Environmental Justice - Exploring Environmental Ethical Issues in Developing Countries

Author: Zeng Jianping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: "Environmental Justice" is a cutting-edge topic in environmental philosophy research, with the international environmental justice between developing countries and developed countries being a major issue. Focusing on the environmental ethical issues of developing countries means seeking a discourse expression, theoretical model, logical framework, and practical approach that suits the realities of these countries. This requires critically accepting Western environmental ethics, reflecting on the concept of sustainable development, and exploring the ethical characteristics of the environmental-development conflicts in developing countries (such as poverty and the environment, population and the environment, trade and the environment). It also proposes practical forms of environmental ethics for developing countries (such as governmental, corporate, and individual). The research results of this book indicate that in the process of globalization, Western environmental ethics and its practices, while pioneering ethical trends and serving as a source of enlightenment, cannot be considered a universal form of environmental ethics. The diverse economic conditions, cultural traditions, value systems, and social psychologies of developing countries determine the need for an environmental ethical theory suited to their own development. In the process of modernization, developing countries must propose forms of achieving environmental ethics under the consideration of common human interests. Such forms are not universal but are adapted to the developmental characteristics of developing countries.