The economic policy of the government involves strategies and decisions to determine and influence the economic activities of the country aims at promoting development and maintaining economic stability. However, the processes of economic planning and implementation are influenced by the existing political and governance system. Thus, economic policies of the country play a crucial role in shaping and reshaping environmental outcomes, with the potential that government’s policy can lessen or exacerbate environmental problems, consequences, and spatial inequalities. In general, environmental justice advocates equitable access to a healthy environment for all people, regardless of their race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Conversely, environmental injustice manifests when marginalized communities encounter the negative impacts of environmental hazards, while having limited access to the environmental benefits. This chapter illustrates how the government’s economic policies and decisions intersect with environmental regulations and drive environmental outcomes from an environmental justice perspective, emphasizing geographic location. By reviewing existing literature and analyzing cases from the documents and media stories on the intersection of economic policy and environmental justice in both the global north and south, this chapter tries to explain their relationship, debates and challenges. This study demonstrates that marginalized groups, such as low-income and indigenous communities, are disproportionately impacted by environmental injustice. In democratic societies, individuals have the right to voice their concerns about oppression and injustice. However, when democracy operates within a capitalist framework that primarily serves the interests of industrialists and large corporations, achieving and implementing environmental justice becomes significantly challenging. On the other hand, in an autocratic regime, the government may theoretically enforce environmental justice through laws and regulations, however, in practice, this is often unrealistic, as people are unable to openly share their experiences and concerns within their political system.

Keywords: Economic Policy, Environmental Governance, Environmental Justice, Spatial Inequalities, Global Sustainability

*Accepted for Publication