Introduction

Social responsibilities are quite often moral responsibilities that have to be performed effectively by individuals because human beings are social beings with moral and ethical obligations. As the well-being of the entire society is thoroughly reliant on the environment, it becomes a moral and ethical obligation for members of every society across the globe to protect the environment and ensure its sustainability. Environmental protection, from the social, economic, and political perspectives is a moral obligation that can be justified from the perspective of every ethical paradigm. Ranging from deontological to utilitarian ethics, and taking into account the concepts of biocentrism, ecocentrism, and anthropocentrism, the moral obligation of humans to protect the environment is justified. Hence, it is an undeniable truth that environmental protection and safeguarding should be considered as one of the most essential moral obligations that every human being should perform responsibly.

Why Humans are morally obligated to protect the Environment?

Environment is the source of existence and this truth has to be accepted both from the scientific and religious point of view. But humans with the tendency to shirk such vital responsibility over the ages have put the environmental wellbeing globally at stake. This has resulted in natural calamities and disasters. If majority of humans persist to remain oblivion to the need of environmental protection then they are sure to be morally responsible for the catastrophe that the future generations are going to face. From the deontological perspectives, it is an imperative for humans to consider the protection of the environment as a moral obligation because effective performance of such obligation is the key to safeguarding the planet from imminent catastrophe, including natural disasters and man-made devastations (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2002). From the perspective of the ethics of duty (deontology) it has been observed that human are morally obligated to ensure the protection of the environment because the right to live in a quality environment is among the rudimentary human rights because environmental quality determines the basic quality of human life (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2002). As deontological ethical theories put much emphasis on the action than its consequences, it becomes quite clear from the deontological perspectives that humans have the duty to perform actions that embody effort for protecting the environment from deterioration (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2002). Such effort is directly related to the process of enhancing the quality of human lives and hence, such efforts are directly linked to moral obligations (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2002).

Moreover, as protection of the environment paves the way for restoration and preservation of basic human rights like right to quality life, right to dignity, right to basic resources, etc, it becomes, from a deontological perspective, a moral duty and obligation of humans to protect the environment (“Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, 2021). Besides, in general, the capacity of performance of every human being relies thoroughly on the quality of environment, and that is one primary reason why to ensure that every member within a society is provided equal opportunity to perform well, it becomes a moral obligation for every member within every society to protect the environment (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2002). From the deontological or duty perspectives, performing such moral obligation is imperative because every human being has a moral obligation to himself/herself and to their fellow human beings and to treat each and every one with dignity and respect because everyone is an integral part of the environment (Jones, 2010). And as human beings and all the natural aspects constitute the environment, it becomes essentially a moral obligation for every human being to protect the environment and ensure its enhancement (Jones, 2010). Protection of the environment is directly related to enhancement of the human autonomy and that is why from the deontological perspective, protection of the environment is a moral obligation, thoroughly and explicitly (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2002).

It has also to be noted that from the perspective of anthropocentrism, protection of the environment is a moral obligation because environmental deterioration can detrimentally impact on the wellbeing of every human being and hence, as environmental degradation affects human beings and the way they lead life, it is a moral obligation pivotally from the anthropocentric perspectives (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2002). Furthermore, from the biocentric angle, when analyzed, protecting the environment is a moral obligation pivotally because every individual life form other than humans have value in themselves, and hence, they should be respected for what they are not only because they affect the human situations but also because they are integral part of the environment (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2002). Moreover, as environmental protection means protecting all the species, from the biocentric perspective, environmental protection becomes a moral obligation (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2002).

Besides, from the ecocentric perspectives too, protecting the environment is a moral obligation. Ecocentrism suggests that diversity of species, rivers, mountains, landscapes, and every other natural aspect, as well as the environment and the ecosystem all have their own values and hence, it is imperative to acknowledge their values and to ensure their protection (Regan, 1980). Hence, ecocentrists opine that humans must protect the environment to acknowledge its individual value as a component of great importance and that is the reason why ensuring environmental protection is a moral obligation (Callicott, 1979). Ecocentrism also suggests that diversity, dynamism and interactions between different environmental aspects are imperatives for a healthy ecosystem and hence, if the environment is not protected, ecosystem’s degradation becomes inevitable (Norton, 1988). And as degradation of the ecosystem can put the life of every living being at stake; human beings being the most intelligent living beings on planet Earth, should protect the environment to ensure the sustaining of a healthy ecosystem (Bookchin, 1991).

Moreover, from the ecocentric perspective it has to be noted that indifference to environmental wellbeing and disrespect to Mother Nature, both are immoral actions and hence, condemnable (Marseille & Kahn, 2019). Furthermore, from the utilitarian perspective, which provides greater value to the end than the means, if analyzed, it can be seen that protecting the environment is a moral obligation and imperative because environmental sustainability is for the greatest good of the greatest number of people (Marseille & Kahn, 2019) (Marseille & Kahn, 2019). If the environment is protected from degradation then majority of humans and animal species will continue to survive and as survival is a basic instinct of every living being; environmental protection, from the utilitarian perspectives too, becomes a moral obligation for every human being (Regan, 1980).

Conclusion

Ranging from deontological to utilitarian ethics, and taking into account the concepts of biocentrism, ecocentrism, and anthropocentrism, the moral obligation of humans to protect the environment is justified. If majority of humans persist to remain oblivion to the need of environmental protection then they are sure to be morally responsible for the catastrophe that the future generations are going to face. Hence, to save the future generations, from the deontological perspectives, it is an imperative for humans to consider the protection of the environment as a moral obligation. Besides, from the utilitarian perspective, which put much more importance to the end than the means, if analyzed, it can be seen that protecting the environment is a moral obligation and imperative because environmental sustainability is for the greatest good of the greatest number of people.

References

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