This paper reframes algorithmic systems as intimately connected to and part of social and ecological systems, and proposes a first-of-its-kind methodology for environmental justice-oriented algorithmic audits. How do we consider environmental and climate justice dimensions of the way algorithmic systems are designed, developed, and deployed? These impacts are inherently emergent and can only be understood and addressed at the level of relations between an algorithmic system and the social (including institutional) and ecological components of the broader ecosystem it operates in. As a result, we claim that in absence of an integral ontology for algorithmic systems, we cannot do justice to the emergent nature of broader environmental impacts of algorithmic systems and their underlying computational infrastructure. We propose to define algorithmic systems as ontologically indistinct from Social-Ecological-Technological Systems (SETS), framing emergent implications as couplings between social, ecological, and technical components of the broader fabric in which algorithms are integrated and operate. We draw upon prior work on SETS analysis as well as emerging themes in the literature and practices of Environmental Justice (EJ) to conceptualize and assess algorithmic impact. We then offer three policy recommendations to help establish a SETS-based EJ approach to algorithmic audits: (1) broaden the inputs and open-up the outputs of an audit, (2) enable meaningful access to redress, and (3) guarantee a place-based and relational approach to the process of evaluating impact. We operationalize these as a qualitative framework of questions for a spectrum of stakeholders. Doing so, this article aims to inspire stronger and more frequent interactions across policymakers, researchers, practitioners, civil society, and grassroots communities.

翻译：本文将算法系统重新定义为与社会和生态系统紧密相连并构成其组成部分的存在，并提出首项面向环境正义的算法审计方法论。我们如何考量算法系统在设计、开发及部署过程中涉及的环境与气候正义维度？这些影响本质上是涌现性的，唯有在算法系统与其运作的更大生态系统中的社会（包括制度性）和生态成分之间的关系层面上才能被理解与应对。由此，我们主张：若缺乏对算法系统的整体本体论框架，便无法公正审视算法系统及其底层计算基础设施在更广泛环境层面的涌现性影响。我们提出将算法系统在本体论上与"社会-生态-技术系统"视为不可分割的整体，并将涌现性影响界定为社会、生态与技术成分在算法所嵌入并运作的宏观结构中的耦合关系。本文借鉴社会-生态-技术系统分析的前期成果，并结合环境正义文献与实践中的新兴议题，对算法影响进行概念化与评估。继而提出三项政策建议以构建基于社会-生态-技术系统的环境正义算法审计方法：（1）扩大审计的输入范围并开放输出结果；（2）保障实质性申诉渠道的畅通；（3）确立基于地域与关系性维度的影响评估流程。我们将这些建议操作化为面向多类利益相关者的定性问题框架。通过以上工作，本文旨在激励政策制定者、研究人员、实践者、公民社会与基层社区之间更积极、更频繁的互动。