Philosophical Enquiry into Environmental Policy of Ethiopia: Challenges and Prospects

The issues related to environmental problems and challenges such as climate change and global warming in particular and the issue of environmental crisis in general had been given very little attention until very recently which is, of course, insignificant compared to the seriousness and intensity of the problem. The main objective that has been addressed in this thesis is the establishment of sound arguments that could serve as a ground on which the environmental policy of Ethiopia could be rationally criticized. The problem dealt with in this thesis could be best defined and explained by looking at the larger picture of the issue of which it is part and parcel. The larger picture in this context represents or depicts the global environmental crisis that is resulting in the suffering of all that exist in the natural world. In attempt to resolve this common crisis we have been experiencing commitments of the countries of the world either individually or collectively through creating joint ventures that resulted in a number of initiatives and conventions regarding environmental issue. However, it has been argued throughout this thesis that most of the philosophical foundations and principles and values underlying those commitments made so far are problematic by themselves. Accordingly, the case of conducting philosophical enquiry into the environmental policy of Ethiopia has to be understood as part of the larger picture of the problem that has got more emphasis here for the sake of making it as specific as possible, otherwise it would have been very difficult to manage to arrive at the conclusions made in this thesis. Theoretically and conceptually this thesis is founded on the main argument in the study of environmental ethics that claims the study of environmental ethics and engaging in philosophical discourses through formulating sound arguments for and against the major approaches and theories of the environmental ethics play a pivotal role in the attempt to come up with an ethical environmental policy that guides and governs the relations between human beings and the natural environment in a manner that does justice to the environment. In general, in this thesis it has been argued either explicitly or implicitly that the environmental policy of Ethiopia is not ethical seen from the perspective of the holistic environmental ethics and principles of environmental justice.