WE, THE PEOPLE OF COLOR, gathered together at this multinational People of Color Environmental Leadership
Summit, to begin to build a national and international movement of all peoples of color to fight the destruction and taking of
our lands and communities, do hereby re-establish our spiritual interdependence to the sacredness of our Mother Earth; torespect and celebrate each of our cultures, languages and beliefs about the natural world and our roles in healing ourselves; toensure environmental justice; to promote economic alternatives which would contribute to the development ofenvironmentally safe livelihoods; and, to secure our political, economic and cultural liberation that has been denied for over
500 years of colonization and oppression, resulting in the poisoning of our communities and land and the genocide of ourpeoples, do affirm and adopt these Principles of Environmental Justice:

The Principles of Environmental Justice (EJ)
1) Environmental Justice affirms the sacredness ofMother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence ofall species, and the right to be free from ecologicaldestruction.

10) Environmental Justice considers governmental actsof environmental injustice a violation of international law,
the Universal Declaration On Human Rights, and theUnited Nations Convention on Genocide.

2) Environmental Justice demands that public policy bebased on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, freefrom any form of discrimination or bias.

11) Environmental Justice must recognize a special legal
and natural relationship of Native Peoples to the U.S.
government through treaties, agreements, compacts, andcovenants affirming sovereignty and self-determination.

3) Environmental Justice mandates the right to ethical,
balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable
resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans
and other living things.
4) Environmental Justice calls for universal protection
from nuclear testing, extraction, production and disposalof toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons and nuclear testingthat threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land,water, and food.
5) Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental rightto political, economic, cultural and environmental selfdetermination of all peoples.
6) Environmental Justice demands the cessation of theproduction of all toxins, hazardous wastes, and radioactive
materials, and that all past and current producers be held
strictly accountable to the people for detoxification andthe containment at the point of production.
7) Environmental Justice demands the right toparticipate as equal partners at every level of decisionmaking, including needs assessment, planning,implementation, enforcement and evaluation.

12) Environmental Justice affirms the need for urban
and rural ecological policies to clean up and rebuild ourcities and rural areas in balance with nature, honoring thecultural integrity of all our communities, and provided fair
access for all to the full range of resources.
13) Environmental Justice calls for the strict
enforcement of principles of informed consent, and a halt
to the testing of experimental reproductive and medical
procedures and vaccinations on people of color.
14) Environmental Justice opposes the destructive
operations of multi-national corporations.
15) Environmental Justice opposes military occupation,repression and exploitation of lands, peoples and cultures,and other life forms.
16) Environmental Justice calls for the education ofpresent and future generations which emphasizes socialand environmental issues, based on our experience and anappreciation of our diverse cultural perspectives.

8) Environmental Justice affirms the right of all workers
to a safe and healthy work environment without being
forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood andunemployment. It also affirms the right of those who workat home to be free from environmental hazards.

17) Environmental Justice requires that we, asindividuals, make personal and consumer choices toconsume as little of Mother Earth's resources and toproduce as little waste as possible; and make theconscious decision to challenge and reprioritize ourlifestyles to ensure the health of the natural world forpresent and future generations.

9) Environmental Justice protects the right of victims ofenvironmental injustice to receive full compensation andreparations for damages as well as quality health care.

More info on environmental justice andenvironmental racism can be found online atwww.ejnet.org/ej/

Delegates to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held on October 24-27, 1991, inWashington DC, drafted and adopted these 17 principles of Environmental Justice. Since then, the Principles have served
as a defining document for the growing grassroots movement for environmental justice.