Environmentalism is a broadphilosophy,ideology, andsocial movement about supportinglife,habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects ofgreen ideology and politics, ecologism combines the ideology ofsocial ecology and environmentalism.Ecologism is more commonly used in continental European languages, whileenvironmentalism is more commonly used in English but the words have slightly different connotations.
At its crux, environmentalism is an attempt to balance relations between humans and the various natural systems on which they depend in such a way that all the components are accorded a proper degree ofsustainability.[2] The exact measures and outcomes of this balance is controversial and there are many different ways for environmental concerns to be expressed in practice. Environmentalism and environmental concerns are often represented by the colourgreen,[3] but this association has been appropriated by the marketing industries for the tactic known asgreenwashing.[4]
Environmentalism is opposed byanti-environmentalism, which says that the Earth is less fragile than some environmentalists maintain, and portrays environmentalism as overreacting to the human contribution toclimate change or opposing human advancement.[5]
Environmentalism denotes asocial movement that seeks to influence the political process by lobbying, activism, and education in order to protect natural resources andecosystems. Environmentalism as a movement covers broad areas ofinstitutional oppression, including for example: consumption of ecosystems and natural resources into waste, dumping waste into disadvantaged communities,air pollution,water pollution, weak infrastructure, exposure of organic life to toxins. Because of these divisions, the environmental movement can be categorized into these primary focuses:environmental science, environmental activism, environmental advocacy, andenvironmental justice.[6]
Anenvironmentalist is a person who may speak out about our natural environment and the sustainable management of its resources through changes in public policy or individual behaviour. This may include supporting practices such as informed consumption, conservation initiatives, investment inrenewable resources, improved efficiencies in the materials economy, transitioning to new accounting paradigms such asecological economics, renewing and revitalizing our connections with non-human life or even opting to have one less child to reduce consumption and pressure on resources.
In various ways (for example, grassroots activism and protests), environmentalists andenvironmental organizations seek to give the natural world a stronger voice in human affairs.[7]
In general terms, environmentalists advocate thesustainable management of resources, and the protection (and restoration, when necessary) of thenatural environment through changes in public policy and individual behaviour. In its recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the movement is centered aroundecology,health, andhuman rights.
Theenvironmental movement (a term that sometimes includes theconservation andgreen movements) is a diverse scientific,social, andpolitical movement. Though the movement is represented by a range of organizations, because of the inclusion of environmentalism in the classroom curriculum,[8][9] the environmental movement has a younger demographic than is common in other social movements (seegreen seniors).
A concern for environmental protection has recurred in diverse forms, in different parts of the world, throughout history.The earliest ideas of environmental protectionism can be found inJainism, a religion from ancient India revived byMahavira in the 6th century BC. Jainism offers a view that is in many ways compatible with core values associated with environmental activism, such as the protection of life bynonviolence, which could form a strong ecological ethos for global protection of the environment. Mahavira's teachings on the symbiosis between all living beings—as well as the five elements of earth, water, air, fire, and space—are core to environmental thought today.[10][11]
In Europe, KingEdward I of England banned the burning and sale of "sea-coal" in 1272 by proclamation in London, after its smoke had become a prevalent annoyance throughout the city.[14][15] This fuel, common in London due to the local scarcity of wood, was given this early name because it could be found washed up on some shores, from where it was carted away on a wheelbarrow.
At the advent of steam and electricity the muse of history holds her nose and shuts her eyes (H. G. Wells 1918).[16]
The origins of the environmental movement lay in the response to increasing levels ofsmokepollution in theatmosphere during theIndustrial Revolution. The emergence of great factories and the concomitant immense growth incoal consumption gave rise to an unprecedented level ofair pollution in industrial centers; after 1900 the large volume of industrialchemical discharges added to the growing load of untreated human waste.[17] The first large-scale, modern environmental laws came in the form of Britain'sAlkali Acts, passed in 1863, to regulate the deleterious air pollution (gaseoushydrochloric acid) given off by theLeblanc process, used to producesoda ash.[18]
In industrial cities, local experts and reformers, especially after 1890, took the lead in identifyingenvironmental degradation and pollution, and initiating grass-roots movements to demand and achieve reforms.[19] Typically the highest priority went to water and air pollution.
