The Moral Power of the World Conservation Movement to Engage Economic Globalization

Ron Engel

Foreword: Pushing the “Yes” button for Bob Linn LATE ON THE EVENING OF NOVEMBER 24, 2004, THE RESOLUTION ON THE EARTH CHARTER finally reached the floor of the World Conservation Congress at Bangkok. The resolution called for the World Conservation Union to not only endorse the Earth Charter but “recog- nize it as an ethical guide for IUCN policy.”Years of work to bring ethics into the mainstream of the international environmental movement were nearing fruition. As a delegate of the George Wright Society,a organizational member of IUCN, I had the privilege to vote. In the moments that passed waiting for the vote to be taken a good part of my life was replayed. Right there at the center of it, like some guardian angel, was Bob Linn. I first met Bob in June 1960 when stationed with my family on Mott Island en route to a seasonal ranger assignment on Amygdaloid Island, Isle Royale National Park. I remember the delight of my two-year-old son when he heard Bob play his marimba. As far as I could see, as park naturalist, Bob had the best job in the world—and he did not demur. A few years later, we were both to lament our exile in Washington, D.C. After my wife, Joan, and I built a cabin at the tip of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, as close as we could get to Isle Royale, and Bob had retired from the Park Service and was building the George Wright Society in Hancock, we shared leisurely walks and dinners and talked about everything under the Heavens—family to wolves to politics to evolution to God. In the course of one of these conversations in 1983, Bob suggested I read an essay in The George Wright Forum on biosphere reserves. It took one afternoon for me to decide to devote an upcoming sabbatical to them. Bob gave me personal introductions—Bill Gregg, Ted Sudia,Tommy Gilbert, Jane Robertson, among others—and so sent Joan and me off on a journey that led, step by step, person by person, place by place, into the terra incognito of the international conservation movement. Eventually I landed on the doorstep of IUCN in Gland, Switzerland, and the office of Jeff McNeely, who invited me to form an “ethics work- ing group.” IUCN, an acronym for International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (now known as IUCN–The World Conservation Union), is a supra- organization of some 1,000 governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Founded in 1948 to promote international cooperation on behalf of science-based conserva- tion, it is the only organization with “observer” status in the United Nations General Assembly, providing expertise on the conservation of nature. Over the following decade the IUCN Ethics Working Group grew into a network of per-

58 The George Wright Forum

sons from sixty nations and helped pave the way for the writing of the Earth Charter in the late 1990s—the most comprehensive declaration of values and principles for a just, sustain- able, and peaceful world the international community has yet composed (see www.earth- charter.org). Bob was there the whole time. He published our first papers in the Forum. He worked in Ted Sudia’s Institute for Domestic Tranquility to give these ideals roots in the American polity. And he was always there to listen and advise on those long summer evenings on the Keweenaw. Now it is the evening of November 24, 2004, in the Queen Sirikit National Convention Hall in Bangkok. A representative of the American government asks to be recognized and states her judgment that the Earth Charter resolution ought to be defeated. A delegate from the Netherlands voices strong support. We are asked to vote. I push the green “yes” button in front of me—this is for Bob Linn. We wait for the tally of the hundreds of delegates to be displayed on the great screen in front of us. The motion passes, overwhelmingly, with a sig- nificant majority of both government and nongovernmental members. Applause sweeps across the hall. Another world is possible! The following essay, which I delivered as a keynote address at the closing plenary on “Strengthening Corporate Social Responsibility, Law and Policy” at the Congress Forum, is dedicated to the life and ideals of Robert Linn. I want to thank Jeff McNeely, IUCN chief scientist, Josh Bishop, IUCN senior advisor for economics and the environment, and David Harmon, editor of The George Wright Forum, for their comments and suggestions on this manuscript. Ron Engel, Copper Harbor, Michigan, June 2005 The ethical basis of conservation Forty years ago when I arrived on the doorsteps of the University of Chicago to take up studies in religion and philosophy, I was worried whether anyone on the faculty would understand my enthusiasm for nature and the kind of work I wanted to do in what has since become known as the field of “environmental ethics.” My first night in Chicago I attended a rally for SANE—the leading anti-nuclear organi- zation in the states at the time—and one of the speakers was introduced as a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Joseph Sittler began his speech by reading a poem by Richard Wilbur entitled “Advice to a Prophet,” which includes these haunting lines:

What should we be without The dolphin’s arc, the dove’s return,

These things in which we have seen ourselves and spoken? Ask us, prophet, how we shall call Our natures forth when that live tongue is all Dispelled, that glass obscured or broken . . .

