1. Part II : Ethics and the Natural World

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

3. Chapter 4. The Use of the Rainforest as a Test Case in Environmental Ethics biodiversity; clearance; degradation; ecosystem; forest; global warming; natural resource; sustainability; tropical; United Nations

4. Chapter 4. The Use of the Rainforest as a Test Case in Environmental Ethics Ethical decision-making derives its force and receives its challenges from real examples.

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

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

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

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

9. Chapter 4. The Use of the Rainforest as a Test Case in Environmental Ethics Two examples are debt-for-nature swaps and carbon dioxide emissions trading, but such schemes must be underpinned by the principle of sustainability.