The late 19th century saw the passage of the first wildlife conservation laws. The zoologistAlfred Newton published a series of investigations into theDesirability of establishing a 'Close-time' for the preservation of indigenous animals between 1872 and 1903. His advocacy for legislation to protect animals from hunting during the mating season led to the formation of theRoyal Society for the Protection of Birds and influenced the passage of theSea Birds Preservation Act in 1869 as the first nature protection law in the world.[23][24]
The movement in the United States began in the late 19th century, out of concerns for protecting the natural resources of the West, with individuals such asJohn Muir andHenry David Thoreau making key philosophical contributions. Thoreau was interested in peoples' relationship with nature and studied this by living close to nature in a simple life. He published his experiences in the bookWalden, which argues that people should become intimately close with nature. Muir came to believe in nature's inherent right, especially after spending time hiking inYosemite Valley and studying both the ecology and geology. He successfully lobbied congress to formYosemite National Park and went on to set up theSierra Club in 1892. The conservationist principles as well as the belief in an inherent right of nature were to become the bedrock of modern environmentalism.
The prevailing belief regarding the origins of early environmentalism suggests that it emerged as a local response to the adverse impacts of industrialization in Western nations and communities. In terms of conservation efforts, there is a widespread view that the conservation movement began as a predominantlyelite concern in North America, focusing on the preservation of local natural areas. A less prevailing view, however, attributes the roots of early environmentalism to a growing public concern about the influence of Western economic forces, particularly in connection withcolonization, on tropical environments.[25]Richard Grove, in a 1990 publication, points out that little attention has been given to the significance of the colonial experience, particularly the European colonial experience, in shaping early European environmentalism.[25]
Photos of theEarth fromouter space provided both new insights and new reasons for concern over Earth's seemingly small and unique place in the universe (composite images of Earth generated by NASA in 2001 (left) and 2002 (right)).
In 1916, theNational Park Service was founded by U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson.[26] Pioneers of the movement called for more efficient and professional management of natural resources. They fought for reform because they believed the destruction of forests, fertile soil, minerals, wildlife, and water resources would lead to the downfall of society.[27]
"The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others".
In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, several events illustrated the magnitude of environmental damage caused by humans. In 1954, ahydrogen bomb test atBikini Atoll exposed the 23-man crew of the Japanese fishing vesselLucky Dragon 5 to radioactive fallout. The incident is known asCastle Bravo, the largest thermonuclear device ever detonated by the United States and the first in a series of high-yield thermonuclear weapon design tests.[29] In 1967 the oil tankerTorrey Canyon ran aground off the coast ofCornwall, and in 1969 oil spilled from an offshore well in California'sSanta Barbara Channel. In 1971, the conclusion of a lawsuit inJapan drew international attention to the effects of decades ofmercury poisoning on the people ofMinamata.[30]
At the same time, emerging scientific research drew new attention to existing and hypothetical threats to the environment and humanity. Among them werePaul R. Ehrlich, whose bookThe Population Bomb (1968) revivedMalthusian concerns about the impact of exponential population growth. BiologistBarry Commoner generated a debate about growth, affluence and "flawed technology." Additionally, an association of scientists and political leaders known as theClub of Rome published their reportThe Limits to Growth in 1972, and drew attention to the growing pressure on natural resources from human activities.
In the United States and several other countries, the boom was manifested in suburban development andurban sprawl, aided by automobile ownership.