. . . come demanding Whether there shall be lofty or long standing When the bronze annals of the oak-tree close.

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Not only were my worries alleviated The moral authority of the World that evening, but I had my first lesson in Conservation Union environmental ethics. What this means for the topic at hand The roots of environmental ethics lie is that the single most fundamental asset we not in philosophy books but in our grati- have as members of IUCN is our moral tude for the gift of life—“gracias a la vida”— authority. By “moral authority” I mean our the gift of our bodies as well as our souls. In capacity to articulate, justify, defend, and and through our experience of nature we practice principles of human action that create the world of interlaced meanings and enhance the flourishing of the evolutionary metaphors that constitute our distinctive adventure, including all its human mem- existence as human beings. The very no- bers. This authority has been built up over tions of “lofty” and “long standing” emerge many years by thousands of persons who through the alchemy of the human imagina- have found in this organization a way to act tion interacting with other unique actualiza- responsibly and effectively on behalf of their tions of creative evolution. “How shall we affirmation of the sacredness of life. call our natures forth when that live tongue We can identify a number of ways in is all dispelled, that glass obscured or bro- which we draw upon this moral authority in ken?” our conservation activities. A good example As Joseph Sittler later wrote, “Not in is our work in environmental law, which abstract propositions or dramatic warnings finds its justification in its appeal to justice, but in powerful, earthy images the poet among other moral values. Articles 2–9 of makes his point. The point is single, simple, the IUCN Law Commission’s Draft Inter- and absolute: human selfhood hangs upon national Covenant on Environment and the persistence of the earth, her dear known Development spells out the most basic and remembered factualness is the matrix of moral affirmations that ground the treaty’s the self.” legal obligations, e.g., Article 2: “Nature as This is the ultimate motivation, I sus- a whole warrants respect; every form of life pect, for our work in the international con- is unique and is to be safeguarded inde- servation movement. We love life—“every- pendent of its value to humanity.” thing which is natural which is infinite The scientific credibility of the Union which is yes” as the poet e.e. cummings is also ultimately based on its moral author- expressed it, we know we owe everything to ity—the belief that truth is a morally impor- it, we are profoundly grateful, and we want tant value and that scientists are trustworthy to repay our debt by responsible care and truth-tellers regarding the biological health respect, building a civilization that sustains of the planet. Our worldwide networks of life as long as Earth shall last. I believe this scientific experts labor diligently to be sure is true whether we work professionally as this trust is well-placed. Similarly, the polit- leaders of environmental NGOs, as scien- ical persuasiveness of the resolutions we tists, artists, or teachers, or as dedicated pass at this Congress rests on the moral conservationists in the worlds of commerce, authority of the Congress as a democratic industry or government. decision-making body—the fact that we truly represent the international communi- ty, and practice fair, open, and informed 60 The George Wright Forum

