Ecologia, ética e sustentabilidade em Leonardo Boff

Resumo: O objetivo de “Ecologia, Ética e Sustentabilidade” em Leonardo Boff é dialogarcom as novas gerações que não estão tão preocupadas com a degradação do PlanetaTerra e com a situação de caos em que vivem os pobres do Continente Americano e doMundo, quanto à necessidade de refletir sobre libertação, ecologia, cuidado e diálogo. Éconsenso que a ecologia é o novo paradigma. Está emergindo uma nova forma de diálogocom a totalidade dos seres e de suas relações. A ética pode ser o estudo das ações oudos costumes, e pode ser a própria realização de um tipo de comportamento. A vitalidadeda Terra e o futuro da espécie humana só estarão garantidos se conseguirmos conferir--lhes sustentabilidade. Caso contrário, estaremos no mesmo caminho dos dinossaurosque vieram antes de nós. O pensamento de Leonardo Boff nasceu do grito dos pobres eao mesmo tempo do grito da Terra, e consigo traz a reflexão do cosmocentrismo: a centralidadeecológica em detrimento do antropocentrismo que se sustenta da produtividadee da exploração da natureza. A preservação da natureza dos ecossistemas depende daforma como os seres humanos se portam eticamente, como compreendem sua missãode habitantes da Terra.Palavras-chave: Ecologia. Ética. Sustentabilidade.Abstract: The goal of “Ecology, Ethics and Sustainability” by Leonardo Boff is to dialoguewith the new generations who are not so concerned with the degradation of the Earthand the chaotic situation in which the poor live in the American continent and the world,calling to attention the necessity to reflect on liberation, ecology, care and dialogue. It isconsensus that ecology is the new paradigm. It is emerging a new form of dialogue with allthe beings and their relationships. Ethics can be the study of the actions or customs, andcan be itself the realization of a kind of behavior. The vitality of the Earth and the future ofthe human species will be guaranteed only if we give them sustainability. Otherwise wewill be on the same path of the dinosaurs that came before us. Leonardo Boff’s thinkingwas born from the cry of the poor and at the same time from the cry of the Earth, and itbrings with itself the cosmocentrism reflection: the ecological centrality at the expense ofanthropocentrism that sustains productivity and exploitation of nature. Nature conservationof ecosystems depends on how humans will behave ethically, how they will understandtheir mission as Earth’s inhabitants.Keywords: Ecology. Ethics. Sustainability.

The Least of My Brethren: Mining, Indigenous Peoples, and the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines

Political ecology shows how environmental issues can be reframed towards addressing the problems of the socially vulnerable. The environmental identity and social movement thesis of political ecology asserts that environmental issues can generate cross-class and inter-ethnic linkages in an effort to blunt powerful forces. Liberation ecology, a variant of political ecology combined with a counter hegemonic discourse, provides another dimension of political ecology. In the Philippines, mining on indigenous lands has generated opposition from indigenous peoples. By examining how the Roman Catholic Church has aided indigenous peoples in their opposition to mining, examples of the environmental identity and social movement thesis of political ecology and liberation ecology can be gleaned. Liberation theology, an impetus to the church’s commitment to the poor, may be the consummate counter hegemonic discourse.