Climate Challenges and the Evolution of Bioethics: Perspectives and Practices from a Brazilian Disaster
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17058/redes.v29i1.19531Keywords:
Ethics, Climate Change, One Health, Environmental JusticeAbstract
This article examines the bioethical implications of extreme climatic events using the disasters that occurred in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in May 2024 as a case study. We propose an expansion of the scope of bioethics beyond classic (bio)medical dilemmas, encompassing environmental and climatic challenges that affect planetary health. Through the "One Health" perspective, we discuss how bioethics can contribute to understanding and reducing the impacts of climate change by integrating human, animal, and environmental health perspectives. The article revisits the contributions of Fritz Jahr and Van Rensselaer Potter to the formation of the concept of bioethics, emphasizing the need for a "deep bioethics" that stresses intergenerational responsibility and environmental justice. We highlight the urgency of policies that not only respond to immediate crises but also anticipate future catastrophes, promoting an ethic of precaution and sustainability. Finally, it is proposed that bioethics, by adopting a more comprehensive approach, can offer appropriate responses to the ethical challenges posed by climate change, ensuring that preventive and damage reduction measures are implemented to protect vulnerable populations and promote sustainable cohabitation on the planet.
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