© 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd, ISZS and IOZ/CAS 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 Integrative Zoology 2014; 9: 14–23 doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12028 REVIEW Environmental ethics: an overview, assessing the place of bioscientists in society, supplemented with selected Australian perspectives John BUCKERIDGE RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia and IUBS Ethics Commission, Orsay Cedex, France Abstract Ethics deals with moral behavior in a professional context; ideally, it leads to a set of governing principles through which the appropriateness of any activity may be determined or assessed. Environmental ethics specif- ically deals with how humans interact with the biosphere. It is clear, however, that, as a species, we are failing in our duty of environmental stewardship. The encroachment of human activity into the natural environment is inexorable, and almost always deleterious. Any response to mitigate loss of taxa or ecosystems will have eco- nomic implications, and these are often considerable. In inding effective solutions, a process soon becomes po- litical. In light of this we must relect upon the leadership role that biologists have, especially our impact on pol- icy development that pertains to natural resource management. Although our track record is no worse than any other professional group, biologists by way of training usually have a greater understanding of natural process- es and must be prepared to articulate these publically. We have an ethical mandate to question decisions, poli- cies and legislation that impact negatively upon biological systems: a mandate guided through logic, grounded in empirical science, and hopefully coupled with a deep understanding of the true value of both the living world and the physical world which sustains it. This paper uses Australian examples to demonstrate the frequent clash- es between economics and biology, in anticipation that we should strive to achieve the underlying principles of sustainability, environmental stewardship and resource management in both daily decision-making and in long- term planning. Key words: biodiversity conservation, biological ethics, environmental decision-making, sustainability Correspondence: John Buckeridge, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia. Email: john.buckeridge@rmit.edu.au INTRODUCTION Recognition of environmental change That there is now widespread alarm about the current poor state of the environment is no surprise to any who have even mild media exposure. Current predictions of dire consequences to our activities are promulgated by organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on