Here for our Children's Children

The author of this very useful book is both a hydrologist and a priest in The Church of England who teaches environmental ethics at Birmingham University. The book cleverly bridges the general reader and the university student, both of whom will find much food for thought. It begins with some definitions of different modes of ethics and their approaches, moving on to the historical origins of environmental ethics. The most important chapter discusses different ways of valuing the environment in terms of hedonism, utilitarianism, consequential values of stewardship and sustainability, environmental rights, intrinsic value, extrinsic value and Gaia as a form of theistic Earth ethics. This is followed by illustrations of environmental ethics and practice applied to such issues as human population and climate change. The author ends with a personal statement, which has much in common with the recent Dimbleby Lecture by the Prince of Wales, pointing out that we need to come to terms with population planning, create a low carbon lifestyle, restructure the world economy and address poverty and deprivation. A tall but necessary order.