https://www.humantruth.info/green_values.html
By Vexen Crabtree 2025
#anti-capitalism #biodiversity #deforestation #demographics #education #environmentalism #fertility #germany #green_values #human_rights #life #population
Green movements have grown since the 1960s1, driven by concerns for protecting biodiversity and forests, reducing pollution and human degradation of the natural world, convincing people to live sustainably, combat climate change and look after all things living.2,3,4. The Green movement inherited some of the ethos of early protest movements and so oppose ills such as racism and intolerance, but also, it contains some radicals who oppose all military spending and a small number of eco-anarchists. Most of these concerns put the green movement in opposition to growth-driven purely capitalist ideologies, meaning, that they are opposed by the richest and most powerful segments of the world. Outside of purely environmental concerns, greens support liberal democracy3,5 and human rights.
#anti-capitalism #deforestation #environmentalism #green_values #human_rights #overpopulation
Environmentalism (sustainability through reform)1,2: Many greens believe that with better regulation and controls, and perhaps an international carbon-trading or climate-impact recompensation scheme, capitalism can be made to work for the environment. Corporate and consumer behaviour can be changed to both create sustainable ways of living.7,8
Ecologism (radical replacement of current national and international structures)1,9: Current systems, especially capitalism, have proven unable to adapt to the challenge of climate change. Few can question Stern (2007), who calls this the world's greatest market failure. The urgency is so great that there's no more time for reform: the only way forward is comprehensive replacement of current national and international structures.
#climate_change #the_environment
Climate change, caused by human activity, has been affecting us for several decades. The two worst things we do are the production of greenhouse gases, and habitat destruction - in particular, deforestation. The most famous and consistent effect is global warming15. We are causing changes to the oceans, to biodiversity, and to the landscape, and together they are impacting negatively human quality of life. Some effects will last for centuries, others for many thousands of years16.17
For more, see:
Most topics are up for debate. Some greens want a large state that can manage industry, public transport and resources better. Some want a small state, in order to reduce layers of bureaucracy and waste, allowing people to live more natural lives, closer to nature.1
Greens in Canada and Africa highlight the rights of indigenous peoples3,4.
Some want to maintain the international order which is the only way of maintaining international environmental accords; others want to abolish the international order because it's proven too slow to adapt. But replace it with what, without causing more harm than good? There are as many answers as there are activists.1
Some want to abolish military expenditure18, whilst others know that the unfortunate affairs of humanity mean that if the good reduce military strength, then the bad will rule the world (and won't care about sustainability).
#buddhism #climate_change #environmentalism #neo-paganism #new_age #new_religious_movements #paganism #religion #religion_and_environment
Religion is a contributing factor in the social response to climate change19 and the contribution of religious organisations and leaders has a potential to be helpful, but historically has also been problematic20. Over the last century the secular world has realized that our behaviour so far has been far too destructive, selfish and irresponsible, and has been engaged in an attempt to educate and encourage religious leaders to teach not necessarily the science, but, the need for us to be responsible towards the Earth, even if it's not strictly part of some major religions' doctrines. Conservative Christianity has, in particular, been particularly damaging towards our long-term future on this planet. Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Interior declared confidently that "we don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand"21 and in 2010 the Republican politician John Shimkus argued that we can't be in danger from sea levels rising because God said in Genesis 9:11 that It wouldn't flood the Earth again (also see ). Mary Evelyn Tucker, one of the most respected authors in the studies of religious responses to the environment, writes that religious world views need to be "re-balanced" to help bring Human-earth relations into a more sensible state22. Although religions like Buddhism are strongly environmentalist in nature, there is still a lot of work to be done to bring religious worldviews on the environment into a place where they are helping, and not hindering, our balancing act with nature.
