Environmental Ethics
Author: Chaitanya Kumari
The scope of environmental ethics is centered on being aware of the connection between human beings and nature. This topics brings to light the importance of the moral responsibility that humans have towards nature. This branch of ethics conveys the long-term consequences of disrespecting the environment.
- A core principle of environmental ethics is that all life forms are interconnected. Human beings must respect this crucial principle and design all their actions accordingly.
- These ethics emphasize that humans have to work in coordination with nature, and they must make judicial use of natural resources. Otherwise, subsequent generations may find the planet uninhabitable.
- It was around six decades back that environmental ethics started gaining recognition as a crucial area of study. It was during that phase that industrialization and urbanization began to progress at an unprecedented pace. These developmental activities were implemented despite their negative impact on natural environment. It didn’t take too long for people to understand the need to exercise a check on development happening at the price of destroying nature.
- Vast areas of forests are being cleared to set up new offices, plants, and factories. This is leading to an imbalance of nature and an alarming increase in levels of atmospheric pollution.
- The purview of environmental ethics is not just restricted to forests, water bodies, and mountains. Even all life forms apart from humans have an equal right to live in their natural habitat, as well. And it is this very right that modern-day humans are blatantly abusing.
- A significant point of environmental ethics is worthy of special mention. If human beings continue to focus solely on materialistic growth, ignoring all sustainable norms, some of the ill effects can be seen shortly. This is already happening in the form of climate change and global warming.
- The need for individuals to adhere to sustainable guidelines is now higher than ever before. It has become essential for humans to forego just a few small comforts for the sake of safeguarding nature, too. Initiating these changes is indispensable to make sure that the impacts described earlier can be brought under control to a reasonable extent. Further damage can be prevented from taking place.
- Environmental ethics is not something that first came into existence around sixty years back. Several ancient religious texts and scriptures stated that nature is just an extension of the supreme cosmic source, which we call God. These age-old books encourage people to worship mountains, rivers, and animals, as a mark of reverence for nature.
- These ancient works urge people to lead a simple life. Here, actions that hurt the natural environment in some way or another have to be avoided.
- The sages and realized souls who wrote those works add that protecting nature is not optional. On the contrary, it’s an integral element of the ethical and moral values that an individual has to follow in life.
- The age-old texts stress the relevance of reducing materialistic objectives. When people can successfully decrease these objectives, it will be easier to adopt an approach conforming to environmental guidelines. When the needs are minimal, people take only what is genuinely necessary from nature. There won’t be indiscriminate use of natural resources.