Is our duty to protect the planet based on a duty to future generations of humans? If not, what is it based on?
During 2019, the worldwide environmental crisis has been brought in to mainstream awareness through the efforts of the activist group Extinction Rebellion, who made peaceful protests for two weeks throughout London. In addition, Sir David Attenborough created a programme, Climate Change: The Facts, which was aired by the BBC and viewed by over three million people. Lastly, Greta Thunberg, sixteen year old Swedish activist started the “youth strike for climate” protests in 2018, which are now happening worldwide and have attracted thousands of young people in other countries to protest, in a bid to move governments to action. This combination of events has resulted in the UK declaring a climate emergency, and they are the first country to do so. Whether this results in action is yet to be seen. In this essay, I will argue that our duty to protect the planet goes beyond humans, and extends to animals, ecosystems and the planet itself. Firstly, I will discuss intergenerational justice and specifically our duty to future generations to protect the planet. Secondly, I will discuss the issue that “humanity is using so much land that it is literally crowding other species off the planet, driving them to extinction” and why this understanding should lead to awareness that our duty goes beyond ourselves. Thirdly, I will look at the political aspect of the problem, in that, “large-scale economic activity is changing the Earth’s climate, water cycle, nitrogen cycle, and even its ocean chemistry. (Sachs, 2015 : 34). Fourthly, I will turn to Jamieson’s green virtues of humility, temperance and mindfulness as a means of giving us the “resiliency to live meaningful lives” in a sustainable way, and then finally I will conclude that our duty does go beyond humans (Jamieson, 2014 : 186).
Since 2018, sixteen year old environmental activist Greta Thunberg has made headlines, who began with a solo protest outside the Swedish parliament, which she called “youth strike for climate”. The movement has expanded to include “children at tens of thousands of schools in more than 100 countries”, school striking every Friday (The Guardian, 2019). Greta highlights intergenerational justice when she describes the absurdity of politicians and the general public for not acting “as if our house is on fire, because it is”. She takes the responsibility to act upon her shoulders when she says, “we children shouldn't have to do this. But since almost no one is doing anything, and our very future is at risk, we feel like we have to continue” (Thunberg, 2019). Our future generations will most probably be clearing up the environmental mess or worse leading dystopian lives. From a philosophical view, the “non-existence challenge” says that as the future generations don’t exist yet, we are not responsible for them. I would argue against this, due to the fact that we have a biological urge to continue to procreate. The duty is to the parents who continue to have children and therefore, their existence is bound to happen and we have a duty to create a safe, sustainable, clean environment for future generations. It is morally incomprehensible that we care for our children but not for our great, great grandchildren. In terms of global justice, the future generations in other countries who are the least responsible for climate change will be the most affected, such as those in the southern part of the globe. Amnesty International has labelled the inaction of the world governments as “one of the greatest intergenerational human rights violations in history” (The Guardian, 2019). In the 2017 annual report of The Lancet Countdown, the study says, “climate change exacerbates social, economic, and demographic inequalities, with the impacts eventually felt by all populations” and expects us to see, “climate-induced population displacement and violent conflict” (Watts et al. 2017). In order to protect as far as possible the future of the generations to come, the worldwide governments need to implement a strategic plan to drastically reduce carbon emissions, change to clean energy solutions, reduce air pollution, commit to reforestation, build sustainable homes, plan for our future water supply and reinvent farming practices in a healthy and sustainable way.
In respect of our duty beyond ourselves, the damage that we are doing through our current actions not only cause harm to us, but also animals, ecosystems and the biosphere. As James Lovelock says, “we have to stop thinking of human needs and rights alone […] the real threat comes from the living earth, which we have harmed and is now at war with us” (Lovelock, 2005). We cannot continue acting as if our actions do not have serious consequences for other life forms and ignoring the interconnectedness we share with nature. There is an “unthinking bludgeoning of the landscape” happening (Carson, 1962 : 69), evidenced through the destruction of animal habitats through deforestation for products like palm oil, harming of the bee population through pollution and using pesticides, and global warming creating rising temperatures in the oceans, causing damage to coral reefs and marine life. The impacts of deforestation means loss of biodiversity, detrimental effects to the water table and less CO2 being absorbed from the atmosphere. The bee populations who pollinate our crops are “so essential to our agriculture” and “deserve something better from us than the senseless destruction of their habitat” (Carson, 1962 : 77). The rising temperatures means rising sea levels as the ice-caps melt, and we have less protection from coral reefs which usually defend coastlines from flooding and prevent coastal erosion. Scientists are not certain of how many species of animals, plants and fungi exist and therefore the biodiversity required to maintain planetary balance is unknown. This is further reason to be focussed on leaving as little ecological footprint as possible. Many conservationists are warning of a sixth mass extinction, usually caused by geological or astronomical changes, yet this time, humans are the cause of climate change and the resulting loss of species. The exploitation of the Earths resources means we are using more from nature than our planet is able to renew within a year, called “Earth overshoot day”, which for the US in 2018 was 15th March, for the UK was 8th May and for Russia was 21st April. The “continued growth of the economy in its physical dimensions is limited by the fact that the economy is a subsystem of the ecosystem, and the containing ecosystem is finite, non-growing and materially closed” (Daly, 2007 : 2). Clearly, the system we operate within is out-dated and unsustainable, and where the twentieth century was one of economics, the twenty-first century needs to be one focussed on environmentalism.
