Climate Ethics

by Stephen Gardiner

This collection gathers a set of seminal papers from the emerging area of ethics and climate change.

Climate Ethics

Author: Stephen Gardiner

Publisher: Oxford University Press

ISBN: 9780199750580

Page: 368

View: 615

This collection gathers a set of seminal papers from the emerging area of ethics and climate change. Topics covered include human rights, international justice, intergenerational ethics, individual responsibility, climate economics, and the ethics of geoengineering. Climate Ethics is intended to serve as a source book for general reference, and for university courses that include a focus on the human dimensions of climate change. It should be of broad interest to all those concerned with global justice, environmental science and policy, and the future of humanity.

Debating Climate Ethics

by David A. Weisbach

Stephen M. Gardiner and David A. Weisbach present arguments for and against the relevance of ethics to global climate policy.

Debating Climate Ethics

Author: David A. Weisbach

Publisher: Oxford University Press

ISBN: 0199996482

Page: 280

View: 690

In this volume, Stephen M. Gardiner and David A. Weisbach present arguments for and against the relevance of ethics to global climate policy. Gardiner argues that climate change is fundamentally an ethical issue, since it is an early instance of a distinctive challenge to ethical action (the perfect moral storm), and ethical concerns (such as with justice, rights, political legitimacy, community and humanity's relationship to nature) are at the heart of many of the decisions that need to be made. Consequently, climate policy that ignores ethics is at risk of "solving" the wrong problem, perhaps even to the extreme of endorsing forms of climate extortion. This is especially true of policy based on narrow forms of economic self-interest. By contrast, Weisbach argues that existing ethical theories are not well suited to addressing climate change. As applied to climate change, existing ethical theories suffer from internal logical problems and suggest infeasible strategies. Rather than following failed theories or waiting indefinitely for new and better ones, Weisbach argues that central motivation for climate policy is straightforward: it is in their common interest for people and nations to agree to policies that dramatically reduce emissions to prevent terrible harms.

Climate Change Ethics and the Non Human World

by Brian G. Henning

This book examines from different perspectives the moral significance of non-human members of the biotic community and their omission from climate ethics literature.

Climate Change Ethics and the Non Human World

Author: Brian G. Henning

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 1000026590

Page: 214

View: 985

This book examines from different perspectives the moral significance of non-human members of the biotic community and their omission from climate ethics literature. The complexity of life in an age of rapid climate change demands the development of moral frameworks that recognize and respect the dignity and agency of both human and non-human organisms. Despite decades of careful work in non-anthropocentric approaches to environmental ethics, recent anthologies on climate ethics have largely omitted non-anthropocentric approaches. This multidisciplinary volume of international scholars tackles this lacuna by presenting novel work on non-anthropocentric approaches to climate ethics. Written in an accessible style, the text incorporates sentiocentric, biocentric, and ecocentric perspectives on climate change. With diverse perspectives from both leading and emerging scholars of environmental ethics, geography, religious studies, conservation ecology, and environmental studies, this book will offer a valuable reading for students and scholars of these fields.

Climate Ethics

by Joerg Chet Tremmel

In Climate Ethics Joerg Tremmel and Katherine Robinson identify the reasons behind this crucial paradox and propose a way forward. In the first part of the book the authors provide an accessible account of the basics of climate change.

Climate Ethics

Author: Joerg Chet Tremmel

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

ISBN: 0857723812

Page: 256

View: 935

Climate change is perhaps the most important issue of our time and yet despite the urgency of the problem, the measures necessary to mitigate it have not been implemented. International cooperation has not been forthcoming and there remains a general reluctance towards any major change of lifestyle. Given the urgency of the problem, why has so little been done? In Climate Ethics Joerg Tremmel and Katherine Robinson identify the reasons behind this crucial paradox and propose a way forward. In the first part of the book the authors provide an accessible account of the basics of climate change. In clear and accessible terms they explain the science behind climate change and demystify the complicated terminology that so often hinders a proper understanding of the subject. They identify the substances that cause climate change, reveal which industries are responsible and which aspects of people's everyday lives have the highest emissions connected with them. They explore the consequences of ignoring climate change and, importantly, analyse the obstacles to addressing the issues. In the second part of the book the authors introduce the concept of climate ethics, and explore its importance at a personal, national and international level. They place it firmly at the centre of any successful resolution of the challenges associated with climate change. They review the classical theories of justice and how they relate to climate change, and they examine the complex ethical and moral questions that need to be addressed if long-term solutions are to be found. What moral responsibility do we have to future generations? How should we share out emission rights? Do we take into account past emissions, allowing those who have historically caused more pollution fewer emissions rights than developing countries? Who is to finance the measures to abate climate? And just what is the fairest approach to the politics of climate change on a global scale? The result is an original and timely engagement with one of the most pressing problems facing us and future generations.

