Module3

Environmental ethics
 Environmental Science

Environment - the
circumstances and
conditions that surround an
organism or a group of
organisms
Environmental science -
the systematic study of our
environment and our place in
it

2
Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy
that studies the moral relationship of human beings
to, and also the value and moral status of, the
environment and its non-human contents
• Environmental ethics is a new sub discipline of
Practical Philosophy that deals with the ethical
problems surrounding environmental
protection
• It aims at providing ethical justification and
moral motivation for the cause of global
environmental protection
 Approaches for resolving environmental
problems
• In resolving environmental problems there are
two main approaches:
Cost-oblivious approach
Cost-benefit analysis
 Cost-oblivious approach

• In the Cost-oblivious approach, the

environment has to be made as clean as
possible, without taking into account the cost
 The Cost-benefit analysis
• The Cost-benefit analysis ,the problem is
analyzed in terms of the benefits derived by
reducing pollution
 PROBLEMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS IN
ENGINEERING
• Engineers are expected to place paramount
the health, safety, and welfare of the public
• Some of the case studies discussed in
Engineering, Ethics & Environment are
suggestive of problems of environmental
ethics in engineering
 Should a 300-year old tree be cut down to
make way for a sewer?
 ENGINEERING AS PEOPLE-SERVING
PROFESSION
• it is wrong to assume that the career benefits
of professional come at the expense of society
• Sound professional practice, conducted in a
responsible manner by trained specialists, is in
everyone’s interests
• While engineers are generally regarded as
being motivated by public good, how they are
actually motivated to be so is not very clear
• a younger engineer may be more idealistic
than a senior professional whose value system
has been weathered by experience
 LEVELS OF ENGINEERING- AS PEOPLE-
SERVING PROFESSION
• LEVEL 1: PREPROFESSIONAL
Stage 1 – Professional conduct is dictated by the
gain for the individual. Social and professional
responsibilities are not as important.
Stage 2 – The engineer connects conduct to
marketability – there is something to be gained
by being nice
• LEVEL 2: PROFESSIONAL
Stage 3 – Loyalty to the firm is more important
than the ramifications(a complex or unwelcome
consequence of an action or event) of the job on
society and environment
Stage 4 – While maintaining loyalty to the firm,
there is the realization that loyalty to the
profession enhances the reputation of the firm
and brings rewards to the engineer
• LEVEL 3: PRINCIPLED PROFESSIONAL
Stage 5 – Service to human welfare is
paramount: this will bring credit to the firm and
the profession
Stage 6 – Professional conduct follows rules of
universal justice, fairness, and caring for fellow
humans
 SUSTAINABILITY - SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
• Sustainability could be defined as an ability or
capacity of something to be maintained or to
sustain itself
• If an activity is said to be sustainable, it should
be able to continue forever.
• Sustainable development is development that
meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs
 Two key concepts of Sustainable
development
• The concept of needs, in particular the
essential needs of the world's poor, to which
overriding priority should be given
• The idea of limitations imposed by the state of
technology and social organization on the
environment's ability to meet present and
future needs.
 ENGINEER’S RESPONSIBILITY TO
ENVIRONMENT
• Engineering responsibilities for the environment are currently
governed by laws controlling environmental matters
 Engineers must assume a responsibility for the effects of their
work to make a substantial contribution to the protection of
the environment.
 They must not participate in projects that are unnecessarily
destructive to the environment even if these projects do not
endanger physical life or health.
 Engineers should express their professional opinions on
environmental matters based on sound knowledge and
analysis.
 Where no national guidelines exist, the
engineer has the responsibility to set
appropriate standards, to communicate these
to others and to work in accordance with these
self-generated regulations
 Should the engineer consider that the project
is unnecessarily harmful to the environment,
then he should attempt to explain the situation
to his clients.
Responsibility of Environmental Engineers

1. Prepare, review, and update environmental

investigation reports
2. Design projects leading to environmental protection,
such as water reclamation facilities, air pollution control
systems, and operations that convert waste to energy
3. Obtain, update, and maintain plans, permits, and
standard operating procedures
4. Provide technical support for environmental
remediation projects and legal actions
5. Analyze scientific data and do quality-control
checks
6. Monitor progress of environmental improvement
programs
7. Inspect industrial and municipal facilities and
programs to ensure compliance with environmental
regulations
8. Advise corporations and government agencies
about procedures for cleaning up contaminated sites
 INDUSTRIAL SUSTAINABILITY
A sustainable industry is an industry that:
• anticipates economic, environmental and social
trends to minimize risk and takes opportunities to
improve comparative advantage
• looks for new ways of doing business that
improve economic, environmental and social
performance
• looks for the business opportunities in using
natural resources efficiently
• understands that today’s competitive factors
may not be tomorrow’s
• understands impacts across business and
product life cycles
• operates beyond traditional market and
compliance boundaries
 AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY
• sustainable agriculture is the production of
food, fiber, or other plant or animal products
using farming techniques that protect the
environment, public health, human
communities, and animal welfare.
• Sustainable agriculture is the efficient
production of safe, high quality agricultural
products, in a way that protects and improves
the natural environment.
 APPLICATIONS OF AGRICULTURAL
SUSTAINABILITY
• Satisfy human food and fiber needs.
• Enhance environmental quality and the natural
resource base upon which the agriculture economy
depends.
• Make the most efficient use of nonrenewable
resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where
appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls.
•Sustain the economic viability of farm operations.
• Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a
whole.
 Urban sustainability
• Urban sustainability is ensuring that cities and
towns have a minimal environmental footprint
(they don't pollute too much and don't
consume too many natural resources) on their
surrounding area, allowing local people a say
so that society and communities are
sustainable and making cities pleasant
 Environmental Sustainability
• Environmental Sustainability may be defined
as the maintenance of the factors and
practices that contribute to the quality of
environment on a long-term basis
• a state in which the demands placed on the
environment can be met without reducing its
capacity to allow all people to live well, now
and in the future.
 Economic sustainability
• Economic sustainability is the term used to identify
various strategies that make it possible to use
available resources to their best advantage.
• The idea is to promote the use of those resources in a
way that is both efficient and responsible, and likely to
provide long-term benefits.
• In the case of a business operation, it calls for using
resources so that the business continues to function
over a number of years, while consistently returning a
profit.