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While environmental risk is unquestionably a collective or even a global horizon, it also indisputably brings into play questions of social inequality. It thus leads us to formulate what is the foundational or seminal question : who is responsible for what, and with what consequences for whom ? Indeed humans are not equal in the face of ecological crises. Nor are they equal in terms of their responsibilities or vulnerability. The social-ecological approach, among the various currents of thought striving to socialize environmental problems involves precisely the acknowledgement of the reciprocal relation linking the social question and environmental issues. It does so by demonstrating how a social logic operates as a crucial determinant in relation to environmental deterioration and crises. In return, it explores the social consequences of the degradations inflicted on the human environment. Within this framework, and from an examination of the French case, the article seeks to clarify the concept of environmental inequality and to measure its empirical amplitude. It goes on to suggest a number of possible options for the construction of a fully-fledged model of environmental justice in France.