About & Methodology

We document environmental harm and the legal systems that respond to it, without advocating for any party. Editorial decisions are made independently of funders, governments, and corporate interests. The platform does not assign blame or score jurisdictions; it records evidence and interpretation, clearly separated.

Every published record traces to primary sources where they exist: court decisions, legislation, peer-reviewed studies, government and NGO reports, and — distinctly — first-person testimony. We label each piece of evidence by class: primary, secondary, tertiary, or testimony. Sources are cited and dated. Incomplete records are marked as drafts; we do not invent missing facts.

• Personal testimony — a contributor's account, published with consent and clearly labelled as testimony.
• Verified documentary evidence — claims corroborated by cited sources.
• Scientific measurement — measured or modelled environmental data, with units, period, and uncertainty.
• Legal interpretation — researcher analysis, separate from a court's actual holding.
• Unresolved allegations — claims not yet verified, presented as such.

Locations are approximate. Precise coordinates are never published without explicit, informed permission. Contributors may publish pseudonymously or anonymously and may withdraw permission or request corrections at any time. Private contact details are kept out of public code and public datasets.

This atlas is a living record, not a complete one. Coverage reflects what contributors and editors have verified so far. Absence of a story or case does not imply absence of harm. Environmental indicators describe conditions; they do not establish the cause of a particular person's experience.

Submissions follow a moderated workflow — Submitted → Under review → Fact-checked → Consent confirmed → Published — and nothing is published automatically. The interface targets WCAG 2.2 AA: keyboard navigation, sufficient contrast, text alternatives, and an accessible list-based alternative to the map (the Atlas sidebar lists every record). Data is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 where applicable.

The platform is structured for publication in a public repository. Secrets, contributor identities, private contact details, precise sensitive coordinates, and unpublished submissions are kept out of public code and public datasets.

Errors happen. Any record can be corrected or withdrawn through the contribution page, and every request is tracked. We publish a transparent record of changes where material.

The atlas is built by an interdisciplinary team of researchers, editors, and technologists, with open-source contributions welcomed.

Meet the EJA staff or explore the schools, networks, and organizations connected with EJA.

The atlas hosts regular open meetings for contributors, community members, and researchers to discuss submissions, methodology, and priorities. Meetings are held online — currently via Zoom — and are open to anyone affected by or interested in environmental justice work.

Agendas and minutes from each session are published and linked from this page. To receive the next meeting link and agenda, share your story or research through the contribution page and indicate you would like to join.