Centre for Theology and Religious Studies,

Abstract. As is well known, the depletion of biodiversity is a significant environmental problem and it is essential that Christian ethics develops a response to it. One promising basis for such a response is the Christian virtue ethical tradition. In this paper I discuss some problems and possibilities with developing a theological virtue ethic for the preservation of biodiversity. My starting-point is Thomas Aquinas ’ virtue ethics, which still has a strong position within Christian ethics. It has also been suggested by some authors, for instance Celia Deane-Drummond, that it can be applied in an environmental context. First, I describe Deane-Drummond application of Aquinas and then I discuss some problems and possibilities with such an application