14 CHAPTER FOUR INTEGRAL ECOLOGY In this chapter Pope Francis reflects on how the climate crisis is also a social and cultural crisis which connects the ‘cry of the earth’ and the ‘cry of the poor’ and negatively affects the principle of the common good for those living now and for future generations. I Environmental, Economic and Social Ecology It cannot be emphasized enough how everything is interconnected Pope Francis calls for a broader vision of reality (138) where nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live (139). We must see the reasons behind pollution and environmental destruction as the workings of society, its economy, its behaviour patterns, and the ways it grasps reality (139). Therefore, comprehensive solutions are needed, as we are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis, which is both social and environmental (139). Whole ecosystems must be taken into account, not only to determine how they should be used, but because they have an intrinsic value independent of their usefulness (140). Ecosystems allow us to exist on earth as they interact in dispersing carbon dioxide, purifying water, controlling illnesses and epidemics, forming soil, breaking down waste, and in many other ways (140). When we speak of sustainable living, this must all be taken into account. The protection of the environment, therefore, cannot be isolated from forms of economic growth; the analysis of environmental problems cannot be separated from the analysis of human, family, work-related and urban contexts, nor from how individuals relate to themselves, which leads in turn to how they relate to others and to the environment (141). We depend on the effectiveness of the institutions in our societies which have developed to help regulate human relationships by combating injustice, violence and loss of freedom (142) as far as they are able, however, lack of respect for legislation and regulation dealing with the environment (142) is common, even when such laws are clear.
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