environmental ethics (and capitalism)

In economic theory, value is reserved for humanity, leaving nature as an ‘externality’ with no intrinsic value. Ethical considerations are also easily disregarded. While some branches of economics (eg. environmental economics) seek to assign value to the natural world, mainstream economists are slow to recognize the limits to growth and prefer to put faith in the workings of the free market.

This definition is abridged from A – Z of tree terms: A companion to British arboriculture.
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