debate. As Valli Moosa, the newly elected nomic growth is one—if not the—cause of president of IUCN has stated, “It is from biodiversity loss, restructuring our domes- diversity that we gain our strength and tic and global economic systems is an political niche, and our unique moral urgent priority. Ashok Khosla of Develop- authority.” In addition, we depend upon ment Alternatives in India pointed out at our moral authority for support for our this Congress, “The fact that after 50 years community conservation projects. It is of international development, $1 trillion in assumed that we serve the common good development assistance, and a 20-fold and that our actions will be in keeping with growth in the world economy, there are our stated purposes. Any perception that more poor people and vastly reduced our principles are being compromised is forests should be a cause for worry among damaging to our moral reputation, and those who design our economic systems.” hence the practical effectiveness, of our But redesigning our global economic sys- projects. tem is likely the most difficult and complex In recent years a major source of the task we can undertake, involving powerful moral authority of the Union has come from government and business interests, some of our willingness to tackle the societal roots of which are corrupt or weak or otherwise environmental problems. It was not only a incompetent, immense geopolitical forces, realistic policy decision, but a courageous entrenched professional and academic in- exercise of moral responsibility, that led the terests, passionate public opinion, the wel- Union to decide that nature protection fare of countless individuals and communi- alone was not enough, and that human ties, and high stakes for the future of the poverty, lack of political participation and biosphere. education, and regional and global in- I therefore heartily commend the equities, must also be addressed. Our deci- IUCN leadership for having the moral sion to tackle these issues not only added to courage and foresight to initiate an engage- our moral authority but required our moral ment with economics and the business authority. We had no standing in the inter- community. The kind of serious dialogue national community that warranted this between conservationists and business kind of activity until we took on board the leaders that is conceptualized in A Strategy fundamental moral premise of sustainable for Enhancing IUCN’s Interaction with the development, that concern for people and Private Sector (approved by the IUCN concern for the environment are mutually Council in March, 2004), and is now being interdependent. Prior to Stockholm [the modeled at this Congress, is long overdue. 1972 U.N. global conference on the envi- Furthermore, I believe the IUCN initiative ronment], this was not the case. Martin has placed the goal where it needs to be: Holdgate recounts in his history of IUCN, biodiversity conservation and human well- The Green Web, that it took years of experi- being must become a central aim of busi- ence in the field, internal debate, and insti- ness, not merely a regulatory obligation or tutional self-examination to bring the Union charitable expense. to adopt the vision of a “just world that val- To meet this challenge, we will need to ues and conserves nature.” marshal all the resources at our disposal. As Since unsustainable and unjust eco- the Strategy suggests, in addition to our Volume 22 • Number 3 (2005) 61

capacities in environmental economic poli- business and markets. The moral con- cy analysis, environmental science, law, science of the Union strongly protests not strategic planning, and community devel- only economic inequality between persons, opment, we also need to bring to the table but any attempt to reduce life to its mere our moral values and authority. The moral “resource” value. Animals, for example, are standing of the Union gives us access to not inherently “production units.” As wor- centers of decision-making, both private thy of admiration as human artifacts may and public, which few other organizations be, achieving at their finest a second-order in the environmental field can reach. cultural form of intrinsic value, the baseline But we face a double challenge. To be value that must be preserved at all costs, successful, our approach to this work must because it is the ultimate generative source not only draw upon our hard-won moral of all other forms of value, is the wild value authority, it must proceed with utter moral original to the universe as given. The mag- credibility. It would be a blow to the moral nificent flourishing of organisms, life forms authority of the Union if this initiative and systems that we inherit can be imitated, should be perceived as a capitulation to the but never replaced. It is they alone that reigning economic powers. The Strategy inspire us to “reverence for life.” explicitly recognizes this risk, and acknowl- edges a “widespread skepticism in the con- The need for ethical terms of reference servation community about the merits of What we need are ethical terms of ref- collaborating with business.” erence for this engagement. We cannot We are seeking to overcome a division afford marriages of convenience. To achieve that has existed for over two centuries significant policy improvements we will between movements for environmental need principled agreements that are bind- preservation and proponents of modern ing between all parties—citizens, corpora- forms of economic development. We will tions, governments—new moral compacts, need to cut to the ethical roots of this con- not mere contracts. As Paul Hawken writes flict if we are to succeed in building mean- in The Ecology of Commerce, business will ingful partnerships between conservation- become meaningfully involved in the transi- ists, community advocates, economists, and tion to sustainable development when it business leaders. understands itself as “part of a larger cov- As a first step in that direction, let us enant.” We can say the same of the conser- acknowledge that it is proper that we use vation movement. Clear, strong, experien- other forms of life. This is a condition of our tially informed, rationally defensible, ethical existence as participants in the evolutionary frames of reference are essential precondi- process, and as co-creators and beneficiar- tions to a true partnership in any aspect of ies of the productive powers of human soci- human affairs. ety. But from an ethical perspective, use It is at this point that one more source value is always secondary to intrinsic and of our moral authority (often taken for systemic value—to the flourishing of the granted) comes into play. This is the work community of life on planet Earth. This is we do in ethical reflection. the concern many of us have as we begin to In the final analysis, everything walk down the road of engagement with depends upon our capacity for critical and 62 The George Wright Forum