Another major literary force in the promotion of the environmental movement wasRachel Carson's 1962 bookSilent Spring about declining bird populations due toDDT, an insecticide, pollutant, and man's attempts to control nature through the use of synthetic substances. Her core message for her readers was to identify the complex and fragile ecosystem and the threats facing the population.[31] Her book sold over two million copies.[32]
The book cataloged the environmental impacts of the indiscriminate spraying ofDDT in the US and questioned the logic of releasing large amounts of chemicals into the environment without fully understanding their effects on human health and ecology. The book suggested that DDT and other pesticides may causecancer and that their agricultural use was a threat to wildlife, particularly birds.[33]
The resulting public concern led to the creation of theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 which subsequently banned the agricultural use of DDT in the US in 1972.[34] The limited use of DDT indisease vector control continues to this day in certain parts of the world and remains controversial. The book's legacy was to produce a far greater awareness of environmental issues and interest into how people affect the environment. With this new interest in environment came interest in problems such as air pollution and petroleum spills, and environmental interest grew. New pressure groups formed, notablyGreenpeace andFriends of the Earth (US), as well as notable local organizations such as theWyoming Outdoor Council, which was founded in 1967. Greenpeace was created in 1971 as an organization that believed that political advocacy and legislation were ineffective or inefficient solutions and supported non-violent action. From 1962 to 1998, the environmental movement founded 772 national organizations in the United States.[35]
In the 1970s, the environmental movement gained rapid speed around the world as a productive outgrowth of thecounterculture movement.[36]
The world's first political parties to campaign on a predominantly environmental platform were theUnited Tasmania Group ofTasmania, Australia, and theValues Party of New Zealand.[37][38] The firstgreen party in Europe was the Popular Movement for the Environment, founded in 1972 in the Swiss canton ofNeuchâtel. The first national green party in Europe was PEOPLE, founded in Britain in February 1973, which eventually turned into theEcology Party, and then theGreen Party.
Protection of the environment also became important in thedeveloping world; theChipko movement was formed in India under the influence ofMhatmas Gandhi and they set up peaceful resistance todeforestation by literally hugging trees (leading to the term "tree huggers"). Their peaceful methods of protest and slogan "ecology is permanent economy" were very influential.
Another milestone in the movement was the creation ofEarth Day. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970.[39] It was created to give awareness to environmental issues. On 21 March 1971, United Nations Secretary-GeneralU Thant spoke of aspaceship Earth on Earth Day, hereby referring to theecosystem services the earth supplies to us, and hence our obligation to protect it (and with it, ourselves). Earth Day is now coordinated globally by theEarth Day Network,[40] and is celebrated in more than 192 countries every year.[41] Its founder, former Wisconsin SenatorGaylord Nelson, was inspired to create this day of environmental education and awareness after seeing theoil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969.
In 1972, theUnited Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held inStockholm, and for the first time united the representatives of multiple governments in discussion relating to the state of the global environment. It marked a turning point in the development of international environmental politics.[42] This conference led directly to the creation of government environmental agencies and theUN Environment Program.
By the mid-1970s, many felt that people were on the edge of environmental catastrophe. Theback-to-the-land movement started to form and ideas of environmental ethics joined withanti-Vietnam War sentiments and other political issues. These individuals lived outside normal society and started to take on some of the more radical environmental theories such asdeep ecology. Around this time more mainstream environmentalism was starting to show force with the signing of theEndangered Species Act in 1973 and the formation ofCITES in 1975. Significant amendments were also enacted to the United StatesClean Air Act[43] andClean Water Act.[44]
Nancy Pelosi meets with the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize recipients – six individuals who have made a profound impact in their communities and throughout the world by fighting forenvironmental justice.
Environmentalism continues to evolve to face up to new issues such asglobal warming,overpopulation,genetic engineering, andplastic pollution. However, research in 2013 showed a precipitous decline in the United States' public's interest in 19 different areas of environmental concern.[45]
Since the 2000s, the environmental movement has increasingly focused onclimate change as one of the top issues. As concerns about climate change moved more into the mainstream, from the connections drawn between global warming andHurricane Katrina toAl Gore's 2006 documentary filmAn Inconvenient Truth, more and more environmental groups refocused their efforts. In the United States, 2007 witnessed the largest grassroots environmental demonstration in years,Step It Up 2007, with rallies in over 1,400 communities and all 50 states for real global warming solutions.[46]
Publicity and widespread organizing ofschool strike for the climate began after Swedish schoolgirlGreta Thunberg staged a protest in August 2018 outside the SwedishRiksdag (parliament). TheSeptember 2019 climate strikes were likely the largest climate strikes in world history.[47] In 2019, a survey found that climate breakdown is viewed as the most important issue facing the world in seven out of the eight countries surveyed.[48]
Many religious organizations and individual churches now have programs and activities dedicated to environmental issues.[49] The religious movement is often supported by interpretation of scriptures.[50]
One notable strain of environmentalism comes from the philosophy of theconservation movement. Conservationists are concerned with leaving the environment in a better state than the condition they found it distinct from human interaction.[51][52] The conservation movement is associated with the early parts of the environmental movement of the 19th and 20th century.[53]
The adoption of environmentalist into a distinct political ideology led to the development of political parties called "green parties", typically with a leftist political approach to overlapping issues of environmental and social wellbeing (green politics) .
