Ethics in an Environment

Presented By:
Jigna Patel (14) Dhruvi Patel (33) Krishna Champaneriya (39)

WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS?

Environmental ethics is the part of environmental

philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the non-human world. It exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including law, sociology, theology, economics, ecology and geography.
There has been a rapid growth in knowledge and

technology, so that humans now face choices we have never had to face before that affect the continuation of humanity and the world within which we live.
The importance of environmental ethics is brought

home daily by the news of global warming and its effect on our lives, both now and in the future.

 how humans should relate to their environment,

how we should use the Earths resources and how we should treat other species, both plant and animal

SECULAR APPROACHES TO ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

There are three main ethical approaches to the environment. libertarian extension or deep ecology An approach to environmental ethics that sees all life forms as of value and human life as just one part of the biosphere. It rejects anthropomorphism. There are two ecology movements: 1- concerned mostly with pollution, the depletion of natural resources and the usefulness of the Earth for humans (anthropocentrism), 2- concerned with the richness, diversity and intrinsic value of all the natural world ecologic extension or eco-holism

Naess and the American philosopher George Sessions listed deep-ecology platform.
All life has value in itself, independently of its usefulness to

humans. Richness and diversity contribute to lifes well-being and have value in themselves. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs in a responsible way. The impact of humans in the world is excessive, and rapidly getting worse. Human lifestyles and population are key elements of this impact. The diversity of life, including cultures, can flourish only with reduced

 Ecologic extension eco-holism(Gaia

hypothesis)) This emphasises not the rights of humans but the interdependence of all ecosystems and sees the environment as a whole entity, valuable in itself. Gaia hypothesis The word Gaia was first used by William Golding and comes from the name of the Greek goddess of the Earth. Gaia is regulated by the living organisms within it to maintain suitable conditions for growth and development.

 According to Lovelock, life could not be destroyed.

There are many types of algae that are resistant to ultraviolet radiation, so even if the ozone layer were to be destroyed, life would continue and new life would evolve. Human life may be wiped out, but humans are just a part of GaiaThis theory challenges humans to change their perceptions and see themselves as part of a whole.

 Conservation ethics shallow ecology

The ethics of the use, allocation, protection and exploitation of the natural world. Conservation ethics looks at the worth of the environment in terms of its utility or usefulness to humans. Shallow ecology or light green environmentalism restricts independent moral status to humans it is anthropocentric. Biodiversity should be preserved, as particular species of animals and plants provide us with medicines, food and raw materials. So shallow ecology will accept that environmental damage can continue if humans benefit from it.

Shallow ecology versus deep ecology

Shallow ecology
Natural

deep ecology
Natural

diversity is valuable as a resource. Species should be saved as a resource value. Pollution should be decreased if it threatens economic growth. Population growth threatens ecological equilibrium. Resource means resource for humans. Decrease in standard of living is intolerable.

diversity has intrinsic value. Species should be saved for their intrinsic for humans. Decrease in pollution has priority over economic growth. Human population is excessive today. Resource means resource for living things. Decrease in quality of life is intolerable.

Dimensions of an Environment:
1.

Pollution
Land pollution

Chemical and nuclear plants, Industrial factories,

Oil refineries, Human sewage, Oil and antifreeze leaking from cars, Mining

Water Pollution:
Factories, Refineries, Waste treatment facilities,

Mining, Human sewage, Oil spills, Animal waste

Air Pollution Combustion of coal, Noise pollution from cars and construction, Power plants, Manufacturing buildings, Wildfires, Nuclear weapons

2. Coal and Greenhouse Effects The most publicity in recent years have been the "greenhouse effect," which is changing the Earth's climate; acid rain, which is destroying forests and killing fish; and air pollution, which is killing tens of thousands of humans every year, while making tens of millions ill and degrading our quality of life in other ways.
Coal, oil, and gas consist largely of carbon and

hydrogen. In both of these chemical reactions a substantial amount of energy is released

Acid Rain Any form of precipitation with high levels of nitric and sulphuric acids Rotting vegetation and erupting volcanoes release some chemicals that can cause acid rain, but most acid rain falls because of human activities.
When humans burn fossil fuels sulfur dioxide and

nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere. These chemical gases react with water, oxygen, and other substances to form mild solutions of sulfuric and nitric acid. Winds may spread these acidic solutions across the atmosphere and over hundreds of miles. When acid rain reaches Earth, it flows across the surface in runoff water, enters water systems, and sinks into the soil.

 The

effects of acid rain, combined with other environmental stressors, leave trees and plants less able to withstand cold temperatures, insects, and disease. The only way to fight acid rain is by curbing the release of the pollutants that cause it. This means burning fewer fossil fuels

The Green House Effect

The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal

radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface, energy is transferred to the surface and the lower atmosphere.

Depletion of natural resources

Depletion of species and Habitats

Forest habitats on which the bulk of species depend are also being decimated by the timer industry. Between the years 1600 and 1900 , half of the forested land area in U.S was cleared. Expert estimates that the planets rain forest are being destroyed at the rate of about 1 percent per year.