constructive ethical thought. To step back— issues become intractable. This kind of to examine as objectively as possible the “truth in advertising” cannot help but issues at play in any decision or choice; to receive respect from the business communi- appreciate the multiple, often conflicting, ty, and will reassure our constituencies that values at stake; to listen and learn from we are keeping our mission intact. Ethical what others report of their experience; to integrity does not require ethical rigidity or question not only the opinions in play but dogmatism. But we will put everyone on the presuppositions of the conversation notice that convincing public reasons will itself; to turn the direction of discussion as need to be given for any changes we make. much as possible toward joint inquiry; to Second, ad hoc ethical norms are insuf- bring every bit of knowledge available to the ficient to give us the comprehensive moral table, scientific, cultural, personal; to con- direction we need. Our focus in this sult the moral wisdom of our traditions Congress Forum is upon industries and regarding what principles, virtues, and pur- businesses directly involved in natural poses are most crucial and helpful to the resource development or capitalizing upon subject at hand; to allow one’s imagination ecosystem services. This is an appropriate to freely entertain novel alternatives; to offer beginning point. To be practically effective, reasoned moral arguments, and to carefully ethical terms of reference need to address and genuinely consider the moral argu- the special issues and conditions involved ments offered by others; to propose without in each particular form of economic activity. demanding; and then finally to reach explic- The IUCN Council has taken steps to it consensus (but always revisable if new define such terms by insisting that “prior considerations make it necessary)—this is informed consent” and “restoration of lega- the best description I can give of what is cy sites” are among the key issues for dis- involved in ethical reflection, sometimes cussion (and for evaluating IUCN’s dia- called “practical moral reasoning.” Most logue) with the mining industries. But typically this kind of critical and construc- sooner or later specific ethical guidelines tive moral thought happens as a step or such as those developed for the mining moment within the natural flow of shared industries must take their place within a conversation, but there are times when it larger and more complex ethical frame- must be quite deliberate, public and sys- work—an ethical philosophy, if you will— tematic. In my judgment, this is one of those which has the capacity to provide general occasions. If the engagement of IUCN with terms of reference for all of our engage- business and markets is to follow “clear pri- ments. The suggestions I will be making orities and guidelines,” as the Strategy rec- below leap-frog to this point in the process. ommends, we need explicit attention to In our future work we can anticipate a cre- what ethical terms of reference are required. ative interplay between the norms that There are several reasons why. emerge in the course of our work in specific First, it assures our ethical integrity. contexts and the task of constructing gener- Even if the ethical terms of reference that we al ethical terms of reference. propose are not initially acceptable to our Finally, social compacts between busi- business partners, they make our intentions ness and conservation based on clear rea- clear, and give us a road map to follow when soned ethical terms of reference, far from Volume 22 • Number 3 (2005) 63

being a naïve and idealistic diversion, are tal criteria when making their decisions. one of the most hard-headed and realistic The point McGuire wanted to drive home things we can do in the cause of sustainable was that without the charter the partnership development. would likely have dissolved in rancor and While visiting Australia recently I had misunderstanding. It was essential that the opportunity to talk with Geraldine these constitutive terms of reference be McGuire, who worked for several years as a established at the outset, because it would community facilitator for Rio Tinto, the have been impossible to establish them in multinational mining company, to help the course of the negotiations. achieve “responsible closure” of a large One of the most important conversa- open-pit gold mine in a remote area in tions we can be having right now is about Indonesia. Her responsibility was to help what ought to be the ethical terms of refer- build a “tri-sector partnership” between the ence for such charters. company, government, and civil society Let me suggest three different sets of (including environmental advocacy groups) terms for your consideration today.I believe in order to address the issues involved in that all three sets are essential if meaningful the mine closing, most especially the pro- partnerships are to be formed. These are tection of worker rights and sustainable preliminary thoughts, however, my first cut livelihoods, dam safety, land compensation, at this subject. I welcome your thoughts, and environmental restoration. criticisms, and suggestions. McGuire underscored what a pub- The first set has to do with our common lished case study prepared by the Natural moral situation—the reality we share, the Resources Cluster of Business Partners for ground upon which everything must be Development (BPD) also emphasized—that built; the second with the process of en- three ethically significant components in gagement, the procedural norms that should the process were of primary practical govern it; and the third with the agenda for importance in achieving positive outcomes. discussion—the ethical issues that we agree One was moral trust, the sine qua non of beforehand must be on the table for discus- everything else. The second was clear sion. agreed-upon social and environmental cri- teria and goals. The third was the writing of a “charter” for the Mine Steering Com- Our common moral situation mittee, the decision-making forum that I would like to propose that the follow- brought together stakeholder participants ing description of our common moral situa- in structured dialogue. The charter defined tion serve as the fundamental ethical con- the purpose of the partnership, the roles text and framework for our engagement and responsibilities of its members, deci- with business and markets: sion-making principles (decisions were to be arrived at by consensus in the spirit of • We are members of a planetary commu- musyawarah untuk mufakat—the local nity of communities, an evolving inter- Indonesian moral tradition), and the dependent community of life. We love requirement that participants use an life, we know we owe everything to it, we agreed-upon list of social and environmen- are profoundly grateful, and we want 64 The George Wright Forum

