Political Leaders as Drivers of Environmental Justice: A Scientometric Analysis

Environmental justice has become a central issue in the global discourse on sustainable development and social welfare. Environmental justice focuses on the fair distribution of environmental burdens and access to natural resources among all groups in society. In the midst of these dynamics, the role of political leaders becomes crucial as agents of change capable of promoting environmental justice. This research aims to analyze the role of political leaders in promoting environmental justice through a bibliometric approach. The bibliometric method is used to identify research trends, scientific collaborations, and intellectual maps of relevant scientific works. This study collected data from the Scopus academic database. The data collected included articles, conferences, and other scientific documents published in the last decade. Subsequently, this data was analyzed using CiteSpace bibliometric software to identify patterns of collaboration between authors, institutions and countries, and to map the evolution of research topics related to environmental justice and the role of political leaders. The analysis shows a significant increase in the number of publications related to environmental justice, especially in the last five years. This reflects the increasing global attention to this issue. Analysis of co-citation and co-authorship reveals that research on environmental justice is dominated by international collaborations, with authors and institutions from the United States, Europe, and Asia being the most prolific. Some of the key themes emerging in the literature include environmental policy, public participation, and the role of regulation in promoting environmental justice. Furthermore, analyses show that political leaders play diverse roles in promoting environmental justice.