Light green, and dark green environmentalism[54][55] are yet other sub-movements, respectively distinguished by seeing environmentalism as alifestyle choice (light greens), and promoting reduction in human numbers and/or arelinquishment of technology (dark greens)
Evangelical environmentalism is an environmental movement in the United States in which someEvangelicals have emphasizedbiblical mandates concerning humanity's role as steward and subsequent responsibility for the care taking of Creation. While the movement has focused on different environmental issues, it is best known for its focus of addressing climate action from a biblically groundedtheological perspective. This movement is controversial among some non-Christian environmentalists due to its rooting in a specific religion.
Free market environmentalism is a theory that argues that thefree market,property rights, andtort law provide the best tools to preserve the health andsustainability of the environment. It considers environmental stewardship to be natural, as well as the expulsion of polluters and other aggressors through individual andclass action.
The concept oflabor environmentalism refers to the efforts oftrade unions to create environmental policies, advocate for environmental issues, and collaborate with environmental groups.[56] Trade unions and international organizations such as theInternational Labour Organization face the dilemma of having to "navigate the structures of globalcapitalism and theeconomic growth paradigm, on the one hand, and the global ecological crisis on the other hand".[56]
Environmental organizations can be global, regional, national or local; they can be government-run or private (NGO). Environmentalist activity exists in almost every country. Moreover, groups dedicated to community development and social justice also focus on environmental concerns.
When environmentalism first became popular during the early 20th century, the focus was wilderness protection and wildlife preservation. These goals reflected the interests of the movement's initial, primarily white middle and upper class supporters, including through viewing preservation and protection via a lens that failed to appreciate the centuries-long work of indigenous communities who had lived without ushering in the types of environmental devastation these settler colonial "environmentalists" now sought to mitigate. The actions of many mainstream environmental organizations still reflect these early principles.[60] Numerous low-income minorities felt isolated or negatively impacted by the movement, exemplified by the Southwest Organizing Project's (SWOP) Letter to the Group of 10, a letter sent to major environmental organizations by several local environmental justice activists.[61] The letter argued that the environmental movement was so concerned about cleaning up and preserving nature that it ignored the negative side-effects that doing so caused communities nearby, namely less job growth.[60] In addition, theNIMBY movement has transferredlocally unwanted land uses (LULUs) from middle-class neighborhoods to poor communities with large minority populations. Therefore, vulnerable communities with fewer political opportunities are more often exposed to hazardous waste and toxins.[62] This has resulted in thePIBBY principle, or at least the PIMBY (Place-in-minorities'-backyard), as supported by the United Church of Christ's study in 1987.[63]
As a result, some minorities have viewed the environmental movement as elitist. Environmental elitism manifested itself in three different forms:
Compositional – Environmentalists are from the middle and upper class.
Ideological – The reforms benefit the movement's supporters but impose costs on nonparticipants.
