The Big Think: Is Modern Slavery a Green Issue?

Popular environmental website TreeHugger.com debates the connections of slavery and environmental issues.

How could we actively engage the environmental community in the fight against slavery? While many environmentalists care about human rights and fair trade issues, they are still seen by many as ‘human concerns’ – and therefore removed from strictly environmental issues. On the other hand, however, it can be argued that if we are to move towards sustainability, we must recognize ourselves as part of the natural systems we inhabit – and accord each other the same respect that we are advocating for the natural world.

Either way, this is a fairly abstract argument. Digging a little deeper, however, we discovered evidence of what we suspected anyway, that there is a very real, very contemporary link between the abuse of natural resources and the abuse of our fellow humans.

Read more from Sami Grover, the Director of Sustainability at The Change, a firm that helps with the media strategy for the Not for Sale Campaign.