Environmental Justice Foundation

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) is a UK-based environmental and human-rights nonprofit organization founded by Steve Trent and Juliette Williams and formally registered as a charity in 2001. Its central premise is that environmental degradation and human-rights abuses are frequently inseparable: communities that depend directly on land, forests, oceans, rivers, and agricultural systems are often the first to suffer when those resources are over-exploited, polluted, or controlled through violence and exploitation. EJF therefore frames environmental protection as an issue of justice, livelihood, public health, and basic human rights rather than solely as a conservation concern. The organization developed from its founders' experience as environmental campaigners working in countries where poor and politically marginalized communities had limited ability to document abuses or influence governments and international institutions. EJF's model combines field investigation, training, visual documentation, public campaigning, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizations. It has trained local investigators and campaigners to gather evidence, record abuses, communicate findings, and press for reforms. Film and photographic evidence have been especially important to its approach, both for documenting conditions that might otherwise remain hidden and for communicating campaigns to policymakers, companies, journalists, and consumers. EJF has historically focused on issues linked to international supply chains and consumption. Its work has included illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; hazardous pesticide use; cotton production; shrimp farming; climate-related displacement; and illegal wildlife trade. The organization argues that demand for inexpensive seafood, cotton, agricultural products, and other goods can create incentives for environmental damage and labor or human-rights abuses in producer countries. Its campaigns seek to make governments, businesses, consumers, and international bodies accountable for those impacts. An early major program concerned fishing rights and fisheries governance in Cambodia. EJF supported local documentation and advocacy that contributed to the development of a national fisheries-focused civil-society network. It later expanded its fisheries work internationally, including campaigns for greater transparency in vessel registration and action against illegal fishing. In 2011 it presented a petition to the United Nations calling for a global record of fishing vessels, an initiative intended to help authorities and markets identify vessels involved in illegal activity. Another important campaign targeted endosulfan, a hazardous pesticide used in parts of the developing world even where it was prohibited or restricted elsewhere. EJF documented exposure risks in Cambodia and later investigated pesticide use connected with cotton production in Mali and India. Its reports linked weak labeling, insufficient protective equipment, inadequate safety awareness, and unsafe handling practices to harm suffered by farmers and local communities. EJF advocated national restrictions and eventual international action; endosulfan was added to Annex A of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2011. EJF has also worked with partner organizations on wildlife trafficking and bear farming in Vietnam, supporting undercover investigations, media production, public-awareness campaigns, and advocacy. Its collaboration with Education for Nature Vietnam included training and equipment support, while its wider wildlife work has included cooperation with WildAid. Across these programs, EJF has generally presented itself as a catalyst: it seeks to equip affected communities, expose abuses, build pressure for institutional change, and encourage more responsible decisions by companies and consumers. It has received international recognition, including the 2015 SeaWeb Seafood Champion Award for Advocacy for its work on illegal fishing. EJF remains an active campaign organization, although the specific scope and structure of its programs may change over time.