now to return the gift by building a civi- which the capacities and rights of each lization that sustains life as long as Earth person are realized. shall last. • We acknowledge that each member of This is a thumbnail sketch of the ethi- the community of life, human and other- cal world view that has emerged in recent than-human, has independent dignity decades across international civil society, and value regardless of its economic portions of which are expressed in IUCN worth or use, and that we are so closely documents such as the World Charter for related to one another that the welfare of Nature, Caring for the Earth, and the Draft each is bound up with the welfare of all. International Covenant for Environment • As a species engaged in a great evolu- and Development. The most comprehen- tionary experiment testing whether or sive and widely endorsed of these declara- not it is possible to create a form of tions is the Earth Charter, which affirms social life governed by free, morally that “the spirit of human solidarity and kin- reflective, cooperative individuals, we ship with all life is strengthened when we affirm that we are members of a univer- live with reverence for the mystery of being, sal moral community, personally and gratitude for the gift of life, and humility collectively responsible for the care and regarding the human place in nature.” respect of the community of life, and for You will also recognize that the moral the equitable sharing of the goods of life landscape I have described is far distant across present and future generations. from the moral ontology assumed by neo- • We have so far largely failed in that res- classical economics, the world view that ponsibility, separating ourselves from dominates most public policy today and the community of nature and human- which provides the implicit ethical under- kind, hoarding the goods of life and the pinning for economic globalization. fruits of our shared labors, and as a As Stephen Marglin, professor of eco- result are alienated from the ground of nomics at Harvard University,who initiated our being and from one another. Some research aimed at opening debate within bear much greater culpability than oth- IUCN on the ethical foundations of public ers, due to profound inequalities of policy, has argued, the view of our common power and resources. moral situation assumed by the discipline of • Yet the experiment is not over and we economics is based on assumptions of have hope because we are all born with hyper-individualism, radical subjectivism, the potential for developing moral sensi- maximization of self-interest, and unlimited tivity, reason, and choice, and because wants, prioritizing the values of efficiency, our communities and institutions have competitive advantage, and growth. This is at critical times in history demonstrated an inaccurate picture of reality, and ethical- the ability to transform themselves and ly inadequate for formulating sound envi- pursue authentic ethical purposes. ronmental and social policy. Marglin’s • The aim we all share is to place our analysis builds on the work of progressive immense capacities for technological economists such as Herman Daly, who, in innovation and economic production in works such as For the Common Good: Re- the service of a flourishing planet in directing the Economy Toward Community, Volume 22 • Number 3 (2005) 65