As George Monbiot identifies, “we have to go straight to the heart of capitalism” to solve this crisis. Jamieson says, “the science section tells us that fossil fuel-driven climate change threatens both nature and human societies” which should be enough to force us in to action and cause our governments to treat this like an emergency. However, we have an issue when, “the business section treats modest increases in the price of oil as if they were the catastrophes”. (Jamieson, 2008 : 181). This sums up how there is a deep-rooted issue in our neo-liberal, political system, which is driven by the GDP value. Within our developmental model, people are ranked based on their level of consumption, with higher levels of consumption commonly meaning one is higher up the social ladder. On the other hand, “the poorest of the poor, who often are locked in a day-to-day struggle with life-threatening air and water pollution” are the ones who suffer the most from the effects of the few (Jamieson, 2008 : 13). The preference towards developing economically and being materialistic means that care for the environment is a lower priority resulting in air and water pollution and heavy use of non-renewables such as coal, gas and oil, as in the short term they provide energy and create revenue. We have ended up with a system that does not value social cohesion, compassion and family ties, with volunteer work and motherhood being less important than the ability to generate income. Whilst the focus remains on the economical advance of the individual, there will not be the right mindset for political-social-environmental change on the level that is needed. We need a system to take a holistic view of all life on the planet, including the land, oceans and biosphere, where man must live in harmony with nature, if we are to survive. It is irresponsible for politicians to only look at the short-term gains for society, when the long-term implications of living unsustainably are so far-reaching, damaging and ultimately affect humans and all living things.
I will now turn to Jamieson, who put forward the “green virtues” of temperance, humility and mindfulness as “mechanisms that provide motivation to act […] in order to reduce GHG emissions […] regardless of the behaviour of others”. These virtues give us “resiliency to live meaningful lives” even when we come up against resistance from others or feel we are not making enough of an impact on much needed change. Jamieson describes these virtues as falling into three categories; those that “reflect on existing values, draw on existing values but have additional […] content, and those that reflect new values”. He summarises these categories as “preservation, rehabilitation and creation” (Jamieson, 2014 : 186). I will now expand upon the virtues one by one, starting with humility, an example of preservation, which “should lead people to a love of nature”, where “indifference” to nature reflects “ignorance” or “self-importance”. He gives the example that a person with proper humility would not destroy a redwood forest even if it appears useful to do so.
Temperance is an example of rehabilitation, and relates to “self-restraint” and “moderation” and reducing personal consumption would be to exhibit this virtue, such as flying or driving less. Mindfulness is an example of creation, and he says, “much of our environmentally destructive behaviour is unthinking, even mechanical”. To change our thinking entirely, we need to be able to orient our minds to understand the “consequences of our actions that are remote in time and space”. The example he gives is being able to be responsible for the whole life cycle of an item of clothing and to make purchases mindfully. Cooperativeness is the final characteristic, that may fall under the creation category, though not classed as a virtue but would be “expressed by those who have a particular constellation of virtues” (Jamieson, 2014 : 187). These virtues are empowering for individuals who want to drive change, by combatting our deep conditioning, to forge a fresh mindset with the resilience to not get depressed over the problems we face. Ultimately, respect for nature is required to combat the results of mistreatment of the Earth up to this point, caused by mans dominion over nature and lack of connection with the complex web we are a part of.
In conclusion, firstly, it is natural that we empathise the most with our fellow humans and so we have a duty to future generations to preserve the planet for their future well-being. Secondly, it is obvious that our duty goes beyond humans, as we are inextricably linked with nature in terms of our reliance upon the planet for food, water and air and therefore it extends that is also a right for other species to have the same. The eco-systems and planet itself therefore requires respect and right treatment, in order for the continuation of all life forms. The fact that humans are causing climate change is a consequence we need to face. Our political and economical developmental system is out-dated and unsustainable, and we are in need of a system update if we are to survive. In order for us to change our attitudes we need to integrate within us a code of virtues as described by Jamieson, such as temperance, humility and mindfulness so that we may navigate the changing environmental landscape and begin to see life from a holistic perspective. In spite of this awareness, huge change needs to come from the wealthiest few and perhaps their biggest challenge to overcome is not climate change, but selfishness, greed and a lack of respect for nature.
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