Recognizing intrinsic value

If the nonhuman world is only to be considered instrumentally valuable then people are permitted to use and otherwise interfere with any aspect of it for whatever reasons they wish, without any need to justify such interference. If anyone objects to such interference then, within this framework of reference, the onus is clearly on the person who objects to justify why it is more useful to humans to leave that aspect of the nonhuman world alone. If; however, the nonhuman world is considered to be intrinsically valuable then the onus shifts to the person who wants to interfere with it to justify why they should be allowed to do so. Anyone who wants to interfere with any entity that is intrinsically valuable is then morally obliged to be able to offer a sufficient justification for their actions. This represents a fundamental shift in the environmental debate and decision-making.