A holistic approach to sustainability based on pluralism stewardship

In this paper, we advance a holistic ecological approach based on a three-c ompartment model. This approach favors policy initiatives that lie at the i ntersection of the three major areas of concern common to most environmenta l controversies: environmental protection, provision of basic human needs, and advancing economic welfare. In support of this approach, we propose a " pluralistic stewardship" integrating core elements of anthropocentrism, bio centrism, and ecocentrism. After presenting the basics of our model, we the n explain why it is important to identify and promote a holistic ecological approach to sustainability. Here we employ the economic concept of path de pendence, emphasizing that there exist multiple paths society can follow in environmental ethics and policy but once one has been chosen, implicitly o r explicitly, there may be little opportunity to reverse such choices.