“Environmental justice embraces the principle that all people and communities have a right to equal protection and equal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.”
Often referred to as the father of environmental justice, Professor Robert Bullard is a leading figure in environmental justice scholarship and activism worldwide. Professor Bullard has dedicated his career to revealing environmental racism and its impacts, and promoting environmental and climate justice. His work has contributed significantly to the conceptual foundations of intersectional justice in environmental and climate change scholarship and praxis. Professor Bullard has won numerous awards and accolades. In 2018, the Global Climate Action Summit named Dr Bullard one of 22 Climate Trailblazers. In 2019, Apolitical named him one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy, Washington State University honoured him with the William Julius Wilson Award for the Advancement of Justice, and Climate One named him the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication. In 2020, WebMD gave him its Health Heroes Trailblazer Award. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) honoured him with its Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award, the UN’s highest environmental honour. In 2021, President Joe Biden named him to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. In 2022, the University of California, Berkeley Ecology Law Quarterly gave him its Environmental Leadership Award. Georgetown University awarded him an honorary doctorate, and he was elected to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This week we honour an exemplary scholar and activist who has made an immense contribution to our understanding of environmental injustice and provided us with the tools to reimagine a more equal and healthier planetary future for Africans and other marginalised groups.
Prof Robert Bullard will receive his honorary doctorate during the summer graduation ceremony at the University of Johannesburg Sanlam Auditorium.
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Issued by: Faculty of Humanities
