ABSTRACT

Environmental issues are socially determined. By definition, human intervention in the physical environment lies at the heart of such problems. Why do activities continue largely unchecked, even after it has become clear that they are harmful to the environment? There are apparently forces at work in our society which ensure that activities which are extremely damaging to that society nevertheless continue to take place. Environmental problems arise because the detrimental effects of a particular intervention invariably involve a different section of society to the one which benefits from that intervention. In other words, there are always groups in society which have a vested interest in precisely those activities which are harmful to others. Vested interests play a decisive role in the origin of environmental problems. An interest may be defined as something which is to the benefit of an individual or a group, and is therefore worth pursuing. The pattern we systematically recognize in the nature of environmental problems is an unequal distribution of advantages and disadvantages linked to the activities causing these problems. This is reinforced by the fact that the groups which suffer as a result of damage to the environment are not in a position to prevent others from causing that damage. The separation of advantages (in the form of the benefits resulting from human intervention) and disadvantages (in the form of environmental damage) is the ultimate cause of all environmental problems.