The ethical dilemma of sustainable development
George Pink
In the 1760s, the United Kingdom began an industrial revolution, laying a path that many other nations followed. 2.3 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide 1 were released during this industrial period and the resulting development has led to people in developed countries leading much more polluting lifestyles, contributing to extreme global warming and climate change, that is, long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns due to rising greenhouse gas levels. As developing countries enter a similar stage of development and industrial production, the climate cannot support a similar period of unrestricted polluting. Therefore, many activists and governments are urging these countries to strive to develop sustainably. The concept of sustainable development, originating from the 1972 UN conference, 2 aims to balance economic growth with environmental protection. This raises an ethical question, should developed nations demand a sacrifice of short-term growth for long-term sustainable growth from developing countries? This essay will explore this question by examining shallow and deep ecology, and the ethical and moral obligations of both developed and developing countries to address their historical, current and future impacts on climate change. This issue can be approached using a branch of utilitarian theory, which aims to maximize happiness for the greatest number of people: shallow ecology/light green ethics. Shallow ecology holds the position that our concern for nature and the environment is restricted to the harm that is done to humans if it is not preserved; it is inherently anthropocentric. Using this theory, a case can be made for the sacrifice of short-term growth in developing countries for sustainable development, as the degradation of the environment not only already leads to problems now but promises to create greater issues for future generations. A report from Imperial College, London highlights the severe and all- encompassing impacts of climate change: ‘Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. This disruption will affect food supplies, industry supply chains and financial markets, damage infrastructure and cities, and harm human health and gl obal development.’ 3
Utilitarian theory is clearly applicable here: from the description of widespread impacts, it is sensible to assume that action must be taken against the climate crisis for the utility of global population to be improved.
The nature of growth in underdeveloped countries will be a big determinant of the severity of the climate crisis. This is because, as GDP/ capita increases, so does environmental damage up to a turning point, a relationship shown on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The scale effect, the initial
1 Anderson (2024). 2 United Nations. ‘Conferences|Environment and sustainable development’. 3 ‘What Are the Impacts of Climate Change?’
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