Ethics and Values

Book excerpt: This report is the proceedings of the Fifth Annual World Bank Conference on Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development, entitled "Partnerships for Global Ecosystem Management: Science, Economics, and Law." An additional event, comprising Part One of this volume, was held to consider values, ethics, and ecosystem issues from a global perspective. The presenters considered the historic influence of values and ethics in the development of societies; reflected on the role of values and ethics globally; addressed the relationship of values and ethics to justice; and examined how the valuing of life locally, and the local consequences of global conditions, can deny justice. Part Two comprises the proceedings of the Forum on Human Settlements, Human Solidarity, and Global Ecosystems: A Conservation. The panelists spoke and then participated with the audience in a plenary conversation concerning the issues that link the requirements of human settlements, viable communities, and healthy and diverse ecosystems.