ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses a critique of the key claim of free market environmentalism, namely, that if all resources are owned privately, the owners will have a vested interest in protecting them from harm. It argues that an ethic of concern for non-human beings can be articulated in terms of interspecies solidarity: this combines an ethic of justice which, in providing the principle of consistency and the practical possibility of obligations, overcomes specialism. The book examines the linkages between the first two general aims of sustainability, focusing on the question of how well traditional conceptions of social justice are able to accommodate the new environmental concerns. It provides a critique of the approach to valuing the environment which is adopted by environmental economists and free market environmentalists.
