Environment, Values and the Future of Civilisation
| Editors | : | Azizan Baharuddin, Zeeda Fatimah Mohamad, Carolina Lopez, Samuel Olouch Imbo, Raihanah Abdullah, Zuraidah Abdullah |
| Year | : | 2013 |
| Publisher | : | Universiti Malaya Centre for Civilisational Dialogue |
| ISBN | : | 978-983-3070-47-3 |
| Pages | : | 167 |
| Format | : | Paperback |
| Price | : | RM 30.00 |
Description:
Plato argued that finally all the 'goods' (and the true and the beautiful) are one. Our contemporary experience is seemingly more complex and our many 'goods' often seem contradictory. We want prosperity and progress, and yet our success raises environmental issues that threaten that very development. We are committed to economic growth and increasingly under pressure at the same time to reducing our polluting greenhouses gases and minimizing the levels of environmental degradation. Although Malaysia is not alone in facing these global concerns, it might be seen to acutely embody this dilemma.
This volume of essays - originally given at a symposium at the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue at the University of Malaya - informs us of the many environmental challenges facing Malaysia today. These include reacting to climate change, controlling carbon dioxide emission levels, and other environmental threats both in the city and in rural and remote areas. The authors ask what values do we need to foster to balance own 'goods' and to responsibly respond to these national concerns.
The essay by Michael Northcott sets the environmental and ethical framework for the discussions that follow and alerts us to the commercial and corporate context of our growing ecological concerns. The issues addressed range from, environmental innovation, indigenous environmental perspectives and policies, protecting biodiversity in Sabah, health hazards in the capital city resulting from flooding, and safe carbon dioxide levels. And, the value perspectives offered include the Buddhist, Christian, indigenous, scientific and Islamic. The final essay returns to the institutional dimension with a call for an Islamic model of corporate social responsibility.
Taking as a whole, the volume makes a contribution to these burning issues of our time and what is conveyed strongly is the need for us to engage in a dialogue that fosters our spiritual perspectives as we try desperately to balance development and the protection of our planet.