ABSTRACT
People read every day about the desecration of our environment and the mismanagement of our natural resources. Centuries of irrigation without adequate drainage in ancient times converted large areas of the fertile Tigris-Euphrates valley into barren desert. People have the power to change the global environment irreversibly, with profoundly damaging effects on the robustness and integrity of the planet and the heritage that we pass to future generations. In Fairness to Future Generations argues that the human species holds the natural environment of our planet in common with all members of our species: past generations, the present generation, and future generations. There are two relationships that must shape any theory of intergenerational equity in the context of our natural environment: the relationship to other generations of our own species and the relationship to the natural system of which we are a part.
