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The absence of environmental ethics has resulted in serious environmental deterioration and is a threat to the continuation of the chain of life on earth. We are out of balance with nature and this has placed our future in jeopardy. Our survival on this planet depends on our ability to exit this crisis in values and to achieve the harmonious co-evolution of humanity and the environment. A human being is closely related to, and dependent on, all life on earth. How, then, can we reconcile our existence with the rapid deterioration of bios? To protect the environment and life on our planet, B.I.O. has proposed that bioethical guidelines be developed and implemented in every field of human endeavour. The hope is that humanity will acknowledge the value of environmental ethics and will place respect for the environment at the core of every action and thought.

One of the most important goals of B.I.O. has been to promote the environment as a key component of bioethics. To be effective in addressing today's needs and in safeguarding life on our planet, bioethics must exit the confines of the medical sciences and encompass pivotal concerns such as the preservation of natural resources and biodiversity, the eradication of poverty, and the fundamental human right to a clean and safe environment. Only then can life be protected.

The B.I.O. President is involved in several bioethics initiatives, including: Member and f. Vice President of the Scientific Committee of the International Society of Bioethics (SIBI); Corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life; and Member of the Academic Committee of the Regional Interdisciplinary Programme for Bioethics in Latin America. Furthermore, in April 2005, she participated as national delegate for Greece in UNESCO's First Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts Aimed at Finalising a Draft of a Declaration on Universal Norms on Bioethics.

The subject of environmental ethics has been extensively addressed in many B.I.O. conferences and meetings since 1985. Special emphasis has been placed on ethics in business and corporate social responsibility, as well as in the ethical management of natural resources in the fight against poverty. B.I.O. has published 21 chapters in volumes of proceedings from international conferences and 19 articles in BioNews on the subject of ethics. A comprehensive chapter on "Bio-Ethics" is published in Bio-Syllabus for European Environmental Education, an 880-page textbook available in print and electronically (CD-Rom). Based on this pioneering material is B.I.O.'s e-learning course on "Bio-Ethics," which will soon be available online as part of our e-learning programme in environmental education.