Chapter 4. The Use of the Rainforest as a Test Case in Environmental Ethics

Summary

Ethical decision-making derives its force and receives its challenges from real examples. One such example is tropical rain forest, an important and complex ecosystem, high in biodiversity and a key carbon sink, that is being progressively destroyed. While we can theorise about intrinsic and instrumental value of the tropical rainforest, the discussion is brought sharply into focus by considering the positions of different groups of humans who claim to have legitimate interests in this ecosystem. This shows how many competing human interests there are, and how difficult it is to satisfy human needs and demands while according status to the non-human world. There are certain limited signs of possible hope for preservation of this and other ecosystems, mainly around schemes of exchange between poor countries and the very rich. Two examples are debt-for-nature swaps and carbon dioxide emissions trading, but such schemes must be underpinned by the principle of sustainability.