the Environment, and a Sustainable Future, sistent enforcement of legal provisions at has sought to resituate our understanding all levels.” of economic activity in a relational, evolu- tionary, purposive world view, one which This is an excellent set of ethical stan- gives support to values such as respect, dards for serious engagement and dialogue responsibility, cooperation, and love. between business, the community,and con- servation advocates. I would not remove Ethical guidelines for dialogue one from the list. Let me, however, re- The second set of ethical terms of ref- phrase, unpack, or otherwise expand a few erence that are essential to a productive so that their ethical aspect is a bit more partnership between business leaders and prominent. conservationists involves the ethical criteria Transparency. There is openness in for the dialogue that must necessarily lie at decision-making so that all interested par- the heart of such a relationship. ties, including the public at large, are aware The Strategy for Enhancing IUCN’s of the course of discussion; the economic Interaction with the Private Sector sets forth and other interests of the parties are fully a set of “ethical and practical principles” for disclosed; it is made explicit what each is guidance. The IUCN program for the peri- agreeing to, and therefore pledging to od 2005–2008 also does a laudable job of honor; there is no hidden pressure to reach identifying some of the most important of any particular outcome. these criteria (although it does not name Coherence. Each participant in the them as “ethical”) in its discussion of rules dialogue makes proposals and offers justifi- of governance. Although there is substantial cations in terms others can understand and overlap, I find the latter to be the most com- might reasonably accept; ethical principles, prehensive and relevant to our discussion e.g., equity in the climate change debate, are here. To quote: “IUCN believes that gover- viewed as ends or standards of action as nance should be based on the principles of: well as means to facilitate agreement on courses of action. • Transparency—openness in decision- Public participation. Each person making enters the conversation on a basis of moral • Access to information and justice— equality; there is no privileged position (no accurate, effective and open communi- greater virtue, or power, resides with any cation party); each is assumed to have equal capac- • Public participation—genuine involve- ities for ethical reflection and judgment; the ment in decision-making membership of the dialogue is truly inclu- • Coherence—a consistent approach sive, not only conservationists and business • Subsidiarity—decisions taken at the leaders, but representatives of the commu- lowest level appropriate nities affected, labor as well as management; • Respect for human rights—interwoven protesting and dissenting voices are not with ‘good’ environmental governance only tolerated (assuming civility prevails) • Accountability—for economic, social but sought out for the important moral per- and environmental performance spectives they can offer. • Rule of law—fair, transparent and con- Accountability. Independent (third- 66 The George Wright Forum

party) ways of measuring performance and ful dialogue and engagement are as impor- outcomes are built into the process from the tant as the objective ones. These have to do beginning. with the personal moral values and charac- It is one thing to outline abstract cri- ter of the parties to the dialogue. Although teria of this sort, and quite another to do the such matters are typically treated as strictly spade work required to ensure they are private affairs, in fact they are not. Our per- implemented. But without the spade work, sonal values have as much a place as more we risk trafficking in moral platitudes. utilitarian considerations in policy deci- Ethical seriousness requires that the neces- sions. As reported in the journal Environ- sary conditions be provided for the criteria mental Values, when researchers inter- to be meaningfully employed and recogni- viewed senior policy advisers active in glob- tion of this fact should also be an important al climate change negotiations, the majority ethical term of reference for our engage- articulated deeply held personal environ- ments. mental values, but kept these values sepa- Let us take participation as an example. rate from their professional environmental Because of distrust, language and cultural and policy activities. As one official said, barriers, and other factors, the parties most “Personally I’m willing to sacrifice quite a affected by a particular business operation lot of my material well being in order to pro- are often not at the table. How would we tect the environment ... but as a government secure participation of the villagers who official, of course I’d have a much more bal- gathered to protest the Thai–Malaysian gas anced view....” An important ethical term of pipeline project because of its impact on reference will be making sure that partici- their beach in Songkhla Chana? Does pants are encouraged, and have structured IUCN have sufficient contact with the most opportunities, to share their personal expe- morally energized grassroots movements rience and values, and that they sincerely and alternative development organizations try to understand the experience and values trying to address the problems of economic of others. globalization? One of the principal ingredi- Successful dialogue also depends upon ents in the success of the trisectoral partner- the moral maturity of each of the partici- ship at Kelian Mine (described above) was pants. Such qualities as compassion for the that the community and labor participants situation of others; willingness to admit were remunerated for the time they devoted error, deceit, or wrong-doing; ability to to the steering committee meetings. How keep one’s word; or perhaps most difficult can we bring to the table the particular busi- of all, what the Buddhists call non-attach- ness interests that most need to be there? As ment to material things, are determining Ashok Khosla also noted at this Congress, if factors in the quality of discussion. One of we publicly named and engaged the 120 the most difficult moral truths to accept is companies responsible for 80% of global that, while win–win solutions are always to carbon dioxide emissions in the world, as be preferred, on most occasions there will identified by the U.N. Framework Conven- be losses involved, sometimes serious losses tion on Climate Change in 2000, we might that might be most accurately named “sacri- begin to find effective solutions! fices.” One or more of the parties will need The subjective conditions for success- to give up important advantages for the sake Volume 22 • Number 3 (2005) 67

