Paul vi warns against the tragic consequences of unchecked human activity upon ecosystems: “Man is suddenly becoming aware that by an ill-considered exploitation of nature he