Why protect nature? Rethinking values and the environment

TLDR

Environmental policy debates center on whether to protect nature for human benefit or for nature’s intrinsic value. The authors argue for a third, relational value class to complement instrumental and intrinsic values, aiming to reshape environmental protection discussions toward more productive policies. They find that neglecting relational values can lead to worldviews misaligned with fair futures, and that incorporating them reframes protection debates toward more productive outcomes.

Abstract

A cornerstone of environmental policy is the debate over protecting nature for humans’ sake (instrumental values) or for nature’s (intrinsic values) (1). We propose that focusing only on instrumental or intrinsic values may fail to resonate with views on personal and collective well-being, or “what is right,” with regard to nature and the environment. Without complementary attention to other ways that value is expressed and realized by people, such a focus may inadvertently promote worldviews at odds with fair and desirable futures. It is time to engage seriously with a third class of values, one with diverse roots and current expressions: relational values. By doing so, we reframe the discussion about environmental protection, and open the door to new, potentially more productive policy approaches.