The Right to Know: Environmental Transparency

Sor Juana fought for her right to learn in a system that denied women intellectual access. She understood knowledge as a form of power and liberation. Environmental transparency applies this principle to climate justice: communities have a right to know what pollutants are in their air and water, what emissions corporations produce, and what climate science reveals about futures they will inherit. This right is systematically denied to poor and marginalized communities who bear disproportionate climate burdens. Following Sor Juana's legacy, demanding environmental transparency becomes an act of justice and self-determination. Communities need complete information about industrial projects, fossil fuel infrastructure, and climate impacts to make decisions about their futures. Transparency also holds corporations and governments accountable. When data is hidden, responsibility disappears. By extending Sor Juana's intellectual principles to environmental knowledge, we recognize that climate justice requires open access to truth, enabling communities to understand and resist the systems affecting their survival.