Sustainability-aligned values

exploring the concept, evidence, and practice

authored by

Adrian Martin, Patricia Balvanera, Christopher M. Raymond, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Uta Eser, Rachelle K. Gould, Louise Guibrunet, Zuzana V. Harmáčková, Andra I. Horcea-Milcu, Ann Kathrin Koessler, Ritesh Kumar, Dominic Lenzi, Juliana Merçon, Agatha Nthenge, Patrick J. O'farrell, Unai Pascual, Julian Rode, Yuki Yoshida, Noelia Zafra-Calvo

Abstract

Modern environmental thought has always involved normative claims about the values needed for sustainability. This has often played out in debates between proponents of anthropocentric and ecocentric ways of valuing nature. More recently, there has been a flourishing of interest in relational and pluricentric ways of valuing nature, coinciding with a “turn to values” in the sustainability literature. In this paper we explore the meaning and use of the term “sustainability-aligned values.” Following the 2022 IPBES Values Assessment we consider these as values that are crucial for shaping decisions that will help bring about sustainability. Our characterization of sustainably-aligned values assumes inherent pluralism because of diverse interpretations of sustainability and of pathways toward it. Nevertheless, a review of three bodies of literature suggests that there is considerable agreement about the kinds of values that align with sustainability. In particular, the nurturing of certain relational values is now widely seen as supportive of sustainability, including values regarding what matters in human interactions with nature (such as stewardship), and values regarding relationships between humans (such as collectivism). We proceed to pose critical questions about the proposition that certain values support sustainability. We ask whether this emerging body of thought is consistent with pluralist requirements to foster values diversity, whether an agenda to nurture values aligned with sustainability is actionable, and how mobilizing sustainability-aligned values entails addressing power imbalances.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Environmental Planning

External Organisation(s)

University of East Anglia
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
University of Helsinki
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA)
Büro für Umweltethik
University of Vermont
Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS)
University of Kassel
Wetlands International South Asia
University of Twente
Universidad Veracruzana
Chuka University
University of the Western Cape
Basque Centre for Climate Change
Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science
University of Bern
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES)

Type

Article

Journal

Ecology and society

Volume

29

ISSN

1708-3087

Publication date

12.2024

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-15498-290418 (Access: Open)