 Depletion of Fossil Fuel:

Estimated world resources of coal would be depleted in about 100 years , estimated world reserves of oil would be exhausted in about 40 years , and estimated reserves of natural gas would last only about 25 years. Depletion of minerals: Exhaust the iron in the year 2018 , manganese in 2025 , molybdenum in 2016 , nickel in 2026

Law And Regulations For Ethical Environment

Very often it is held that business is not bound by any

ethics other than abiding by the law. Many corporations have the obligation to make a profit within the framework of the legal system, nothing more. There are some duty of the business leaders is, "to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in the law and those embodied in ethical custom". Ethics for environment is nothing more than abiding by 'customs' and 'laws'.
Not everyone supports corporate policies that govern

ethical conduct. Some claim that ethical problems are better dealt with by depending upon employees to use their own judgment.

Environmental Issues And Indian Law

Since about late 1980s, the Supreme Court of

India has been pro-actively engaged in India's environmental issues. The supreme Court has laid down new principles to protect the environment, re-interpreted environmental laws, created new institutions and structures, and conferred additional powers As a result of judicial activism, India's Supreme Court has delivered a new normative regime of rights and insisted that the Indian state cannot act arbitrarily but must act reasonably and in public interest on pain of its action being invalidated by judicial intervention

 Public interest cases are repeatedly filed to block

infrastructure projects aimed at solving environmental issues in India. Judicial activism in India has, found state-directed economic development ineffective and a failure, then interpreted laws and issued directives that encourage greater competition and free market to reduce environmental pollution

Gujarat Environment Protection & Infrastructure Ltd (GEPIL)

Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in December

2011 had found two illegal connections directly discharging this hazardous waste like toxic disposed into sea in Unn Khadi. Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) issued immediate closure notice to Gujarat Environment Protection Infrastructure Limited (GEPIL) in Sachin. GEPIL has been asked to close its work of waste collection with immediate effect under Section 5 of Environment Protection (EP) Act. GPCB chairman Mr. Kanu Mistry received a report at following next day in this regard and he took the decision to issue closure notice to GEPIL later. Because our Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) found three illegal drainage pipelines found parallel to the main drainage network releasing polluted water in Unn Khadi

COMMON EFFLUENT TREATMENT PLANT AT VAPI, G.I.D.C. company namely Vapi Waste and Effluent Management Company Limited (VWEMCL).
Projects for assistance will be prioritized on the basis

of : Toxicity of pollutants Pollution load being generated and to be treated; and Number of units covered
The CETPs are to be set up and managed by the

State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (by whatever name known) or through an appropriate institution including a cooperative body of the concerned units as may be decided by the State Governments/SPCBs concerned. Sludge characteristics (i.e. hazardous Vs. non-hazardous) from the primary and secondary\ treatment of the CETP should be estimated. Therefore, the CETP should have a sludge management plan.

 Pattern of Financial Assistance:

- State subsidy: 25% of the total project cost;

- Central subsidy: 25% of the total project cost; - Entrepreneurs contribution: 20% of the total project cost; - Loan from financial institutions - 30% of the total project cost. ( e.g. IDBI, ICICI or any other nationalized Banks, State Industrial Financial Corporation etc.)

Waste Minimization

Clean Technology

The Relationship Between Business And The Environment

Not only helps the environment, but it wins the

trust of communities and gains the respect of the governments of the countries The reduction by 86 per cent of its CO2 emissions, use of 98 per cent green electricity and the ethical investment policy of the Cooperative Bank. Balancing business growth and environmental quality Is always going to be a challenge for business

Company
Anglo American is one of the twenty largest UK based companies, heavily involved in mining and quarrying activities which have an immediate impact on the environment. When Anglo American carries out its mining operations it tries to have a positive effect in three areas:
In the area where the mine is located, it carries out its

operations with care and tries to improve the lives of local people, e.g. minimising noise and other types of pollution.
In the area immediately surrounding the mine, it is active

in conservation and improvement.

In the wider region around the mine, it contributes

financially to local communities and helps generate new businesses.

Supermarkets have been one of the businesses where the importance of green credentials has become increasingly important. Concerns about food miles and plastic and packaging are growing among consumers. Supermarkets have realised that they must compete on their environmental ethical credentials as well as price, availability, accessibility, etc., as all these factors influence where consumers shop. Responding to consumer preferences, helping the environment, profitability and corporate social responsibility go hand in hand.

Levels of ethics in an Environment

Descriptive ethics

regarded as a specialized type of social science Normative ethics deals with moral issues in the conventional sense of that term -- that is, with questions of right or wrong, duties and rights, justice and injustice, virtue and wickedness judgments are made and defended concerning the moral value of acts, motives and policies Critical ethics

Futures of environment ethics

First of all, environmental ethics needs to be and

will be informed by changes in the political efforts to ameliorate environmental problems. For example, the Kyoto Protocol might be regarded as the first real global attempt to deal with the problem of climate change. The effects of environmental ethics will not be limited to influencing and informing business ethics alone, but will undoubtedly feed into and merge with more mainstream ethical thinking

 we have environmental obligations, all areas of

ethics are affected, including just war theory, domestic distributive justice, global distributive justice, human rights theory and many others For example: if one considers how climate change will affect people throughout the world so differently affecting individuals homes, sanitation, resistance from disease, ability to earn a living and so on Finally, changes in our understanding of how ecosystems work, or changes in the evidence concerning the environmental crisis

THANK YOU.