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Structuring Ethical Interpretations of the Sustainable Development Goals—Concepts, Implications and Progress

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  • Martina Keitsch

    (Faculty of Architecture and Design, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway)

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), like the sustainable development (SD) concept itself, are open to multifaceted interpretations, and the same is true for their ethical implications. While SDG values are widely accepted as universal, the ethical structure of the SDGs is complex, with differing interpretations and ideas, e.g., on how to regard and value nature. This article is a conceptual attempt to clarify and structure ethical interpretations based on an environmental ethics framework consisting of two branches: anthropocentrism and biocentrism. The aim is to provide an overview of SDG positions and locate them in the wider field of environmental ethics, addressing the human–nature relationship as a recurring topic in the SDGs. Section 1 of this article presents environmental ethics and briefly discusses anthropocentrism and biocentrism. Section 2 outlines ethical similarities of SD and the SDGs and locates representative SDG interpretations within the environmental ethics framework. Section 3 summarizes findings and suggests a possibility of integrating biocentrism and anthropocentrism with regard to the further interpretation and discussion of SDG ethics. Insights from this article will aid researchers in adopting a better overview on ethical positions in the SDG debate.

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  • Martina Keitsch, 2018. "Structuring Ethical Interpretations of the Sustainable Development Goals—Concepts, Implications and Progress," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-9, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:829-:d:136495
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Joyeeta Gupta & Courtney Vegelin, 2016. "Sustainable development goals and inclusive development," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 433-448, June.
    3. M.L. McIntyre & T. Caputo & S.A. Murphy, 2017. "The inescapably ethical foundation of sustainability," International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 12(2), pages 127-150.
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