Since 2012, Mani Tese has been actively engaged in study and research work on the issue of environmental justice, a far-reaching and widely debated topic whose roots go back to the second half of the twentieth century. However, it was only in the new millennium that the link between environmental and social justice began to emerge more solidly and clearly, especially after the Kyoto meeting in 2005. Indeed, at that time, the wide disparity between countries of the Global North and South became a central issue, as the relationship between historical responsibilities, capacities for action, and long-term impacts had to be addressed.

The creation of an Environmental Justice Index (to access the platform click here), and the publication of the first dedicated periodic report, represent the culmination of a complex and articulated process, which has seen Mani Tese weave relationships with academic institutions (University of Milan and Milan Polytechnic) and innovative scientific realities such as eNextGen (a spinoff of the Milan Polytechnic), thanks to the fundamental contribution of Fondazione Cariplo, which, from the outset, believed in the project. This path included the identification of appropriate indicators, from reliable and open source sources, supported by recognized scientific evidence; the analysis of the same, through a methodology designed to ensure the validity and relevance of the information collected; and the constant revision and updating of the indicators to allow a valid calculation, thus to ensure that the index dynamically reflects the evolution of environmental issues, as well as the needs for interpretation and updating over time.

The intent was to stimulate constructive and purposeful debate around the issue of environmental inequalities, globally and locally. The scientific and rigorous approach, combined with clear and accessible communication, aimed to offer a tool to monitor and influence more just and sustainable environmental policies. In this sense, therefore, should be framed the decision to devote an entire section of the Report to an in-depth study of the textile supply chain, a sector characterized by serious phenomena of environmental and social injustice, with the presentation of some emblematic case-studies, which demonstrate, instead, how it is indeed possible a model of “doing business” capable of looking at change, innovation and transformative processes.