ETHICS OF

ECOLOGICAL
PROTECTION
Adjusting the relationship between humans
and nature is one of the
most fundamental issues we face and must
deal with today.
increasing
deterioration of
ecological systems
on which human
beings rely

aggravation of the
environmental crisis
 Economic and Judicial methods alone can
not be relied alone to solve the problems of
environmental pollution and ecological
imbalances.

 adoption an appropriate attitude towards

nature will help establishing a new ethical
relationship between human beings and
nature.
 ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
 An ecological conscience or moral that reflects a
commitment and responsibility toward the
environment, including plants and animals as well as
present and future generations of people.

 is the application of ethics to human relationships

with the environment.

 AIM- To provide ethical justification and moral motivation

for the cause of global environmental protection.
 DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• IT HAS EXTENDED- scope of ethical concerns beyond
one’s community and nation.
• INTERDISCIPLINARY- environmental politics,
environmental economics, environmental sciences and
environmental literature reinforce, influence and support
each other.
• GLOBAL- To cope with the global environmental crisis,
human beings must reach cooperate with each other at the
personal, national, regional, multinational and global levels.
• REVOLUTIONARY- extends the object of our duty to
future generations and non-human beings.
 THREE NORMATIVE PRINCIPLES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
(1) PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE-
 Distributive environmental justice –
Equal distribution of environmental benefits and
burdens.
 Participatory environmental justice-
Opportunities to participate in decision-making.
(2) PRINCIPLE OF INTERGENERATIONAL EQUALITY:
Every generation should leave the following generation
an equal opportunity to live a happy life.
(3) PRINCIPLE OF RESPECT FOR NATURE-
Human beings are part of nature, we have a duty to
conserve and protect the integrity of the ecosystem
and its biodiversity.
 SOME COMPLICATED ISSUES
 International environmental justice and global
warming- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, restoring
forests and transforming the structure of the energy system

 Biodiversity and the value of nature- International

society must take further measures to save endangered
species and preserve biodiversity.
UNESCO can foster consensus among its Member States
regarding values in biodiversity and nature, and can design
and initiate a Global Marshall Plan to save and protect
global biodiversity.
 Environmental ethics
and sustainable
development-

The UN must continue to

encourage its Member
States to find ways to
achieve sustainable
development that meet
their own special
requirements as well as
the concerns of
environmental ethics.
 ACHIEVING ENVIRONMENTAL
GOALS
 Four drawbacks:

(1) requiring firms to use the strongest

feasible means of pollution control is
problematic.
 Regulations: The use of
(2) although regulations treat all parties
direct public (state and equally, this often comes at the cost of
federal) regulation and ignoring the special circumstances of
control in determining how particular industries and individual
the pollution bill is paid. firms.
(3) can take away an industry’s incentive
to do more than the minimum required
by law.
(4) can also cause plants to shut down or
relocate.
 CONTD…
 Incentives: A widely  Advantage :
supported approach to the minimizes regulatory
problem of cost allocation interference and
for environmental coercion.
improvement through
 Disadvantage:
government investment,
subsidy, and general it moves slowly, pays
economic incentive (e.g. polluters not to pollute,
by means of tax cuts, and is not always cost-
grants or awards). effective.
 CONTD…
 Pricing mechanisms: Also called effluent charges,
they spell out the cost for a specific kind of pollution
in a specific area at a specific time. Prices are tied to
the amount of damage caused so may vary from
place to place and time to time.
 Pollution permits: Allow companies to discharge a
limited amount of pollution or trade pollution
“rights” with other companies.
 Critics argue that this approach entails an implicit
right to pollute, and reject this as immoral.
 INTERNATIONAL ACTIONS
Measures to encourage environmental ethics

(1) Holding an international conference-

.. on environmental ethics, with a diverse pool of
representatives, sponsored and organized by
UNESCO, would be most helpful for the
development and promulgation of environmental
ethics.
Contd..
(2)Making an International Declaration-

several expert working groups could be established. To present

the outcomes of their work, these groups should draft a
number of documents, including:-

1. a general declaration on environmental ethics;

2. a declaration on an environmental ethics for environmental
management;
3. a declaration on an environmental ethics for agriculture;
4. a declaration on an environmental ethics for forestry;
5. a declaration on an environmental ethics for engineering; and
6. a declaration on an animal-protection ethics.
Contd..
Establishing a committee on
environmental ethics
 A World Committee on Environmental
Ethics needs to be established
 at UNESCO, with UNESCO Member
States setting up individual
 National Committees on
Environmental Ethics to evaluate major
 Policies: The membership of the
National Committees

should include scholars, professors,
teachers, officers, citizens,
 Indigenous people and representatives
of environmental NGOs.
Compiling an environmental
ethics report
 With the leadership of UNESCO, a
global environmental ethics report
 should be compiled every five years.
The mission of the report would
 be to evaluate the global progress of
education in environmental ethics
 and the study of environmental ethics
over the previous five years, and
 to provide guidance for the teaching
and study of environmental ethics
 for the following five years.
CONTD..

(3)Founding an environmental ethics award

 To encourage and reward those who devote themselves

to the practice, education and study of environmental
ethics, the UN should create an environmental ethics
award that could be awarded to ten people every three
years.
CAPACITY-BUILDING ACTIONS FOR MEMBER STATES

The capacity of countries to deal with environmental crisis is different

worldwide. Compared with developed countries, the situations of
developing countries are worrisome.
Education is the most important way to empower developing countries.

The following measures would be helpful:

1. Established an environmental education (especially environmental ethics

education) programme in developing countries.
2. Urge and help the media (of developing as well as developed
countries) to pay more attention to environmental issues.
3. Set up more international training programmes, such as the LEAD
(Leadership in Environment and Development) programme in London.
 Contd…
4. Help developing countries to find more efficient ways
to use their energy and resources, and to remit part of
their debts.

5. Call for people in both developed and developing

countries to live environment-friendly lifestyles; the
consumption ethic of reducing, reusing and recycling
should be universally accepted and practised.

6. Establish a safer international order so that most

countries are able to spend less money on military
programmes.
THANK YOU