Environmental ethics for engineers

In the past, engineers have generally sought and implemented technical solutions to problems posed by other people and not considered ethical issues related to the environmental and social impacts of solving these problems. Engineering ethics has largely been concerned with professionalism and responsibility for technical competence rather than wider social and environmental issues. This article considers the role and relevance of environmental ethics for engineers, criteria that a code or other system of environmental ethics should meet and how best the engineering profession can be encouraged to adopt environmental ethics.