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Life’s Span, Global Warming and Ethics: Do Counsellors Have a Part to Play in Averting a Potential Catastrophe?

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Abstract

In this paper I take the position that global warming is the most serious threat to the well-being, including the psychological health, of all peoples in all parts of the world. It is of particular significance to indigenous peoples: for example, those from small island states, those who inhabit low-lying deltas, and those who do not have access to economic resources that might afford protection or escape. It becomes a moral issue in that our actions today stand to impact negatively on others in the immediate and foreseeable future. Taking a critical discursive view, the paper asks, is there a connection between counselling and climate change, and do counsellors have a role to play in addressing this challenge? The paper concludes that counsellors do, at the very least, have a mandate to consider the implications of global warming and that there are professional, ethical and theoretical possibilities for useful interventions. The paper, therefore, aims to stimulate further debate, discussion and appropriate action.

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Notes

  1. The term ‘commons’ is used to refer to resources on which human populations depend.

  2. Whānau, hapu and iwi, in Te Reo Māori, refer to concepts explainable as ‘family, sub-tribe and tribe’.

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  1. School of Education Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, Karori Campus, Wellington, 6500, New Zealand

    Susan C. Cornforth

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  1. Susan C. Cornforth
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Cornforth, S.C. Life’s Span, Global Warming and Ethics: Do Counsellors Have a Part to Play in Averting a Potential Catastrophe?. Int J Adv Counselling 30, 145–154 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-008-9052-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-008-9052-2

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