ECOSYSTEMS L6- Water Ethics

Question 1

EU WFD (2000)

Answer 1

Water is not a commercial project like any other, it should be protected, defended and treated as such.

Question 2

Armstrong (2006)

Answer 2

We need a clear understanding of ethics to be able to discuss environmental problems.

“A thing is right if it preserves or enhances the ability of water within an ecosystem to sustain life”

Question 3

Leopold (1949)

Answer 3

Armstrong basis his water ethic on Leopold’s land ethic.

“A thing is right if it tends to preserve the integrity. stability and beauty of the biotic community”

Question 4

Greenfeldt and Schmidt (2013)

Answer 4

Approaches to water governance:

1) Management
2) Institutional
3) Sustainability (e.g EU water charter)
4) Value

Question 5

World Bank (1995)

Answer 5

The wars of the next century will be about water

Question 6

Annan (2001)

Answer 6

Fierce competition for water may well become a source of conflict and war in the near future

Question 7

Annan (2002)

Answer 7

Water does not always have to be a source of conflict- it can be an incentive for cooperation

Question 8

Pichl (1997)

Answer 8

Falsification principle (Popper)
The use of risk
Ought/is dichotomy (Hume)

Question 9

European Parliamentary Briefing (2016)

Answer 9

Palestine/Israel conflict over water

Question 10

Armstrong (2006)

Answer 10

Ethics:

1) Utilitarian
2) Consequentialist
3) Theist
4) Intrinsic

Different groups have different approaches to ethics, however we must strive for cooperation.