Climate Change and Environmental Ethics

by Ved P. Nanda

This volume explores alternative ways of conceiving our relation to the natural world. A spirit of international cooperation and collaboration is needed to meet the challenge.

Climate Change and Environmental Ethics

Author: Ved P. Nanda

Publisher: Transaction Publishers

ISBN: 1412849675

Page: 283

View: 344

There is a broad consensus that climate change presents the international community with a formidable challenge. Yet progress on all fronts-prevention, mitigation, and adaptation-has been slow. Ved P. Nanda finds an explanation for this disparity in the sharp divide between the developed and developing countries. Developing countries demand that major industrialized nations provide the necessary resources and technology to address climate change, while many developed countries seek firm commitments and timetables on action from the developing countries. The result is a stalemate. Climate Change and Environmental Ethics contains first-rate research and thinking from scholars from multiple disciplines-ethics, ecology, philosophy, economics, political science, history, and international law. What distinguishes this volume from recent work on climate change are two of its special features. One is the multi-disciplinary backgrounds of the scholars, their stellar experiences, and the wisdom with which they express not simply their philosophy and theory but also their suggestions for concrete, specific action in practical terms. The second is the special niche this volume fills in its overarching theme of the need for a renewed environmental ethic that can bring together these disparate but interconnected views. This volume explores alternative ways of conceiving our relation to the natural world. A spirit of international cooperation and collaboration is needed to meet the challenge. The reader is complelled to think anew about our understanding of the scientific and technical issues, as well as our values and ethical responsibilities regarding climate change.

A Perfect Moral Storm

by Stephen M. Gardiner

"This is a radical book, both in the sense that it faces extremes and in the sense that it goes to the roots." —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "The book's strength lies in Gardiner's success at understanding and clarifying the types of ...

A Perfect Moral Storm

Author: Stephen M. Gardiner

Publisher: Oxford University Press

ISBN: 0199985146

Page: 518

View: 317

Climate change is arguably the great problem confronting humanity, but we have done little to head off this looming catastrophe. In The Perfect Moral Storm, philosopher Stephen Gardiner illuminates our dangerous inaction by placing the environmental crisis in an entirely new light, considering it as an ethical failure. Gardiner clarifies the moral situation, identifying the temptations (or "storms") that make us vulnerable to a certain kind of corruption. First, the world's most affluent nations are tempted to pass on the cost of climate change to the poorer and weaker citizens of the world. Second, the present generation is tempted to pass the problem on to future generations. Third, our poor grasp of science, international justice, and the human relationship to nature helps to facilitate inaction. As a result, we are engaging in willful self-deception when the lives of future generations, the world's poor, and even the basic fabric of life on the planet is at stake. We should wake up to this profound ethical failure, Gardiner concludes, and demand more of our institutions, our leaders and ourselves. "This is a radical book, both in the sense that it faces extremes and in the sense that it goes to the roots." —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "The book's strength lies in Gardiner's success at understanding and clarifying the types of moral issues that climate change raises, which is an important first step toward solutions." —Science Magazine "Gardiner has expertly explored some very instinctual and vitally important considerations which cannot realistically be ignored. —Required reading." —Green Prophet "Gardiner makes a strong case for highlighting and insisting on the ethical dimensions of the climate problem, and his warnings about buck-passing and the dangerous appeal of moral corruptions hit home." —Times Higher Education "Stephen Gardiner takes to a new level our understanding of the moral dimensions of climate change. A Perfect Moral Storm argues convincingly that climate change is the greatest moral challenge our species has ever faced - and that the problem goes even deeper than we think." —Peter Singer, Princeton University

The Ethics of Climate Change

by Byron Williston

The Ethics of Climate Change: An Introduction systematically and comprehensively examines the ethical issues surrounding arguably the greatest threat now facing humanity.

The Ethics of Climate Change

Author: Byron Williston

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 0429895844

Page: 192

View: 606

The Ethics of Climate Change: An Introduction systematically and comprehensively examines the ethical issues surrounding arguably the greatest threat now facing humanity. Williston addresses important questions such as: Has humanity entered the Anthropocene? Is climate change primarily an ethical issue? Does climate change represent a moral wrong? What are the impacts of climate change? What are the main causes of political inaction? What is the argument for climate change denial? What are intragenerational justice and intergenerational justice? To what extent is climate change an economic problem? Is geoengineering an ethically appropriate response to climate change? Featuring case studies throughout, this textbook provides a philosophical introduction to an immensely topical issue studied by students within the fields of applied ethics, global justice, sustainability, geography, and politics.

