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Water Ethics and Water Integrity – 4 propositions on the problem of moral corruption and the role of socio-ecological innovation

Dr. Rafael ZieglerGETIDOSDeputy Professor Environmental Ethics Universität Greifswaldwww.getidos.net

 

 

Delft. June 2013

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Rio to RealityAs a result of Rio: new regimes (climate, biodiversity etc.) . . .

. . . but implementation challenge and “regime fragmentation“

Example Water in Europe:European Water Framework Directive (2000)

Major implementation challenge - example Germany- by 2009 only 10% of rivers and

lakes have attained good ecological quality

- by 2015 only additional 8,5% expected to reach the goal

(Source: German Government 2011)

Graph : BMU 2010

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Water Ethics and Water Integrity

Water integrity: “the combat of corruption in the water sector, where corruption is defined as misuse of entrusted power for private gain.” Source: Donald O’Leary, “Corruption and transparency in the water sector”, In: M. Ramón Llamas, Luis

Martínez-Cortina and Aditi Mukherji (eds.) Water Ethics, London: Taylor and Francis Group, 2009.

Water Ethics: Practical determination, investigation, and ethical justification of human action in relation to water.

>central domains of action: freshwater use in relation to private consumption and hygiene, freshwater use in relation to food consumption and agriculture, freshwater use in industrial production, politics and management of river basins, finally beyond freshwater: coastal management and fisheries.

> Investigation and justification: not only the economic, sociological or anthropological description of human action in these fields, but the ethical scrutiny regarding the norms and values that may or may not justify the respective action (from anthropocentric to physiocentric considerations).

Source: Rafael Ziegler and Lilin Kerschbaumer, Wasserethik – eine Übersicht. Greifswald Environmental Ethics Papers, No.3, 2012.

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Water Ethics and Water Integrity

Water Integrity

Water Ethics

Water integrity raises a cross-cutting theme of various action fields in water ethics: honesty, transparency and accountability in drinking water provision, agricultural water use, industry etc Water ethics ask why and by implication who and what is included?

It is of little use to honestly/transparently do the wrong thing.

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Moral corruption: narrow and wide

Water integrity

Water ethics

Corruption in the narrow sense: “abuse of entrusted power for private gain” (Transparency International) Corruption in a wide sense: denial, selective attention and procrastination in the face of morally urgent action

Example: Climate ethics and the problem of moral corruption (Gardiner 2010): “The peculiar features of the climate-change problem pose substantial obstacles to our ability to make the hard choices necessary to address it. Climate change is a perfect moral storm. One consequence of this is that even if the difficult ethical questions could be answered, we might still find it difficult to act. For the storm makes us extremely vulnerable to moral corruption.” Indicators: distraction and procrastination, complacency, unreason-able doubt, selective attention, delusion, pandering, false witness, hypocrisy.

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Water integrity

Water ethics

Ethical responses to corruption:

1) Revival of virtue ethics - responsibility, persistency and steadfastness of heart.

“Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards.” (Max Weber).

2) Participation and challenge of finding creative ways of including the public in issues that are complex and technical

> Formal inclusion and real participation

Moral corruption: narrow and wide

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Social entrepreneurship is the carrying out of new ideas for the public good (private profit is either not aimed at, or at least not a primary goal).

“Carrying out of new ideas” = innovations in goods and services (in a wide sense)

Their socio-ecological innovations are constructive offers to engage with complex socio-environmental problems; they are a mode of non-violent communication.

Social Entrepreneurship and socio-ecological innovation also exists in relation to water issues.

Social entrepreneurs and socio-ecological innovation

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Social entrepreneurs and socio-ecological innovation

Example Big Jump (Roberto Epple and European Rivers Networks) as a simple way to include the public in a direct experience, and invite it collective-emotionally for participation

direct personal experience as part of a group

multiplier effect due to media: making the topic public

For an ethical analysis see R. Ziegler, Reconciliation with the River, Greifswald Environmental Ethics Papers, No 2, 2012.

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Big Jump Experiment 1

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Big Jump Experiment 2 Promotion of relationship (communication with youth, Social media)

Promotion of process(internet plattform)

Promotion of content(knowledge background)

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Big Jump Experiment Some results

55 registered jumps

30 authorities contacted

23 responded

Over 1000 jumpers

Over 70 print and TV Reports

SROI 1,77 Euro

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For-profit innovation typically achieves scaling via organizational growth and increase in production (“old paradigm of scaling”).

New paradigm: mission driven network approach with actors from civil society, business and government

Key challenge: Achieve indirect scaling via network (not only in space but also in time)

Social entrepreneurs and socio-ecological innovation

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Moral corruption as challenge not only for climate but also for the water sector.

Social entrepreneurship and social-ecological innovation as one way to practically engage with the problem of moral corruption.

Water ethicists can try to do some work of “moral translation” of creative, practical ideas coming from civil society.

Key challenge: scaling of ideas based on mission rather than organizational growth (“new paradigm of scaling”)

Good news: C02 is abstract and difficult to grasp in everyday experience; to water we feel directly and deeply connected: recreation, aesthetics, home, religion . . .

Propositions

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2015 Target Year of the European Water Framework Directive (as well as of MDGs)

Big Jump in Europe – and beyond Europe?

Outlook