Environmental decision making in a technological age: prudence, wisdom and justice

Although 'stewardship' is the most common approach in dealing with environmental problems, usually accompanied by the need to exercise the 'precautionary principle', these are insufficient without qualification. The contention in this paper is that prudence, wisdom and justice are necessary concomitants of robust ethical decision making. These elements are developed in other papers in this section, using examples of the 'real world' of politics, energy extraction and use, and the dilemmas of agriculturalists faced with changing climates, degrading soils, and a growing population. Although decision making on these topics can be achieved without too much pain in the developed world where there is access to plenty of resources, the available options are much more restricted in the developing world where technological choices and the means to finance them are much less.