The Arduous Journey for Environmental Justice: Trinidad and Tobago a Mirror of the Challenges Confronting the Developing World

Environmental justice is a philosophy that has dominated environmental law since its emergence. The poor often seems to inherit the burden of poor environmental management practices. Thus, it is hardly surprising that environmental justice has emerged as a mechanism to represent the rights of the poor and vulnerable from environmental consequences of development-related decisions. In the developing world, the struggle to represent the interest of the poor and vulnerable in the environmental decision-making process primarily rests on the shoulders of Non-Governmental Organisations. Yet these organisations are often handicapped by several factors predominantly present in the developing world. This paper examines the journey of Trinidad and Tobago, a developing country, to achieve environmental justice as a microcosm of what obtains in the wider developing world.