Environmental Perspectives and Values

Perspectives

Perspectives are individual views shaped by personal and collective assumptions, values, and beliefs.

Goldilocks Zone

This zone refers to the orbital distance from a star where conditions are suitable for liquid water, making it neither too hot nor too cold.

Perspectives vs. Arguments

A perspective is a viewpoint, while an argument supports or opposes a perspective. Sociocultural norms, scientific understandings, laws, religion, economic conditions, local/global events, and lived experiences all inform and justify perspectives.

Contrasting Perspectives

  • USA (Coal Mining Town): Coal is a major energy source and employment opportunity despite environmental concerns. Reducing coal consumption would lead to job losses.

  • Maldives (Island Nation): The country is threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change, leading to potential flooding and loss of land.

Values

Values are principles that people consider important (moral, cultural, economic, environmental). They influence priorities, judgments, perspectives, and choices. Values underpin perspectives and can cause tensions between individuals/organizations. Value surveys investigate values behind social groups' perspectives.

Value Surveys

Value surveys determine a resource's value to a community or their values related to environmental issues. Methods include:

  • Willingness to pay/accept surveys

  • Rating of special places

  • Attaching monetary value to a resource

  • Choice experiments (ordering valued aspects)

Worldviews

Worldviews are shared lenses through which groups perceive and act within their environment, shaping values and perspectives via culture, philosophy, ideology, religion, and politics. Global influences can diversify worldviews, making classifications complex.

Environmental Value Systems (EVS)

EVSs model how inputs (media, education, worldviews, culture, experiences) affect perspectives, leading to outputs (judgments, positions, choices, actions) within social systems.

Environmental Perspectives

These are worldviews classified as technocentric, anthropocentric, and ecocentric.

  • Technocentrism: Technology can resolve environmental issues.

  • Anthropocentrism: Humankind is central and must sustainably manage the global system.

  • Ecocentrism: The natural world has pre-eminent importance and intrinsic value.

Ecocentrism

Ecocentrism integrates social, spiritual, and environmental dimensions, prioritizing nature and self-sufficiency. It emphasizes biorights, education, and self-restraint.

Anthropocentrism

Anthropocentrism believes humans must sustainably manage the global system through taxes, regulations, and consensual debate.

Technocentrism

Technocentrism believes technology can solve environmental problems through scientific research and a pro-growth agenda.

Factors Changing Perspectives

Environmental disasters, pressure groups (NGOs), and demographic changes can alter perspectives.

Cultural Theory and Environmentalism

Egalitarian-communitarians reject hierarchy and favor community, while egalitarian-individualists favor equality and fair competition.

Behaviour Over Time Graphs

Societal worldviews, perspectives, and beliefs change over time due to government actions, NGO campaigns, and social/demographic shifts. Graphs illustrating this change track:

  1. What is changing (variable)?

  2. How is it changing (trend)?

  3. Why is it changing (causes)?

  4. What is the significance?

Smoking Bans (Austria)

Austria introduced a total smoking ban in bars/restaurants in 2019. The retail price of cigarettes is heavily taxed. Smoking is illegal in cars with occupants under 18.

Environmental Movement

Events, developments, and discoveries shape environmental awareness.

PPT for Environmental Movement

Include an image, short explanation, and how each input changed an environmental movement (environmental activists, authors, media, environmental disasters, international agreements, technological developments, scientific discoveries, recent events).

Chewing Gum Litter (Ireland)

Issues include pollution (non-biodegradable), harm to wildlife (ingestion), and being an eyesore.

Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT)

An Initiative by the chewing gum industry; Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Food Drink Ireland (FDI) and local authority representatives. Example of NGO's, businesses and local authorities collaborating to solve an environmental problem.

Meat Production

Factors contributing to increased global meat production and its environmental/social impacts. Explores alternatives with EVS.

Individuals in the Environmental Movement

Examples include Greta Thunberg, Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, Maxima Acuna de Chaupe, Robert D. Bullard, and Wangari Maathai.

Literature in the Environmental Movement

Examples include books about pesticides and chemical pollution, the consequences of a rapidly growing world population on finite natural resources, the hypothesis that Earth is a living organism with self-regulatory mechanisms, and the impact of humanity on Earth.

Media and the Environment

Examples include films on climate change and pollution, and Earth Day, founded in 1970 to promote responsible consumption.

Major Environmental Disasters

  • Minamata Disease (1956): Mercury poisoning in Japan due to industrial wastewater.

  • Bhopal Disaster (1984): Toxic gas release from a pesticide plant in India.

  • Chernobyl Disaster (1986): Nuclear reactor explosion in Ukraine.

  • Fukushima Disaster (2011): Tsunami caused nuclear meltdown in Japan.

  • La Pampilla Refinery Oil Spill (2022): Oil spill in Peru affecting marine ecosystems.

International Agreements

List of agreements: First World Climate Conference (1979), Stockholm (1972), Rio Earth Summit (1992), Kyoto Protocol (1997) , Cancun Agreement (2010), Paris Agreement (2015)

International Environmental Agreements

  • 1972 UN Conference (Stockholm): Addressed human impact on the global environment, setting targets for action.

  • 1992 Rio Earth Summit: Agenda 21 aimed for sustainable development worldwide and included steps toward preserving the world’s biodiversity.

Conference of Parties (COP)

An international convention's governing body, with member state representatives and observers. Meets regularly to assess progress and set future directions.

Johannesburg World Summit

Focused on reducing poverty and increasing access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Rio+20 (2012)

Commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit and promoted measures for poverty reduction, clean energy, and sustainable/fair resource use.

New Technologies

Green Revolution (1940-1960) led to increased agricultural productivity and technology creates alternatives to fossil fuels.

Scientific Discoveries

Rachel Carson’s pesticide toxicity research, studies on biodiversity loss, and potential carbon storage in rocks.