The Environmental Justice Foundation emerged from the campaigning experience of Steve Trent and Juliette Williams, who had observed that environmental destruction in poorer countries was often accompanied by exploitation, insecurity, and violations of basic rights. The organization was established in London around 2000 and became a registered UK charity in August 2001. Its founding concept was that people living in disadvantaged communities frequently depend directly on local ecosystems for food, shelter, income, and cultural continuity. Protecting those ecosystems therefore requires addressing the political and economic conditions that allow environmental abuse to continue. EJF's first campaign began in 2001 and focused on community fishing rights in Cambodia. The organization supported local groups with training, investigation, and documentation, helping establish a wider national network known as the Fisheries Action Coalition Team. EJF's report Feast or Famine was presented to policymakers at a meeting hosted by the British ambassador in Cambodia and helped bring international attention to fisheries governance and community access. The organization broadened its portfolio during the following decade. In 2002 it began documenting hazardous pesticide use, with early attention to endosulfan in Cambodia. In 2003 it expanded into wildlife-trafficking issues and shrimp trawling and farming. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing became a central international campaign in 2004, the same year EJF began work on cotton production. In 2009 it added climate refugees and the relationship between climate change, displacement, and environmental injustice. EJF's operating method has involved sending investigators into affected areas, training local campaigners, producing reports and films, and translating evidence into pressure on governments, international organizations, businesses, and consumers. It has worked with local and international NGOs, public authorities, intergovernmental institutions, and corporate actors. The organization has also used public figures and media campaigns to broaden awareness. Its approach emphasizes enabling communities to document their own experiences rather than treating them solely as subjects of outside research. The pesticide campaign became one of EJF's most developed early programs. Its 2003 Cambodian report Death in Small Doses described the dangers and unsafe handling of pesticides, while later briefings addressed the continued use of endosulfan and the inadequacy of labeling and protective equipment. EJF worked with the Cambodian NGO CEDAC to document exposure and promote safer agricultural practices. In 2007, together with Pesticide Action Network UK, it published Deadly Chemicals in Cotton, drawing attention to pesticide-related health and environmental risks in cotton production in Mali, India, and Uzbekistan. A 2009 report, also titled End of the Road for Endosulfan, pressed for alternatives and international restrictions. EJF reported that Bayer CropScience committed in 2010 to end manufacture of the pesticide, and the Stockholm Convention listed endosulfan in 2011. EJF's wildlife work initially concentrated on Vietnam, where it collaborated with Education for Nature Vietnam on illegal bear farming and wildlife trade. It provided investigative, filming, media, and advocacy training, equipment, and support for consumer-awareness work. Public-service announcements, including one fronted by Vietnamese singer My Linh, were used to challenge demand for bear bile. EJF also supported broader wildlife-protection work through cooperation with WildAid. In fisheries, EJF has continued to connect labor abuse, community rights, weak governance, and marine degradation. Its policy campaigns have called for vessel transparency and stronger enforcement against illegal fishing. The organization's advocacy was recognized in 2015, when it received the SeaWeb Seafood Champion Award for Advocacy. EJF's continuing identity is that of an international investigative campaign group using evidence, communications, and grassroots partnerships to pursue long-term environmental and human-rights reforms.

• 2015

  Receives Seafood Champion recognition

  [1]Environmental Justice Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  EJF received the SeaWeb Seafood Champion Award for Advocacy for its work on illegal fishing in West African fisheries.

• 2011

  Endosulfan listed under the Stockholm Convention

  [1]Environmental Justice Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Endosulfan was added to Annex A of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants after sustained international advocacy, including work by EJF.

• 2009

  Begins climate-refugee campaign

  [1]Environmental Justice Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  EJF expanded its environmental-justice agenda to climate-related displacement and the rights of people forced to move by environmental change.

• 2004

  Adds IUU fishing and cotton production

  [1]Environmental Justice Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  EJF made illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and cotton production core campaign areas.

• 2003

  Expands into wildlife and shrimp campaigns

  [1]Environmental Justice Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The organization broadened its work to wildlife trafficking, shrimp trawling, and shrimp farming, while publishing its Cambodian pesticide report Death in Small Doses.

• 2002

  Begins work on hazardous pesticides

  [1]Environmental Justice Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  EJF began documenting pesticide risks in Cambodia, including the use and handling of endosulfan.

• 2001

  Registered as a UK charity

  [1]Environmental Justice Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The organization founded by Steve Trent and Juliette Williams became a registered charity in the United Kingdom and began its first campaign on fishing rights in Cambodia.

A frontline investigative and campaigning nonprofit linking environmental protection with human rights, community livelihoods, and accountability in international supply chains.

• Research and advocacy publications · 2001

  Investigative reports and briefings

  EJF publishes field-based investigations, policy reports, and campaign briefings documenting environmental damage, human-rights violations, and weaknesses in governance. Notable historical publications include Feast or Famine on Cambodian fisheries, Death in Small Doses on pesticide risks, Deadly Chemicals in Cotton, and End of the Road for Endosulfan. These publications are designed for policymakers, journalists, businesses, civil-society groups, and consumers rather than as commercial products.