Impact – The reforms have "regressive social impacts". They disproportionately benefit environmentalists and harm underrepresented populations.[64]
Many environmentalists believe that human interference with 'nature' should be restricted or minimised as a matter of urgency (for the sake of life, or the planet, or just for the benefit of the human species),[65] whereasenvironmental skeptics and anti-environmentalists do not believe that there is such a need.[66] One can also regard oneself as an environmentalist and believe that human 'interference' with 'nature' should beincreased.[67] Nevertheless, there is a risk that the shift from emotional environmentalism into the technical management of natural resources and hazards could decrease the touch of humans with nature, leading to less concern with environment preservation.[68] Increasingly, typical conservation rhetoric is being replaced with restoration approaches and larger landscape initiatives that seek to create more holistic impacts.[69]
Others seek a balance that involves both caring deeply for the environment while letting science guide human actions affecting it. Such an approach would avoid the emotionalism which, for example, anti-GMO activism has been criticized for, and protect the integrity of science. Planting trees, for another example, can be emotionally satisfying but should also involve being conscious ofecological concerns such as the effect onwater cycles and the use of nonnative, potentially invasive species.[70]
Anti-environmentalism is a set of ideas and actions that oppose environmentalism as a whole or specific environmental policies or environmental initiatives. Criticism of environmentalism can come both from outside the movement and from within, as it represents a variety of ideas and political positions. Outside oppositions can take the form of an organizedcountermovement, aimed at both environmentalist ideas and environmental policies and regulations, national or international. Opponents may include workers in industries threatened by environmental policies, companies that support them, and anti-environmentalist think tanks.
The reasons for opposition are not homogeneous: they range from economic interests to ideological and political positions hostile to pro-environmental social and political change, to critical perspectives encouraging environmentalists to think about and adopt more inclusive approaches towardsustainability.
Anenvironmentalist is a person who protects the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of theenvironmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of thenatural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities".[71] An environmentalist is engaged in or believes in the philosophy of environmentalism or one of the related philosophies.
The environmental movement has a number of subcommunities, with different approaches and focuses – each developing distinct movements and identities. Environmentalists are sometimes referred to by critics with informal or derogatory terms such as "greenie" and "tree-hugger",[72] with some members of the public associating the most radical environmentalists with these derogatory terms.[73]
Some of the notable environmentalists who have been advocating forenvironmental protection and conservation include:
In the early 1990s, multiple environmental activists in the United States became targets of violent attacks.[76] Every year, more than 100 environmental activists are murdered throughout the world.[77] Most recent deaths are in Brazil, where activists combat logging in the Amazon rainforest.[78]
116 environmental activists wereassassinated in 2014,[79] and 185 in 2015.[77] This represents more than two environmentalists assassinated every week in 2014 and three every week in 2015.[80][81] More than 200 environmental activists were assassinated worldwide between 2016 and early 2018.[82] A 2020 incident saw several rangers murdered in the Congo Rainforest by poaching squads. Occurrences like this are relatively common, and account for a large number of deaths.[83]
In 2022,Global Witness reported that, in the preceding decade, more than 1,700 land and environmental defenders were killed, about one every two days.[84] Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, and Mexico were the deadliest countries.[84] Violence and intimidation against environmental activists have also been reported inCentral and Eastern Europe.[85] InRomania, anti-logging activists have been killed,[86] while inBelarus, the government arrested several environmental activists and dissolved their organizations.[87][88] Belarus has also withdrawn from theAarhus Convention.[89][90]
Another area of environmentalism is to use art to raise awareness about misuse of the environment.[91][92][93] One example istrashion, using trash to create clothes, jewelry, and other objects for the home.Marina DeBris is one trashion artist, who focuses on ocean and beach trash to design clothes and for fund raising, education.
^Aboul-Enein, H. Yousuf; Zuhur, Sherifa (2004),Islamic Rulings on Warfare, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, p. 22,ISBN978-1-58487-177-4
^Harold L. Platt,Shock cities: the environmental transformation and reform of Manchester and Chicago (2005)excerpt.
^Miller, Barbara Kiely (2008).John Muir. Gareth Stevens. p. 10.ISBN978-0836883183.
^Kennedy White, Kim, ed. (2013).America Goes Green: An Encyclopedia of Eco-Friendly Culture in the United States. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. xxiii.John Muir (1838–1914) was a Scottish-born American citizen
^Erik W. Johnson, and Scott Frickel, "Ecological Threat and the Founding of U.S. National Environmental Movement Organizations, 1962–1998," Social Problems 58 (2011), 305–29.online
^Bakari, Mohamed El-Kamel. "Globalization and Sustainable Development: False Twins?." New Global Studies 7.3: 23–56.
^Neil Paul Cummins "An Evolutionary Perspective on the Relationship Between Humans and Their Surroundings: Geoengineering, the Purpose of Life & the Nature of the Universe", Cranmore Publications, 2012.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