For more, see:
Environmentalism is commonly proclaimed by all kinds of pagan1, Celt, pseudo-Native and New-Agers, and attracts many people on the basis of their concerns and passions for the world that we live in. A "desperate" reaction to the sad loss of the countryside and rapid urbanisation from 1890 onwards made people turn towards paganism23,24 as a theoretical solution - and soon enough, neo-pagan religions arose to take on the challenge. Predictably, such people are nature-deprived city folk "as is usually true of those who love nature (the farmers are too busy fighting it)"25. Many alternative spiritualities now sell themselves as representing "green religion"26. Conservationism, environmentalism and sustainability are ubiquitous and this is the case both amongst the emoting of individuals and the doctrine and stance of organised groups.27
Pagans are especially into environmentalism, preservation, sustainability and other 'green' endeavours. Prudence Jones writes that "by experience we know that we can be transported into rapture by the beauty of Nature. [...] For Pagans the divine, transcendent powers seem to be present within Nature itself, and by deliberate ritual and contemplation the devout Pagan can make contact with these"(1995)28. A study published in 1986 brokedown the reasons that American Pagans gave for becoming involved, and the positive and green stance on environmentalism was amongst the top 6 most commonly given motivations29. Researchers William Bloom and M. York state that this has also been a strong trend within the New Age; according to York a New Ager "through interdependence and interpenetration, accepts responsibility for the planetary state"30,31. Author Kenneth Rees imagines that we might expect to find that one hundred percent of all Pagans are environmentally-conscious and "professing a green spirituality"32.
For more, see:
From the African Greens Movement4:
The Constitution of the Green Party of Canada lists 'Values'3. Here they are, with a few extracts taken from each corresponding chapter of the constitution:
5.1.1 Ecological Wisdom.
- "We acknowledge the wisdom of the indigenous peoples of the world".
- We "must ensure the integrity of ecosystems and preserve biodiversity".
- We must "learn to live within the ecological and resource limits of the planet".
- We must "protect animal and plant life".
- "Where knowledge is limited, that we take the path of caution, in order to secure the continued abundance of the resources of the planet for present and future generations".
5.1.2 Social Justice
- "The equitable distribution of social and natural resources".
- "There is no social justice without environmental justice, and no environmental justice without social justice".
- "Close the widening gap between rich and poor"
- "The eradication of poverty".
- "The elimination of illiteracy".
- "Equal rights for all individuals regardless of gender, race, age, religion, class, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, disability, wealth or health".
5.1.3 Participatory Democracy. To support individual empowerment through well-informed political involvement and voting, in a multi-party democratic system with fair elections, with decision-making pushed as close to local level as possible.
5.1.4 Non-Violence:
- "Strive for a culture of peace and cooperation between states, inside societies and between individuals".
- Security based on "sound economic and social development, environmental safety, and respect for human rights" rather than mainly on military strength.
- Remove and ban all kinds of weapons that are nuclear, biological, chemical, mines or radioactive.
- "Strengthening the United Nations (UN)".
- Restricting arms exports to countries with poor human rights.
5.1.5 Sustainability
- "We recognise the limited scope for the material expansion of human society within the biosphere, and the need to maintain biodiversity through sustainable use of renewable resources and responsible use of non-renewable resources".
- "To achieve sustainability [and] to provide for the needs of present and future generations within the finite resources of the earth, continuing growth in global consumption, population and material inequity must be halted and reversed".
- The rich must limit their consumption.
- Quality of life is more important than wealth.
- Create "a world economy which aims to satisfy the needs of all, not the greed of a few".
- We should eliminate "the causes of population growth by ensuring economic security, and providing access to basic education and health, for all; giving both men and women greater control over their fertility".
- Goods and services must fully incorporate environmental costs into their prices.
5.1.6 Respect for Diversity
- "We honour cultural, linguistic, ethnic, sexual, religious and spiritual diversity".
- We defend the rights of all persons, without discrimination.
These are key values from the 10 bullet points of the UK Green Party's Core Values (2022), separated out into individual statements and abbreviated2: