Environmental Ethics Challenges for Engineers and How to Address Them

Abstract

Engineers are the core of modern engineering activities, the designers, managers, implementers and supervisors of engineering activities. The special social role of engineers determines that they must take more moral responsibility, not only to the public and others, but also to the environment and the future of mankind. Nowadays, environmental and resource problems have become a major issue that restricts economic development and affects people's life and health.Engineers are facing more challenges from environmental ethics. For example, how to harmonize the relationship between economic and ecological interests, and between the interests of the present generation and those of the future generations, and the weak awareness of environmental ethical responsibility and insufficient ability to protect the environment among some engineers. To cope with these challenges, it is necessary for engineers to make efforts on their own and for society as a whole to work together to form internal and external safeguard mechanisms for engineers to fulfill their environmental ethical responsibilities.