Climate Change Ethics

by Donald A. Brown

This book examines why thirty-five years of discussion of human-induced warming has failed to acknowledge fundamental ethical concerns, and subjects climate change’s most important policy questions to ethical analysis.

Climate Change Ethics

Author: Donald A. Brown

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 0415625718

Page: 271

View: 999

Climate change is now the biggest challenge faced by humanity worldwide and ethics is the crucial missing component in the debate about what to do about this enormous threat. This book examines why thirty-five years of discussion of human-induced warming has failed to acknowledge fundamental ethical concerns, and subjects climate change’s most important policy questions to ethical analysis. This book examines why ethical principles have failed to gain traction in policy formation and recommends specific strategies to ensure that climate change policies are consistent with ethical principles. Because climate change is a global problem that requires a global solution and given that many nations refuse participation due to perceived inequities in proposed international solutions, this book explains why ensuring that nations, sub-national governments, organizations, businesses and individuals acknowledge and respond to their ethical obligations is both an ethical and practical mandate. This book is the first of its kind to go beyond a mere account of relevant ethical questions to offer a pragmatic guide on how to make ethical principles influential in formulating the world’s response to climate change. Written by Donald A. Brown, a leading voice in the field, it should be of interest to policy makers, and those studying environmental policy, climate change policy, international relations, environmental ethics and philosophy.

Geoengineering our Climate

by Jason J. Blackstock

This book is an indispensable resource for scientists, activists, policymakers, and political figures aiming to engage in the emerging debate about geoengineering our climate.

Geoengineering our Climate

Author: Jason J. Blackstock

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 1135053898

Page: 290

View: 235

If the detrimental impacts of human-induced climate change continue to mount, technologies for geoengineering our climate – i.e. deliberate modifying of the Earth's climate system at a large scale – are likely to receive ever greater attention from countries and societies worldwide. Geoengineering technologies could have profound ramifications for our societies, and yet agreeing on an international governance framework in which even serious research into these planetary-altering technologies can take place presents an immense international political challenge. In this important book, a diverse collection of internationally respected scientists, philosophers, legal scholars, policymakers, and civil society representatives examine and reflect upon the global geoengineering debate they have helped shape. Opening with essays examining the historic origins of contemporary geoengineering ideas, the book goes on to explore varying perspectives from across the first decade of this global discourse since 2006. These essays methodically cover: the practical and ethical dilemmas geoengineering poses; the evolving geoengineering research agenda; the challenges geoengineering technologies present to current international legal and political frameworks; and differing perceptions of geoengineering from around the world. The book concludes with a series of forward looking essays, some drawing lessons from precedents for governing other global issues, others proposing how geoengineering technologies might be governed if/as they begin to emerge from the lab into the real world. This book is an indispensable resource for scientists, activists, policymakers, and political figures aiming to engage in the emerging debate about geoengineering our climate.

Global Ethics on Climate Change

by Martin Schonfeld

This book raises questions concerning the systemic and cultural reasons for Western countries’ unwillingness to bear full responsibility for their carbon emissions. Is the Western paradigm failing? Can other cultures offer solutions?

Global Ethics on Climate Change

Author: Martin Schonfeld

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 1317967348

Page: 132

View: 478

The volatility of climate change is increasing. It is bad news, and many climatologists, policy analysts and environmental groups regard the West as the largest contributor to the problems caused by climate change. This book raises questions concerning the systemic and cultural reasons for Western countries’ unwillingness to bear full responsibility for their carbon emissions. Is the Western paradigm failing? Can other cultures offer solutions? Are there alternatives for designing a better future? Just as the roots of the problem of climate change are cultural, the solution must be too. The contributors to Global Ethics on Climate Change explore cultural alternatives. This differs from conventional climate ethics, which tends to address the crisis with utilitarian, legalistic, and analytic tools. The authors in this volume doubt whether such paradigm patches will work. It may be time to think outside the box and consider non-Western insights about the good life, indigenous wisdom on being-in-the-world, and new ideas for civil evolution. This book is an examination of candidates for a Plan B. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Global Ethics.

Climate Matters Ethics in a Warming World Norton Global Ethics Series

by John Broome

A vital new moral perspective on the climate change debate. Esteemed philosopher John Broome avoids the familiar ideological stances on climate change policy and examines the issue through an invigorating new lens.

