Ethics TheoryandBusiness Practice
9.2 Environmental Ethics – Part TwoWilderness/Wildlife Preservation and Environmental Justice
aims
todiscuss some issues associated with environmentalists’ preoccupation with wilderness and wildlifeconservationto exploresome ways in which the environmental benefits and burdens of business activity might get distributed unfairly
wilderness and wildlifepreservation
supported by anthropocentric and biocentric justificationsbutrepresentsthe primacy of the ‘full-stomach’ environmentalism of the North over the ‘empty-belly’ environmentalism of the South(Guhaand JuanMartinez-Alier, 1997: xxi)
the winners …
the natural environmentwealthy tourists, predominantly from the Northlarge corporations, such as airlines and hotelgroups, which are based predominantly in the Northlocal economic elites
and the losers
some potential downsides for local peopleloss of traditional homesloss of agricultural landloss of historic hunting accessloss of livelihooderosion of culture
avoiding subordination of the interests of local people to the agendas ofoutsiders
involve local people in the planning and development of wilderness and wildlife conservation projectsprovideongoing job training for localpeopleintegratenewly created reserves with traditional economicactivitiesensure that localculturaltraditions are respectedencourage partnership, in which control rests withlocalpeoplewhileoutside agenciesofferexpertise that locals may lackwww.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 associatedburdendraws attention toinstances in which the benefits of environmentally damaging economic activity accrue to certain groups while the burden is borne byotherswww.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/videos/Islands-Going-Under-/
environmental justice and the mining industry
North-based mining corporationslook totheSouthto feed escalating global demand formetals due to:less stringent environmental regulation in Southglobal investment facilitated by economic liberalizationinward investment encouraged by southern governments
some potential benefits for local people
creation of workfinancial contributionto localservicescompensation and resettlement programmes
some potential burdens for local people
devastation of the landscapepollution of land, air, and water sourcesimpact on subsistencefarming and other small-scale agriculturalpracticescultural and social impact
meanwhile
the economic benefits of mining activitymay notflow to local communitiesnewjobscreatedby large-scale mining projectsmay be takenupbysuitably skilledincomerscompensation payments are often inadequate, delayed, or not forthcoming at all
theory in practice
Trafigura, Ivory Coast, andenvironmental justice
key points
although there are sound environmental justifications for theNorthernpreoccupation with wilderness/wildlife preservation, care needs to be taken that this does not undermine the interests of communities in which it is put into practicebusinesses 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.
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