of the common good. We will need to find also is essential that we continue to define ways to help participants in our engage- and press the crucial ethical principles per- ments prepare for the morally difficult tinent to each economic sector, such as choices they will sometimes need to make. prior informed consent, and legacy obliga- tions in the mining industries. The agenda for deliberation Ethical analysis of major environ- Finally,I believe there is a set of critical mental economic issues. A second set of economic, social, and environmental issues agenda items has to do with the leading glo- that all parties must agree to place on the bal environmental issues with significant agenda for explicit and deliberate ethical economic components and the ways in reflection and decision. As the list below which ethics can contribute to their resolu- will show, I believe our ethical terms of ref- tion. I do not need to tell you that this list is erence should include good-faith delibera- long, and many—including biotechnology; tions on both the ways in which particular the rights of indigenous peoples; sustain- economic policies can be improved and able use of wild species; health, human how the system itself should be trans- rights and the environment; the definition formed. of “sustainable development” and its key Reform of business and market prac- components such as the precautionary tice. The first set of agenda items are those principle—are of direct concern to mem- which we have concentrated upon in this bers of our IUCN Ethics Specialist Group Global Synthesis Workshop, and which ad- (ESG). Let us look more closely at two illus- vocates of green commerce have sought to trative examples. promote in a variety of programs and publi- Global climate change is negatively cations. impacting the intrinsic, instrumental, and It is essential that we continue in our systemic values of biodiversity throughout engagement with business to show why the planet, and sabotaging attempts to lift conservation of biodiversity is both good the world’s poorest out of poverty. ESG business and good ethical practice, to member Don Brown will be convening a strengthen corporate social responsibility meeting at the Intergovernmental Panel on (CSR), pursue investments with the Climate Change in Buenos Aires on the eth- “triple” bottom line of financial return and ical dimensions of the climate change nego- social and environmental results, promote tiations, pointing out that the figure set for tax and other economic incentives for envi- the absolute ceiling on carbon dioxide ronmentally positive investing, encourage emissions is ultimately an ethical judgment, socially responsible investing, build public and that questions of equity and the respec- moral support for more effective regulatory tive responsibilities of wealthy and develop- mechanisms, create honest markets by ing nations hold a vital key to lasting agree- incorporating indirect (external) costs of ments. providing goods or services into prices, Security has emerged on the global make sure company standards and codes of agenda as an increasingly urgent geopoliti- conduct respect sustainable thresholds of cal issue and one that the conservation com- natural systems, and construct new ethical- munity quite rightly seeks to show has envi- ly informed indices of economic progress. It ronmental as well as economic, social, and 68 The George Wright Forum

military aspects. No doubt the most neg- such a tight grip on our society that it is in lected dimension of the issue, however, is effect our secular religion. But not only that ethical. The root causes of violence in the of the United States. As Sulak Sivaraksa, world are to be found in conflicting world- Thailand’s leading spokesperson for en- views and values. Other important con- gaged Buddhism, has said: “Western con- tributing factors, such as endemic poverty, sumerism is the dominant ethic in the world the spread of deadly armaments, large-scale today.” population movements, ecosystem break- We must convince our responsible down, new and resurgent communicable business partners that this phenomenon diseases, and rising competition over land deserves a high place on our agenda for dis- and other natural resources can often be cussion. All the CSR, market incentives, sci- shown to be due to personal, corporate, entific studies, and dialogues between con- national, and international moral failings. servationists and business representatives To try to address these problems without will be of little avail if the ideology of acknowledging moral culpability, or apart economism remains intact, and if the aggre- from ethically inspired efforts at peace- gate economic demands on the ecosystems keeping, equalization of living standards, of the planet continue to accelerate. democratic governance, and ecosystem This ideology operates at three inter- conservation, is futile. The greed and tri- dependent levels, each of which needs spe- umphalism that dominate American society cial analysis. We briefly treated the first in at present are primary causes of its failure to our discussion of the moral ontology collaborate in the multilateral efforts neces- assumed by the discipline of economics, the sary for true international security and this world view that dominates most public pol- will only change when the moral conscience icy today, and rationalizes the present pat- of the nation, including its business com- tern of economic globalization. To show munity, is re-awakened. you just how alive and well this ideology is Economism. If there is to be progress in the United States, one of the members of on restructuring the global economy, we the University of Chicago “school of eco- must distinguish between ethically justified nomics” recently argued that if we are to economic development—sustainable devel- obtain the “marvelous material benefits of opment in the best sense of the term—and capitalism” we must submit to competitive what is called by Herman Daly the ideology markets that are “relentless, ruthless, of “economism”—the belief in unlimited unruly, and irreligious.” This helps explain economic growth, unregulated markets, the widespread fatalism that economic limited government, and the positive bene- globalization in its current form is inevit- fits of consumer culture. able, and that if we are to receive its alleged I sometimes have the impression in economic benefits we must be willing to these meetings that there is an elephant in make substantial environmental and social the room and no one is talking about it. As sacrifices. a citizen of the United States, I can assure The second level is that of corporate you the elephant is real and quite large. The power and influence. The mainstream cor- ideology of economism, and the petroleum- porate sector broadcasts the ideology of based economy that underwrites it, has economism and benefits from it. As one Volume 22 • Number 3 (2005) 69