Climate Matters Ethics in a Warming World Norton Global Ethics Series

Author: John Broome

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

ISBN: 0393084094

Page: 192

View: 212

A vital new moral perspective on the climate change debate. Esteemed philosopher John Broome avoids the familiar ideological stances on climate change policy and examines the issue through an invigorating new lens. As he considers the moral dimensions of climate change, he reasons clearly through what universal standards of goodness and justice require of us, both as citizens and as governments. His conclusions—some as demanding as they are logical—will challenge and enlighten. Eco-conscious readers may be surprised to hear they have a duty to offset all their carbon emissions, while policy makers will grapple with Broome’s analysis of what if anything is owed to future generations. From the science of greenhouse gases to the intricate logic of cap and trade, Broome reveals how the principles that underlie everyday decision making also provide simple and effective ideas for confronting climate change. Climate Matters is an essential contribution to one of the paramount issues of our time.

The Ethics of Climate Change

by James Garvey

"Open this book and James Garvey is right there making real sense to you... in a necessary conversation, capturing you to the very end.

The Ethics of Climate Change

Author: James Garvey

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

ISBN: 1441133631

Page: 192

View: 663

"Open this book and James Garvey is right there making real sense to you... in a necessary conversation, capturing you to the very end."-Ted Honderich, Grote Professor Emeritus of The Philosophy of Mind & Logic, University College London, UK. James Garvey argues that the ultimate rationale for action on climate change cannot be simply economic, political, scientific or social, though our decisions should be informed by such things. Instead, climate change is largely a moral problem. What we should do about it depends on what matters to us and what we think is right. This book is an introduction to the ethics of climate change. It considers a little climate science and a lot of moral philosophy, ultimately finding a way into the many possible positions associated with climate change. It is also a call for action, for doing something about the moral demands placed on both governments and individuals by the fact of climate change. This is a book about choices, responsibility, and where the moral weight falls on our warming world.

Climate Justice and Historical Emissions

by Lukas H. Meyer

This book provides a systematic introduction to the debate on historical emissions and climate change, for students, researchers and policymakers.

Climate Justice and Historical Emissions

Author: Lukas H. Meyer

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

ISBN: 110706953X

Page: 260

View: 442

This book provides a systematic introduction to the debate on historical emissions and climate change, for students, researchers and policymakers.

Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World

by Thom Brooks

This innovative book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, climate justice, environmental policy and environmental ethics.

Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World

Author: Thom Brooks

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 1000223027

Page: 104

View: 502

Climate change confronts us with our most pressing challenges today. The global consensus is clear that human activity is mostly to blame for its harmful effects, but there is disagreement about what should be done. While no shortage of proposals from ecological footprints and the polluter pays principle to adaptation technology and economic reforms, each offers a solution – but is climate change a problem we can solve? In this provocative new book, these popular proposals for ending or overcoming the threat of climate change are shown to offer no easy escape and each rest on an important mistake. Thom Brooks argues that a future environmental catastrophe is an event we can only delay or endure, but not avoid. This raises new ethical questions about how we should think about climate change. How should we reconceive sustainability without a status quo? Why is action more urgent and necessary than previously thought? What can we do to motivate and inspire hope? Many have misunderstood the kind of problem that climate change presents – as well as the daunting challenges we must face and overcome. Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World is a critical guide on how we can better understand the fragile world around us before it is too late. This innovative book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, climate justice, environmental policy and environmental ethics.

The Ethical Underpinnings of Climate Economics

by Adrian Walsh

This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental ethics, economics, political science, political philosophy and the philosophy of economics.

The Ethical Underpinnings of Climate Economics

Author: Adrian Walsh

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 1317303156

Page: 236

View: 652

Despite their obvious importance, the ethical implications of climate change are often neglected in economic evaluations of mitigation and adaptation policies. Economic climate models provide estimates of the value of mitigation benefits, provide understanding of the costs of reducing emissions, and develop tools for making policy choices under uncertainty. They have thus offered theoretical and empirical instruments for the design and implementation of a range of climate policies, but the ethical assumptions included in the calculations are usually left unarticulated. This book, which brings together scholars from both economics and ethical theory, explores the interrelation between climate ethics and economics. Examining a wide range of topics including sustainability, conceptions of value, risk management and the monetization of harm, the book will explore the ethical limitations of economic analysis but will not assume that economic theory cannot accommodate the concerns raised. The aim in part is to identify ethical shortcomings of economic analysis and to propose solutions. Given the on-going role of economics in government thinking on mitigation, a constructive approach is vital if we are to deal adequately with climate change. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental ethics, economics, political science, political philosophy and the philosophy of economics.

Climate Justice and Collective Action

by Angela Kallhoff

This book develops a theory of climate cooperation designed for concerted action, which emphasises the role and function of collectives in achieving shared climate goals.

