By Carolina Lenzo, LifeWay Network intern and student at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
May 5, 2025
Looking back at Earth Day, I’m reflecting on how environmental justice intersects with our work at LifeWay Network. As we move into May, these connections between climate change and human trafficking remain critically important to our mission.
Earth Day 2025 saw numerous climate action initiatives worldwide, but I find myself wondering how many of these efforts considered the human cost of environmental degradation. When communities face drought, flooding or resource depletion, desperation follows—and with it, increased risk of exploitation.
The recent UN Environment Programme report highlighted how climate-induced migration continues to rise, with an estimated 20 million people displaced annually by weather-related disasters. These climate refugees often fall through protection gaps, making them prime targets for traffickers offering false promises of security and opportunity.
The Role of Corporations and Regulations
What stands out to me is the role of corporations in this complex web. Many of the industries we encounter in anti-trafficking work—fashion, agriculture, mining—are significant contributors to environmental harm. As philosopher Stephanie Collins argues, corporations bear special responsibility because they can make measurable differences through policy changes in ways individuals often cannot. When a corporation reduces emissions or ensures ethical supply chains, the impact far exceeds what any single person might achieve.
Velasquez argues that multinational corporations operating in competitive international environments face what resembles a prisoner’s dilemma.
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights establish that companies must consider human rights impacts throughout their operations. Yet as the philosopher Manuel Velasquez points out in his work on international business ethics, competitive global markets often create situations where corporations prioritize profit over social responsibility when regulation is lacking. Without proper oversight, the “urgent” environmental initiatives announced on Earth Day risk becoming empty corporate promises rather than meaningful action.
Velasquez argues that multinational corporations operating in competitive international environments face what resembles a prisoner’s dilemma. When one corporation bears the cost of ethical environmental practices while competitors don’t, they put themselves at a serious competitive disadvantage. This creates a situation where it appears “rational” for each corporation to avoid environmental responsibility, even though collectively this leads to devastating outcomes for the global common good.
What makes Velasquez’s analysis so powerful is his conclusion—not that corporations are morally exempt, but that we urgently need “to establish an effective international authority capable of forcing all agents to contribute their part toward the global common good.”
He recognizes that without proper enforcement mechanisms, appeals to corporate ethics alone are unlikely to produce the changes needed to address climate change and its resulting human costs, including increased vulnerability to trafficking. This insight helps explain why the flashy corporate commitments we see each Earth Day often fail to translate into meaningful action the rest of the year.
Addressing the Root Causes of Trafficking
As May unfolds, I’m bringing these Earth Day insights into our work at LifeWay Network. Supporting survivors means not only addressing their immediate needs but advocating for systemic change that addresses root causes. The communities most affected by climate change are precisely those with the fewest resources to adapt—creating conditions of vulnerability that traffickers readily exploit.
Moving forward from Earth Day, I’m convinced that our vision of a world where every person lives with dignity must include environmental justice. The path to ending human trafficking runs directly through addressing the climate crisis—a connection we can’t afford to ignore.
Works Cited:
Collins, Stephanie. “Corporations’ Duties in a Changing Climate.” Climate Justice and Non-State Actors: Corporations, Regions, Cities and Individuals. Routledge.
United Nations. “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework.” New York and Geneva, 2011.
Velasquez, Manuel. “International Business, Morality, and the Common Good.” Business Ethics