Environmental value
systems
Manish Kr. Semwal
GMIS Jakarta
Definition
• An environmental value system is a
system in the sense that it has inputs (for
example, education, cultural influences,
religious doctrine, media) and outputs (for
example, decisions, perspectives, courses
of action) determined by processing these
inputs.
What is the need of Environmental
Value System?
• Ecosystems may often cross national
boundaries and this may lead to conflict
arising from the clash of different value
systems about exploitation of resources
(for example, ocean fishing and whaling).
Range of environmental
philosophies
Environmental
Philosophies
ECOLOGOCENTRISM
(nature centred)
ANTHROPOCENTRISM
(people centred)
TECHNOCENTRISM
(technology centred)
Environmental Protectors
Environmentalist
Deep Ecologist
Self-reliance
soft ecologists
Environmental
Managers
Cornucopians
Deep ecologists
1 Intrinsic importance of nature for the
humanity of man.
2 Ecological (and other natural) laws dictate
human morality.
3 Biorights—the right of endangered species
or unique landscapes to remain
unmolested.
Self-reliance soft ecologists
1 Emphasis on smallness of scale and hence
community identity in settlement, work and
leisure.
2 Integration of concepts of work and leisure
through a process of personal and communal
improvement.
3 Importance of participation in community affairs,
and of guarantees of the rights of minority
interests. Participation seen as both a continuing
education and a political function.
Environmental managers
1 Belief that economic growth and resource
exploitation can continue assuming.
2 Acceptance of new project appraisal
techniques and decision review
arrangements to allow for wider discussion
or genuine search for consensus among
representative groups of interested
parties.
Cornucopians
1 Belief that man can always find a way out of any
difficulties, either political, scientific or technological.
2 Acceptance that progrowth goals define the rationality of
project appraisal and policy formulation.
3 Optimism about the ability of man to improve the lot of
the world’s people.
4 Faith that scientific and technological expertise provides
the basic foundation for advice on matters pertaining to
economic growth, public health and safety.
5 Suspicion of attempts to widen basis for participation and
lengthy discussion in project appraisal and policy review.
6 Belief that all impediments can be overcome given a will,
ingenuity and sufficient resources arising out of growth.
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the
Environmental Movement
• Almost 30 years after its publication, the
book Silent Spring (Carson, 1962b) is
instantly recognized, evoking ominous
images of DDT, bird and fish kills, and
pesticide danger. The book can still
galvanize reaction in readers and
engender controversy.
Rachel Carson, The Woman
Carson in 1929 when she was awarded a fellowship for summer study at Woods Hole
Marine Biological Laboratory. This was the year that she first viewed the ocean.
Minamata Bay Tragedy
• Minamata is located on the Western coast of Kyushu, Japan's
southernmost island (see map). Its disturbing story begins, perhaps,
in the 1930s, as the town was continuing to shed its heritage as a
poor fishing and farming village. In 1932 the Chisso Corporation, an
integral part of the local economy since 1907, began to manufacture
acetaldehyde, used to produce plastics. As we know now, mercury
from the production process began to spill into the bay. Though no
one knew until decades later, the heavy metal became incorporated
into methyl mercury chloride: an organic form that could enter the
food chain. At the time, Minamata residents relied almost exclusively
on fish and shellfish from the bay as a source of protein. For us,
today, the threat of pollution is immediately evident. But one must
not fail to appreciate the historical context in which neither scientific
experience nor a pervasive environmental awareness could offer
such an explicit warning.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy
• The Bhopal disaster or Bhopal gas tragedy was an
industrial disaster that took place at a Union Carbide
pesticide plant in the Indian city of Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh. At midnight on 3 December 1984, the plant
(accidentally) released an estimated 42 tonnes of toxic
methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, exposing more than
500,000 people to MIC and other chemicals. The first
official immediate death toll was 2,259. The government
of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787
deaths related to the gas release. Others estimate
8,000-10,000 died within 72 hours and 25,000 have
since died from gas-related diseases
Chernobyl
• The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear reactor
accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (then
part of the Soviet Union). It is considered to be
the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history
and the only level 7 event on the International
Nuclear Event Scale. It resulted in a severe
release of radioactivity following a massive
power excursion that destroyed the reactor. Most
deaths from the accident were caused by
radiation poisoning.
Environmental value systems in
societies.
•
•
•
•
Indian- Hindus
Buddhist
Judaeo-Christian societies
Communist and capitalist societies.
• The environmental philosophy of an
individual, as with that of a community will
inevitably be shaped by cultural, economic
and socio-political context.
• If it is in you so start working for
Environmental Protection…… Can
YOU????
You can do it!!! If a illiterate villager
can do
Chipko Movement
Any one can be an
Environmentalist
• The Chipko Movement has attracted world-wide
attention. The image of poor, rural women in the hills
of northern India standing with their arms around
trees to prevent them being cut down is a romantic
and compelling one. The reality, in many ways, fits
the image: the Chipko Movement can indeed be
considered an important success story in the fight to
secure women's rights, in the process of local
community development through forestry and in
environmental protection. But there are more
complicated implications as well. It is important to
understand the history of Chipko and the context in
which it arose - and is still evolving.
Think It!!!!!
Thank You
–
Manish Kr. Semwal