Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the non-human world. It focuses on questions concerning how we ought to inhabit the world; what constitutes a good life or a good society; and who, where, or what merits moral standing.
Envt. Ethics hold an important role as it is akin to sustainable development. It forces the global community to think in strategic way to deal with the negative effect of climate change. The major theme that man is just a part of environment and holding humankind responsible for non- humankind is an effective way in present time to fix responsibility to combat climate change.
The present generation does not own the world’s resources to do whatever we please with them. Just because we are in possession of all the natural resources does not mean that we can use those resources in any manner in which we choose without keeping anything for the future generations
The problem is how much of the wilderness can we preserve in the presence of an ever-growing hunger and greed for land and resources for its utilization values. Yet, unless we begin to see the ecological values of wilderness, an ethic for its conservation cannot become part of our daily lives. And without the wilderness the earth will eventually become unlivable.
Unless, we understand clearly the relation between man and nature, it may not be possible to find a plausible solution to environmental issues confronting man, or threatening human survival. Hence, envt ethics is an important part of global discussion and very important for present time and is going to decide the course of sustainable development.