When we are in the midst of economic strife, as we saw in 2008, the health of our environment often gets shunted down the priority list by tough-talking governments. Environmental problems are often characterised as oppositional to raising living standards.

Yet, tackling inequality (pdf) is exactly what we need to do if we are serious about building a safe and healthy natural environment, as well as essential for a sustainable economy.

Since the publication of Thomas Piketty’s Capital there has been increasing political and academic agreement that rampant inequality is bad economics, with Christine Lagarde and Mark Carney some of the more recent ambassadors for closing the gap between the haves and the have-nots. But it’s not just bad economics – it’s bad for the planet too.

Inequality of income, opportunity, and ability to participate often correlate and lead to the least well-off – and least able to effectively demand that things are done differently – being hit hardest by pollution and environmental impacts.

To take just one topical example, particulate air pollution is higher in the poorest 20% of neighbourhoods in the UK. But it’s a common theme. Ask yourself how often a new incinerator is proposed for the middle of a millionaire’s row. People that are better off are simply more able to speak up – or perhaps more accurately, be heard – on things that affect them.

That’s why Friends of the Earth has always been proud to stand with those at the sharp end of environmental problems. Just a few months ago we celebrated with Valley communities as Caerphilly Council threw out plans for a massive, open-cast coal mine in Nant Llesg in Wales – although we hear that the company is likely to appeal the planning decision.

The fundamental injustice of environmental damage is that it usually happens to those least able to act against it. This is writ large with crises like climate change: largely caused by rich countries, yet which overwhelmingly impact those in the poorest countries. It’s why a core focus for NGOs at the upcoming climate talks in Paris is ‘fair shares’ – with rich countries cutting their emissions fastest, and helping developing countries switch to clean energy.

Research also suggests that more unequal societies find it hardest to deliver strong environmental policies. Indeed, as Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, authors of The Spirit Level, argue, “inequality is being taken up as an important environmental issue; because it drives status competition, it intensifies consumerism and adds to personal debt.”

Ultimately, tackling inequality is integral to giving everyone a chance of a decent life on an increasingly crowded, resource-stressed planet. Most governments see their overriding priority as delivering growth in GDP, but for as long as economic growth relies on consumption of natural resources, is there enough planet for everyone to aspire to the resource consumption of the very richest? I doubt it. If the aim is – as it should be – to deliver decent lives for all on a thriving and abundant planet, we’re going to have to share things out more effectively than we do at present.

One thing employers should do to narrow the gap between rich and poor is pay a decent living wage. Although Friends of the Earth has been paying well above the Living Wage for years, we’re very proud this week to add our name to the growing roster of Living Wage accredited organisations.

Ignoring the wider macro economic and environmental problems, paying a decent wage is just the right thing for employers to do, and to be seen to be doing. The cost of living has soared relative to wages over the last decade, with the gulf particularly pronounced in London but keenly felt nationwide.

The Living Wage Foundation calculate the rate (newly confirmed today) as the amount people actually need to get by; it’s worked out by the actual cost of basic goods. George Osborne may have appropriated the phrase in his July 2015 Budget, but his new ‘National Living Wage’ – while a step in the right direction – isn’t calculated like this and isn’t good enough.

So paying the (real) Living Wage is an important start, and it’s great to see so many other organisations and businesses doing the right thing and accrediting, during Living Wage Week and beyond. But we need to look to our politicians to do much more on inequality in all its various incarnations. While the last 40 years has seen huge growth in the UK economy, this has been alongside big rises in inequality and no increase in reported wellbeing.

We need higher environmental standards and quality of life for everyone. Better priorities – reducing economic inequality, and giving people far stronger legal rights to influence decisions that affect them and their localities – would be a good start.