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| The Ethics of Energy |
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| Report |
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| After recalling various principles concerning the dependence of energy issues on space and, above all, time (Chapter 1), in Chapter 2 this report describes each energy sector, namely fossil fuels, nuclear power and the so-called renewable sources of energy of all kinds, underlining in each case their benefits, their drawbacks and the possibilities for their further development, taking into account the foreseeable advances in research and technological progress. The third section of this report then reviews in terms of their resources and levels of energy consumption, the nine regions of the globe defined by the World Energy Council, namely sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, South Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Baltic States (the former Soviet Union), Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Pacific. Chapter 4 focuses on a certain number of scenarios designed to forecast potential developments in energy supply and demand throughout the twenty-first century. The same chapter discusses the main risks created and incurred by those who produce and use the various forms of energy, with particular reference to the risks which threaten health or the environment. The short- and medium-term prospects for energy as a whole are also reviewed in the same chapter. The latter sections of the report contain the considerations of an ethical nature envisaged and formulated during the working meetings of the Scientific Group. These deliberations were guided by a number of principles. The most important of these is the principle of equity, according to which each individual and each nation must have access to the energy which he, she and they need, whatever their geographical origin and history (both personal and collective). The principle of ‘precaution’ (or anticipation) is equally crucial in this respect: even though a degree of uncertainty persists with regard to predictions linked to scientific observation or to the various kinds of forecasting that have led to the development of energy scenarios, measures must be taken to prevent the occurrence of situations which are irremediable. This approach applies, for example, to all the issues surrounding the atmospheric emission of greenhouse gases produced by the so-called fossil fuels. The principle of precaution is closely linked to that of the principle of feedback from experience, which emphasizes the monitoring of evolutions in the systems involved (of a technological, economic or ecological nature, for instance), which maintains that we should adapt initiatives or decision-making in the light of previous findings. |
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File |
Ethics of Energy Report.pdf |
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Author(s) |
Audouze, Jean |
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Publisher |
UNESCO |
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Publication Year |
1997 |
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Number of Pages |
138 |
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