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which covers a vast area of complex ecosystems (temperate and sub-Antarctic
forests), inhabited by distinct Amerindian populations who respect environmental
dynamics in pursuing their existence (Rozzi
2013
). Furthermore, South America
has advanced considerably in low carbon assets. It produces low carbon energy in
greater degree than other continents; it has successfully tackled deforestation; the
birth rates of many countries (led by Brazil and Uruguay) have been reduced con-
siderably during the last decades. It has an important role to play by promoting low
carbon agriculture, since some of the world's biggest agricultural commodities pro-
ducers are South American. South American strategies to protect soils and reduce
the use of fertilizers would contribute to mitigate the transformations in the nitrogen
cycle already under way.
In general, South Americans value their natural endowments, and understand the
importance of their preservation, as a result of the engagement of epistemic com-
munities to clarify the links between ecosystems and life in the rest of the continent.
It would also be unlikely that a low carbon consciousness would have started to
fl ourish in a continent with considerable fossil fuel reserves and high economic
development requirements, if it were not for the engagement of scientists and their
resonance in South American societies. If Earth stewardship is to be truly promoted
in South America, science needs to engage in understanding the complexity of
social dynamics as well, pointing to characteristics that could further the new para-
digm, but also to the ones that hinder its development.
Among the fi rst, it is important to acknowledge that several different environ-
mental ethics co-exist in the continent, and some of them combine human develop-
ment and environment equilibrium. Several Amerindian peoples, for example, have
traditionally praised harmony with ecosystems in which they live; their environ-
mental impact has been minimal over the centuries. In some cases, these cultures
have infl uenced the implementation of national legal frameworks that are in the
vanguard considering the relations between nature and society, such as Ecuador and
Bolivia. Different philosophies are important sources of values and should be
regarded as such; however, critical thinking is essential to fi nding the balance
between what could be successfully applied to tackling current issues, and what
would worsen other contemporary struggles.
In addition, it is important to note that social issues are embedded in the context
in which they develop, and it is very hard to export solutions from one context to
another. On the one hand, Amerindian peoples developed philosophies that took
global cosmologies into account, but their daily experience was local or regional at
most. Some of the contemporary issues such as climate change, on the other hand,
are truly global, related to a globalized reality that is not similar to any previous situ-
ation in the history of humanity. A successful ethics for dealing with these problems
needs to be embedded in contemporary context. It can learn from past experiences,
but must develop its own framework to fi ght the problem according to current char-
acteristics that take into account the complex causes of the issues and the different
alternatives to solve them.
Considering this, one of the greatest contributions social sciences engaged in
advancing a planetary consciousness in South America could make is clarifying
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