Towards a more comprehensive environmental justice index: a critical review of existing indicators and indices

The environmental justice (EJ) movement has highlighted the importance of identifying and investing in communities that experience disproportionate environmental burdens. This review article aims to evaluate indices that have been developed to identify environmental justice communities and to outline an approach to creating a comprehensive EJ index. This review identified three distinct categories of EJ indicators that are commonly used to characterize EJ communities and proposes a conceptual approach for developing a more comprehensive EJ index. This approach includes the use of environmental pollution and socioeconomic data, along with indicators related to governance, civic engagement, and quality of life. Moreover, information must be available at the community level to ensure that the conditions of the population are accurately reflected. This approach also highlights the importance of engaging the community throughout the process of developing the EJ index used to evaluate the presence of environmental injustice.