Environmental Movement

The environmental movement, broadly defined, is a diverse political, scientific, social, and ethical movement on a global scale that is aimed at preventing or ameliorating environmental degradation and safeguarding the planet's ecosystems and resources for sustainable use and enjoyment for future generations. In the past few decades, scientific and public understanding of human impact on the environment, from pollution to climate change to biodiversity loss, has grown exponentially, as has the recognition that actions in one region may affect ecosystems across the globe. With recognition has come a demand for action.

The environmental movement comprises individuals, such as activists, scholars, and politicians, and organizations, from grassroots to transnational. The environmental movement has a long history, dating back to late 18th-century concerns over the conservation and preservation of natural resources in Europe and, later, the industrializing United States. Over time, many ideological strands have evolved so as to preclude any single vision from uniting the modern environmental movement. Indeed, much of the research on this movement is devoted to classifying the multiple and oftentimes conflicting goals, discourses, tactics, and organizational structures employed by its many members. This ongoing division is very much linked to the contemporary debate over globalization. The main tension lies between those who believe that global economic growth and development is beneficial and/or inevitable and thus should be harnessed to protect the environment and those who view the growth model as [Page 499]unsustainable and dangerous for human and other species' long-term survival.