Andrew Dobson, Professor of Politics, Keele University.
"People sometimes do good because the wish to be virtuous."
Ludwig Beckman.
Environmental Citizenship: A Route to Sustainability. When it comes to changing environment-related attitudes and behaviour, fiscal incentives and disincentives are the tools most often used by governments. Dobson will explore some of the drawbacks of this approach and discuss an alternative possibility – environmental citizenship.
This new citizenship will be described and explained, and some recent empirical evidence that supports the citizenship approach to changing attitudes and behaviour are discussed.
Characteristic of environmental citizenship:
• A recognition that self interested behavior will not always protect of sustain public goods.
• Ecologically minded citizens make a commitment to the common good.
• Environmental responsibilities follow from environmental rights as a matter of natural justice.
• The public implications of our actions is at the very heart of our concept of the ecological footprint thus allowing participants to have essential access to comparable ecological space.
This is a matter of justice, not charity or voluntary recognition of a presumed obligation.
EC is an activity that aims at increasing the common good based on justice as a principle virtue.
• Environmental citizenship is a recognition that rights and responsibilities are generally are international and trans generational.
• Ecological citizens live sustain ably so that others may live well.
• Environmental citizenship is personal--both private and public actions are linked.
Your actions have consequences for other people.
