Ethical Principles

Developing Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Sustainable Development

Reflections on ethical aspects and dimensions of sustainable development are too often discounted. Yet for a concept such as sustainable development, with its concern with the relations between present and future generations, consideration of the ‘ethics of the future’ would appear critical. This would seem to be particularly so during a period when advances in biotechnology have triggered widespread public and political attention, when the processes of globalization have contributed to a whole new set of ethical challenges and dilemmas.

Within such a context, one of UNESCO’s major strategic thrusts calls for the promotion of principles, policies and ethical norms to guide scientific and technological development that is sustainable. These effortsdraw on the work of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) and the
World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), as well as more specific studies in such fields as genetically modified organisms.

Photo:© Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Earth from above/UNESCO