academic analysis of journalism notes, news tion for the reigning form of economic today must “fit” within the “info-tainment” organization, the corporation, especially in strategy and profit-seeking guidelines of the regard to the question of internal and exter- corporations which own most major news nal democratic political governance. media. A principal component in the ideol- In a very short period of time corpora- ogy is that government control of the econ- tions have grown from small organizations omy through regulatory law is inefficient legally chartered for clear and precise pur- and oppressive. When we speak of govern- poses and operating under clear stipula- ments as being too weak to deal with envi- tions, with full shareholder liability, to a ronmental and social problems we are see- global economic hegemony, with the same ing a self-fulfilling prophecy. rights and protections as those of individual The third level is that of popular con- persons, plus limited liability, and the legal sumer culture, based on the widespread responsibility to earn a profit for their own- and largely unconscious assumption that ers. The corporation is an artificial human we have unlimited wants, that the good life creation and there is no reason to believe consists in the acquisition of ever more that it is the most morally justified form of manufactured products and experiences. economic organization that it is possible to Can we expect biodiversity to be valued and contrive. It is now a very hierarchically preserved when our public spaces are filled ordered organization, with gross disparities with advertising images that pander to the between levels of remuneration and oppor- crudest material appetites, and that glorify a tunities for meaningful participation—the lifestyle of excessive material affluence? In opposite of the kind of responsible mutual- the United States today the metaphor of ity and equality we try to nurture in a dem- marketing pervades and corrupts virtually ocratic social order. In what specific ways is every facet of public, business and personal it therefore legitimate and justified? What life, including attitudes toward the land, other forms of economic organization could defined as investment “real estate.” be more ethically defensible instruments for We must face this destructive reality in ensuring the well-being of nature and which we are all caught up—citizens, con- human life? servationists, politicians, businesses alike— A closely related question, one that is and place it squarely on the agenda for dis- being increasingly asked throughout inter- cussion. In Vaclav Havel’s words, “the sys- national civil society, is what new forms of tem of consumer culture and development” global political governance can make eco- is the “lie” which most of us live, and yet we nomic organizations—whether corporate or act as though it were reality; whereas “living otherwise—more directly accountable to in the truth” is to call it a lie and tackle the the citizens of the world. The immense immense cultural challenges and realign- impact of transnational corporations makes ments of economic and political power nec- this question both urgent and inevitable. essary to change it. Global corporate governance. I do Hope for IUCN not see how this can be done unless conser- I have argued throughout this paper vationists and enlightened business inter- that reconstructing the global economic ests together examine the ethical justifica- system will be the primary test of the capac- 70 The George Wright Forum

ity of the World Conservation Union for within the progressive business community, moral leadership in the 21st century. My who are as desirous as we to find an alterna- hope is that IUCN will take this challenge tive development path based on ethical seriously and continue to work to build commerce, just and sustainable communi- consensus on the ethical terms of reference ties, and new ways of measuring human for a transformative engagement between progress. conservationists, civil society, government, To do so would mean keeping faith and business. with all those who have gone before us in Fortunately, we are not alone. We can this organization, and the many millions and should link arms with the many per- more, who have hoped against hope that sons throughout international civil society, our species would rise to the challenge of in the United Nations and other interna- governing its economic affairs in such a way tional institutions, and most especially as to honor the gift of life.

Ron Engel, Ethics Specialist Group, IUCN Commission on Environmental Law,and Center for Humans and Nature, P.O. Box 717, Beverly Shores, Indiana 46301-0717; [email protected]

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