Enforcing environmental ethics in the objectives and concerns of environmental policies

Traditionally, the moral law refers only to humans, while environmental ethics is a relatively new field starting from the concept of “reverence for life”, and concerned with the values of non-human parts of the world. It widens our ethical concerns to the whole biosphere with an extended view of time, including attention to future generations, and comprises different schools of thought. In looking at the diverse choices in environmental ethics, together with the uncertainties in scientific knowledge about the impact of specific human activities on the components of our environment, it is desirable to work towards a renewed critical conscience pertinent to our time. It is also necessary to harmonize the support for a not exclusively anthropocentric approach with proactive and beneficial standards and norms as well as practical behavior,reflecting greater awareness for environmental protection. In order to do so, we need to extend the environmental ethics paradigms beyond an ethical approach which is applied to the environment only. With this presentation, a discussion will be introduced based on the analysis of the basics of environmental ethics, as drawn from some of the most recent key documents and standards at European level relevant for the protection of the environment. Attention will also be given to ionizing radiation.