• Documentary and campaign media · 2001

  Campaign films and visual investigations

  Film, photography, and other visual evidence are central to EJF's method. The organization trains local partners and investigators to record abuses and uses visual material to communicate conditions that may be difficult to establish through conventional policy research. Its media work has supported campaigns involving fisheries, pesticides, wildlife trafficking, and bear farming.

• Capacity-building · 2001

  Community training and advocacy support

  EJF provides training, equipment, communications assistance, and strategic support to affected communities and partner organizations. The goal is to help local groups investigate abuses, preserve evidence, develop public campaigns, and engage national or international decision-makers. This work has included support for fisheries networks in Cambodia and wildlife investigators in Vietnam.

• 2009Climate refugees

  International

  EJF added climate-related displacement to its campaign portfolio, emphasizing the protection and recognition of people whose homes and livelihoods are threatened by environmental change.

  Source
• 2004Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing

  West Africa · International

  EJF investigated illegal fishing and advocated stronger vessel identification, transparency, enforcement, and accountability in international seafood supply chains.

  Outcome. The campaign became one of EJF's principal long-term areas of work and was recognized by the SeaWeb Seafood Champion Award in 2015.

  Source
• 2004Cotton and hazardous chemicals

  Mali · India · Uzbekistan · International

  EJF investigated pesticide dependence and worker and community health risks in cotton production, later publishing research with Pesticide Action Network UK.

  Outcome. The campaign raised awareness of the environmental and human costs embedded in global cotton supply chains.

  Source
• 2003Wildlife trafficking and bear farming

  Vietnam · International

  Working with Education for Nature Vietnam and later with WildAid, EJF supported investigations, media training, equipment provision, and public-awareness campaigns addressing illegal wildlife trade and the extraction of bile from captive bears.

  Outcome. The work strengthened local investigative capacity and sought to reduce consumer acceptance of bear farming and illegal wildlife products.

  Source
• 2003Shrimp trawling and shrimp farming

  International

  EJF expanded its environmental-justice work to the ecological and social effects associated with shrimp trawling and shrimp farming, linking seafood demand to coastal degradation and community impacts.

  Source
• 2002Endosulfan and pesticide safety

  Cambodia · India · Mali · Uzbekistan · International

  EJF investigated the use of hazardous pesticides, especially endosulfan, documenting unsafe handling, weak labeling, exposure risks, and impacts on farmers, families, and ecosystems. It promoted safer agricultural methods and national and international restrictions.

  Outcome. EJF reported a commitment by Bayer CropScience to end manufacture of endosulfan in 2010, and endosulfan was listed under Annex A of the Stockholm Convention in 2011.

  Source
• 2001Cambodian fishing rights

  Cambodia

  EJF's first campaign supported communities defending fishing rights and documenting threats to local fisheries. Its training and advocacy contributed to the development of the Fisheries Action Coalition Team, a network of local and international NGOs.

  Outcome. The campaign helped place Cambodian fisheries and community access on national and international policy agendas.

  Source

• 2011

  Calls for a global fishing-vessel recordStrategy

  Background

  EJF argued that incomplete and inconsistent vessel information made it difficult for governments and seafood markets to identify vessels involved in illegal fishing.

  Action taken

  The organization delivered a petition with 10,000 signatures to the United Nations advocating a global record of fishing vessels.

  Aftermath

  The proposal became part of EJF's broader campaign for fisheries transparency and improved international enforcement.

  Source

• 2010

  Presses for the end of endosulfan manufactureStrategy

  Background

  EJF's investigations and advocacy highlighted health and ecological risks associated with endosulfan in countries where safety controls and protective equipment were limited.

  Action taken

  EJF supported international campaigning for the pesticide's phase-out and reported Bayer CropScience's commitment to end its manufacture by the end of 2010.

  Aftermath

  The campaign continued until endosulfan was listed under Annex A of the Stockholm Convention in 2011.

  Source

1. 1Environmental Justice Foundationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Environmental Justice Foundation official websiteejfoundation.org