Uncovering the Missing Piece: Environmental Injustice in Taiwan's Education for Sdgs

Taiwan has made significant strides in education for sustainable development goals so much so that SDGs is said to be an integral part of our citizenship education rather than just political rhetoric. However, an important issue that remains underexplored in these efforts is environmental injustice. While Taiwan’s SDGs frameworks have focused on achieving ecological sustainability, they often fail to account for the uneven distribution of environmental burdens and benefits across different communities. Marginalized populations, particularly indigenous groups and economically disadvantaged communities, are disproportionately affected by pollution, resource exploitation, and environmental degradation. These groups often have limited access to the environmental benefits resulting from corporate and governmental sustainability policies, which can exacerbate existing social inequalities.

This paper explores the missing piece in Taiwan's SDGs efforts: the lack of integration of environmental justice principles. Through a combination of literature review and interviews with scholars, policymakers, and community leaders, this research seeks to understand the specific environmental injustices faced by vulnerable populations in Taiwan and the systemic barriers that contribute to these disparities. The study also highlights the ways in which environmental justice could be incorporated into Taiwan's SDGs policies, offering more equitable approaches to sustainability that consider the social and economic impacts of environmental policies.

By shedding light on these overlooked issues, this paper aims to contribute to a more inclusive understanding of sustainability in Taiwan, where SDGs practices can be reformed to ensure that all communities benefit from environmental initiatives. Addressing environmental injustice is crucial to fulfilling the broader goals of sustainable development and ensuring that Taiwan’s SDGs policies are aligned with both ecological and social equity.