Ethics Theory and

Business Practice

9.2 Environmental Ethics – Part TwoWilderness/Wildlife Preservation and

Environmental Justice

aims

• to discuss some issues associated with environmentalists’ preoccupation with wilderness and wildlife conservation

• to explore some ways in which the environmental benefits and burdens of business activity might get distributed unfairly

wilderness and wildlife preservation

• supported by anthropocentric and biocentric justifications

• but represents the primacy of the ‘full-stomach’ environmentalism of the North over the ‘empty-belly’ environmentalism of the South (Guha and Juan Martinez-Alier, 1997: xxi)

the winners …

• the natural environment• wealthy tourists, predominantly from the

North• large corporations, such as airlines and hotel

groups, which are based predominantly in the North

• local economic elites

and the losers

some potential downsides for local people• loss of traditional homes• loss of agricultural land• loss of historic hunting access• loss of livelihood• erosion of culture

avoiding subordination of the interests of local people to the agendas of outsiders

• involve local people in the planning and development of wilderness and wildlife conservation projects

• provide ongoing job training for local people• integrate newly created reserves with traditional

economic activities• ensure that local cultural traditions are respected• encourage partnership, in which control rests with

local people while outside agencies offer expertise that locals may lack

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3S_nraulkQ

environmental justice and environmental injustice

• who benefits from human activity that impacts negatively on the environment; and who bears the associated burden

• draws attention to instances in which the benefits of environmentally damaging economic activity accrue to certain groups while the burden is borne by others

www.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/videos/Islands-Going-Under-

/

environmental justice and the mining industry

North-based mining corporations look to the South to feed escalating global demand for metals due to: • less stringent environmental regulation in

South• global investment facilitated by economic

liberalization • inward investment encouraged by southern

governments

some potential benefits for local people

• creation of work• financial contribution to local services• compensation and resettlement programmes

some potential burdens for local people

• devastation of the landscape• pollution of land, air, and water sources• impact on subsistence farming and other

small-scale agricultural practices• cultural and social impact

meanwhile

• the economic benefits of mining activity may not flow to local communities

• new jobs created by large-scale mining projects may be taken up by suitably skilled incomers

• compensation payments are often inadequate, delayed, or not forthcoming at all

theory in practice

Trafigura, Ivory Coast, and environmental justice

key points

• although there are sound environmental justifications for the Northern preoccupation with wilderness/wildlife preservation, care needs to be taken that this does not undermine the interests of communities in which it is put into practice

• businesses may do a lot to enhance the lifestyles of people in the developed world, but they need to be alert to the environmental implications of their activities on local communities in the less-developed world

references

Guha, R. and Martinez-Alier, J. (1997) Varieties of Environmentalism: Essays North and South. London: Earthscan.