Should Environmental Professionals wear leather shoes?

Abstract

The rapid emergence and growth of environment professions, covering a wide range of disciplines from science and engineering to law and planning, with no single educational base or professional institute, has required consideration of appropriate ethical codes of practice. Many graduates enter environmental careers with strong commitments to environmental values but with no ethical or professional training. Consequently, they face complex conflicts between their personal environmental ethics and the requirements of professional practice, as their careers develop. This paper reviews the literature and explores the differences between professional ethics and environmental ethics, as part of PhD research into the ethics of professional environmental practice. It critically analyses and comments on the expectations and ethical dilemmas faced by ‘green’ professionals in everyday life.