Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2015
Last exams 2025
Intrinsic Value of the Environment
Written by: Alistair Marjot
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
The Intrinsic Value of our Environment
If something has intrinsic value, this means it is still worth something, even if it doesn’t have any obvious economic value (monetary value)
This can sometimes be difficult to understand as in today’s society we tend to view everything from a financial perspective - we see almost everything, including our homes, food, heating, water, electricity, recreational activities and holidays, in terms of money
However, there are many aspects of the environment that have intrinsic value to many people, including:
The experience of observing wild animals in their natural habitats
The incredible views that can be seen from mountain tops
Weather events, such as snow falling or warm summer days
Swimming in rivers and lakes
Different people and different groups, with different environmental value systems, will have different parts or aspects of the environment that hold intrinsic value to them. For example:
Many places or ecosystems are important to a country’s national identity, such as Mount Fuji in Japan or Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia, which is of great spiritual importance to Aboriginal people
Someone who lives in a densely populated city, where there is little wildlife, may value the abundance of insect and plant life present if they visit the countryside on a summer’s day, as this is something they don’t normally experience
A gardener, who is always interacting with insects and plants, may value these things for slightly different reasons - for example, they may value the services that the insects provide (e.g. their ability to recycle the dead leaves and pollinate the flowers in their garden)
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