Climate ethics is an area of research that focuses on the ethical dimensions of the effects that human-induced activities have had on the Earth's climate systems. It involves the application of normative principles and questions to query the issue of climate change.
Human-induced climate change raises several ethical questions regarding climate science research, economic and political responses, the roles and responsibilities of state and non-state actors, and obligations to future generations. Climate change is regarded by ethicists as a subject that has not been researched about enough as it has primarily been treated as an interdisciplinary issue to be addressed by international relations, economic and legal policies, and political leadership; thereby reducing the scope for philosophers to contribute to the study of issue and neglecting the ethical and moral dimensions of climate change. [1]
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editThe global climate crisis and its normative implications have often been described as a "perfect moral storm" since it combines and compounds existing problems in ethics. [2] The first such problem is its "global" nature, since excessive greenhouse gas emissions induce unfavourable climate effects across different parts of the planet, regardless of the source (IPCC 2007). This exemplifies the tragedy of the commons problem or the prisoners' dilemma, since the collective effects of climate change are severe enough to compel countries to curb their emissions but the individual costs are not high enough to limit carbon footprints. Climate ethicists note that the people who are most vulnerable to effects of climate change are those whose emissions have historically been the lowest, these 'skewed vulnerabilities' contribute to the moral considerations at hand.
The second issue highlighted by ethicists is that of intergenerational responsibilities. Since carbon emissions are cumulative this exacerbates the negative effects of climate change into the future. Thereby, placing the burden of resolution on future generations who may not have been the source of particular emissions.
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edit- ^ Gardiner, Stephen M.; Caney, Simon; Jamieson, Dale; Shue, Henry (2010-08-26). Climate Ethics: Essential Readings. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780195399622.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-539962-2.
- ^ Gardiner, S. M. & Hartzell-Nichols, L. (2012) Ethics and Global Climate Change. Nature Education Knowledge 3(10):5