Climate Justice and Collective Action

Author: Angela Kallhoff

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 1000383288

Page: 312

View: 947

This book develops a theory of climate cooperation designed for concerted action, which emphasises the role and function of collectives in achieving shared climate goals. In debates on climate change action, research focuses on three major goals: on mitigation, on adaptation and on transformation. Even though these goals are accepted, concerted action is still difficult to realize. Climate Justice and Collective Action provides an analysis of why this is the case and develops a theory of climate cooperation designed to overcome the existing roadblocks. Angela Kallhoff starts with a thorough analysis of failures of collective action in the context of climate change action. Taking inspiration from theories of water cooperation, she then establishes a theory of joint action that reframes climate goals as shared goals and highlights the importance of adhering to principles of fairness. This also includes an exploration of the normative claims working in the background of climate cooperation. Finally, Kallhoff puts forward proposals for a fair allocation of duties to cooperate with respect to climate goals. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate action, climate justice, environmental sociology and environmental philosophy and ethics more broadly.

World Ethics and Climate Change From International to Global Justice

by Paul G. Harris

More than two decades of international negotiations have failed to stem emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing global warming and climate change. This book identifies a way to escape this ongoing tragedy of the atmospheric commons.

World Ethics and Climate Change From International to Global Justice

Author: Paul G. Harris

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

ISBN: 0748642145

Page: 224

View: 606

More than two decades of international negotiations have failed to stem emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing global warming and climate change. This book identifies a way to escape this ongoing tragedy of the atmospheric commons. It takes a fresh approach to the ethics and practice of international environmental justice and proposes fundamental adjustments to the climate change regime, in the process drawing support from cosmopolitan ethics and global conceptions of justice. The author argues for 'cosmopolitan diplomacy', which sees people, rather than states alone, as the causes of climate change and the bearers of related rights, duties and obligations.

Climate Crisis Psychoanalysis and Radical Ethics

by Donna M. Orange

This book includes both philosophical considerations of egoism (close to psychoanalytic narcissism) as problematic, together with work on shame and envy as motivating compulsive and conspicuous consumption.

Climate Crisis Psychoanalysis and Radical Ethics

Author: Donna M. Orange

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 131729940X

Page: 148

View: 641

Psychoanalysis engages with the difficult subjects in life, but it has been slow to address climate change. Climate Crisis, Psychoanalysis, and Radical Ethics draws on the latest scientific evidence to set out the likely effects of climate change on politics, economics and society more generally, including impacts on psychoanalysts. Despite a tendency to avoid the warnings, times of crisis summon clinicians to emerge from comfortable consulting rooms. Daily engaged with human suffering, they now face the inextricably bound together crises of global warming and massive social injustices. After considering historical and emotional causes of climate unconsciousness and of compulsive consumerism, this book argues that only a radical ethics of responsibility to be "my other’s keeper" will truly wake us up to climate change and bring psychoanalysts to actively take on responsibilities, such as demanding change from governments, living more simply, flying less, and caring for the earth and its inhabitants everywhere. Linking climate justice to radical ethics by way of psychoanalysis, Donna Orange explores many relevant aspects of psychoanalytic expertise, referring to work on trauma, mourning, and the transformation of trouble into purpose. Orange makes practical suggestions for action in the psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic communities: reducing air travel, consolidating organizations and conferences, better use of internet communication and education. This book includes both philosophical considerations of egoism (close to psychoanalytic narcissism) as problematic, together with work on shame and envy as motivating compulsive and conspicuous consumption. The interweaving of climate emergency and massive social injustice presents psychoanalysts and organized psychoanalysis with a radical ethical demand and an extraordinary opportunity for leadership. Climate Crisis, Psychoanalysis, and Radical Ethics will provide accessible and thought-provoking reading for psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, as well as philosophers, environmental studies scholars and students studying across these fields.

Religion and Dangerous Environmental Change

by Sigurd Bergmann

This pioneering book attempts to advance climate and environmental sciences by including religion as a microcosm of cultural response to environmental change.

Religion and Dangerous Environmental Change

Author: Sigurd Bergmann

Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster

ISBN: 3643100930

Page: 247

View: 636

Religion and Dangerous Environmental Change advances climate and environmental sciences by including religion as a microcosm of cultural response to environmental change. Sigurd Bergmann and Dieter Gerten are renowned in diverse disciplines, including hydrology, religious studies, theology, cultural studies, philosophy, and visual arts. They exemplify how religion can contribute to sustainable mitigation of climate change and to creative adaption to its impacts.