Climate Change and Non-Identity

Utilitas ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Lukas Tank
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Identity Problem ◽  
Climate Ethics ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
Central Claim

Abstract What is the practical relevance of the Non-Identity Problem (NIP) for our climate change-related duties? Climate change and the NIP are often discussed together, but there is surprisingly little work on the practical relevance of the NIP for the ethics of climate change. The central claim of this article is that the NIP makes a relatively minor difference to our climate change-related duties even if we pursue what has become known as the ‘bite the bullet’ strategy: endorse a person-affecting view threatened by the NIP and not modify it in such a way as to evade the NIP. In particular I will argue that a harm-based view can justify the big-picture call for action emerging from the field of climate ethics. The key to reaching this conclusion is pointing out the consequences of our climate change-related decisions for people whose existence does not depend on these very decisions.

Climate Ethics

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Gardiner ◽  
Simon Caney ◽  
Dale Jamieson ◽  
Henry Shue
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Human Dimensions ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
General Reference ◽  
Science And Policy ◽  
Climate Ethics ◽  
Climate Economics ◽  
Intergenerational Ethics

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.

Responding to Critics of Emotions and Collectives

2021 ◽  
pp. 104-115
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Fredericks
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Moral Development ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Moral Emotions ◽  
Climate Ethics ◽  
Rational Individual

Chapter 6 explore three questions: why other climate ethicists including Dale Jamieson, Stephen M. Gardiner, and Tracy Lynn Isaacs have not examined moral emotions or the negative emotions of guilt and shame; why their philosophical assumptions prevent them from doing so; and what the advantages are of taking guilt and shame seriously in environmental and climate ethics. Philosophical climate ethics generally prioritizes rational, individual analyses and direct linear causality. These commitments are challenged by the complex layers of agency causing climate change and lead scholars to overlook (1) the contributions of guilt and shame to moral development and (2) how such moral emotions can help agents recognize their as-yet unacknowledged moral commitments––particularly critical tasks in rapidly developing moral circumstances such as that of climate change. Additionally, philosophical commitments of most climate ethicists hinder their recognition of important ethical questions: What are the ethical ramifications of environmental guilt and shame? Should agents intentionally induce them? Regardless of how these emotions come to exist, how should agents respond to them? A more capacious vision of ethics as outlined in this project—which draws on insights of laypeople as well as academics in multiple disciplines; includes rationality, emotion, relationships; acknowledges the agency of individuals and collectives; and recognizes human limits—can address a broader scope of ethical questions including but not limited to those sparked by environmental guilt and shame.

Have You Benefitted from Carbon Emissions? You May Be a “Morally Objectionable Free Rider”

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-296
Author(s):  
J. Spencer Atkins ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Free Rider ◽  
Ability To Pay ◽  
Climate Ethics ◽  
Polluter Pays Principle ◽  
Beneficiary Pays ◽  
Compensatory Justice

Much of the climate ethics discussion centers on considerations of compensatory justice and historical accountability. However, little attention is given to supporting and defending the Beneficiary Pays Principle as a guide for policymaking. This principle states that those who have benefitted from an instance of harm have an obligation to compensate those who have been harmed. Thus, this principle implies that those benefitted by industrialization and carbon emission owe compensation to those who have been harmed by climate change. Beneficiary Pays is commonly juxtaposed with Polluter Pays Principle and the Ability to Pay Principle in the relevant literature. Beneficiary Pays withstands objections that raise suspicion for the latter two.

Nurses See “The Big Picture”: Addressing Climate Change as a Social Determinant of Global Health

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 243-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethany Divakaran ◽  
Shanda Lembeck ◽  
Rachel Kerr ◽  
Hannah Calmus ◽  
Teddie Potter
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Social Determinant ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
Role Of Nursing ◽  
Taking Action ◽  
A Current

Although it is well known that health is influenced by social determinants, climate change is an underrepresented determinant of health within nursing and health care literature, curriculum, and practice. There is urgent need to recognize climate change as a current and future threat to human and environmental health. This article describes the role of nursing in taking action on climate change now and in the future. The profession of nursing, with its ongoing commitment to social justice and its unique position to collaborate with patients and other health care professionals, is particularly well situated to activate change to protect and promote the health of individuals, populations, and future generations.

New directions in sustainable tourism research

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Ruhanen ◽  
Char-lee Moyle ◽  
Brent Moyle
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Tourism Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
Brundtland Report

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to expand our understanding of sustainable tourism research given that both researchers and policymakers consistently question the effectiveness of sustainable tourism and its practices, applications and practical adoption.Design/methodology/approachThe aim of the research was to provide an update on previous studies by examining how sustainable tourism research has progressed in the five intervening years since Ruhanenet al.completed their 25-year bibliometric analysis.FindingsThis paper provides insights into how sustainable tourism research has developed over the 30 years since the publication of the Brundtland report. It shows that over the past five years, the field has matured to place greater emphasis on climate change, modeling, values, behavior and theoretical progression.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research in the field should aim to better understand the methods and analysis techniques being used in sustainable tourism, as well as how sustainable tourism and climate change policy and actions translate into policy and practice.Originality/valueBibliometrics and text mining shows that 30 years after the Brundtland report, sustainable tourism research continues to grow exponentially, with evidence that the field is starting to mature by broadening its horizons and focusing on more relevant, big-picture and hard-hitting topics, such as climate change.

scholarly journals Climate Ethics and Policy in Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-84
Author(s):  
W Kelbessa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Use Case ◽  
Fair Share ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Climate Ethics ◽  
African Climate ◽  
Change Climate ◽  
Management Policies ◽  
Climate Management

In this article, I use case studies from some African countries to determine whether or not African climate management policies have been guided by ethical principles. I argue that although climate change is fundamentally an ethical issue, African policymakers have not paid sufficient attention to ethical principles in this regard. I argue that the major ethical principles embodied in different African traditions can assist African and non-African countries to address the challenges occasioned by climate change. Finally, I suggest that technological societies whose current emissions most exceed their fair share of emissions ought to give attention to justice, and play their respective roles in averting the most extreme effects of climate change. KeywordsAfrican ethics, climate ethics, climate change, climate policy, inter-generational justice

scholarly journals Do No Harm: A Cross-Disciplinary, Cross-Cultural Climate Ethics

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey Rentmeester
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Ethical Issue ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Climate Ethics ◽  
Do No Harm ◽  
Cultural Climate

Anthropogenic climate change has become a hot button issue in the scientific, economic, political, and ethical sectors. While the science behind climate change is clear, responses in the economic and political realms have been unfulfilling. On the economic front, companies have marketed themselves as pioneers in the quest to go green while simultaneously engaging in environmentally destructive practices and on the political front, politicians have failed to make any significant global progress. I argue that climate change needs to be framed as an ethical issue to make serious progress towards the path to a sustainable human civilization. In an effort to motivate the urgency needed to confront climate change, I argue that climate change seriously affects human beings living here and now, and if one cares about unnecessarily harming fellow innocent living human beings, then one should care about one’s own environmental impact related to climate change. Since this argument does not depend upon any specific philosophical, religious, or ethical tradition but applies regardless of one’s particular background, I hope to induce genuine concern among all human beings regarding this issue.

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