Environmental degradation requires changes in the standard of human ethical principles. Former ethics dealt with the man/man relationship and direct consequences of human actions. Today, it is not enough as activities degrading the environment seldom lead to changes which are visible immediately. Principally, such changes occur considerably delayed, proceed gradually, and sometimes go unnoticed. Environmental ethics has developed under such considerations. The only Polish publication dealing with this subject, by Marek Bonenberg, defines ethics as ”a theoretical basis for taking environmental actions”. The article points outs problems which could supplement and develop this theory.