Philosophical Foundations of Climate Change Policy

Philosophical Foundations of Climate Change Policy

Author: Joseph Heath

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-06-11

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 0197568009

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There is widespread agreement that something must be done to combat anthropogenic climate change. And yet what is the extent of our obligations? It would clearly be unjust for us to allow global warming to reach dangerous levels. But what is the nature of this injustice? Providing a plausible philosophical specification of the wrongness of our present inaction has proven surprisingly difficult. Much of this is due to the temporal structure of the problem, or the fact that there is such a significant delay between our actions and the effects that they produce. Many normative theories that sound plausible when applied to contemporaneous problems generate surprising or perverse results when applied to problems that extend over long periods of time, involving effects on individuals who have not yet been born. So while states have a range of sensible climate change policies at their disposal, the philosophical foundations of these policies remains indeterminate. By far the most influential philosophical position has been the variant of utilitarianism most popular among economists, which maintains that we have an obligation to maximize the well-being of all people, from now until the end of time. Climate change represents an obvious failure of maximization. Many environmental philosophers, however, find this argument unpersuasive, because it also implies that we have an obligation to maximize economic growth. Yet their attempts to provide alternative foundations for policy have proven unpersuasive. Joseph Heath presents an approach to thinking about climate change policy grounded in social contract theory, which focuses on the fairness of existing institutions, not the welfare of future generations, in order to generate a set of plausible policy prescriptions.


Book Synopsis Philosophical Foundations of Climate Change Policy by : Joseph Heath

Download or read book Philosophical Foundations of Climate Change Policy written by Joseph Heath and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is widespread agreement that something must be done to combat anthropogenic climate change. And yet what is the extent of our obligations? It would clearly be unjust for us to allow global warming to reach dangerous levels. But what is the nature of this injustice? Providing a plausible philosophical specification of the wrongness of our present inaction has proven surprisingly difficult. Much of this is due to the temporal structure of the problem, or the fact that there is such a significant delay between our actions and the effects that they produce. Many normative theories that sound plausible when applied to contemporaneous problems generate surprising or perverse results when applied to problems that extend over long periods of time, involving effects on individuals who have not yet been born. So while states have a range of sensible climate change policies at their disposal, the philosophical foundations of these policies remains indeterminate. By far the most influential philosophical position has been the variant of utilitarianism most popular among economists, which maintains that we have an obligation to maximize the well-being of all people, from now until the end of time. Climate change represents an obvious failure of maximization. Many environmental philosophers, however, find this argument unpersuasive, because it also implies that we have an obligation to maximize economic growth. Yet their attempts to provide alternative foundations for policy have proven unpersuasive. Joseph Heath presents an approach to thinking about climate change policy grounded in social contract theory, which focuses on the fairness of existing institutions, not the welfare of future generations, in order to generate a set of plausible policy prescriptions.

Philosophical Foundations of Climate Change Policy

Philosophical Foundations of Climate Change Policy

Author: Joseph Heath

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0197567983

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"Although the task of formulating an appropriate policy response to the problem of anthropogenic climate change is one that raises a number of very difficult normative issues, environmental ethicists have not played an influential role in government deliberations. This is primarily due to their rejection of many of the assumptions that structure the debates over policy. This book offers a philosophical defense of these assumptions, in order to overcome the major conceptual barriers to the participation of philosophers in these debates. There are five important barriers: First, the policy debate presupposes a stance of liberal neutrality, as a result of which it does not privilege any particular set of environmental values over other concerns. Second, it assumes ongoing economic growth, along with a commitment to what is sometimes called a weak sustainability framework when analyzing the value of the bequest being made to future generations. Third, it treats climate change as fundamentally a collective action problem, not an issue of distributive justice. Fourth, there is the acceptance of cost-benefit analysis, or more precisely, the view that a carbon pricing regime should be guided by our best estimate of the social cost of carbon. And finally, there is the view that when this calculation is undertaken, it is permissible to discount costs and benefits, depending on how far removed they are from the present. This book attempts to make explicit and defend these presuppositions, and in so doing offer philosophical foundations for the debate over climate change policy"--


Book Synopsis Philosophical Foundations of Climate Change Policy by : Joseph Heath

Download or read book Philosophical Foundations of Climate Change Policy written by Joseph Heath and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Although the task of formulating an appropriate policy response to the problem of anthropogenic climate change is one that raises a number of very difficult normative issues, environmental ethicists have not played an influential role in government deliberations. This is primarily due to their rejection of many of the assumptions that structure the debates over policy. This book offers a philosophical defense of these assumptions, in order to overcome the major conceptual barriers to the participation of philosophers in these debates. There are five important barriers: First, the policy debate presupposes a stance of liberal neutrality, as a result of which it does not privilege any particular set of environmental values over other concerns. Second, it assumes ongoing economic growth, along with a commitment to what is sometimes called a weak sustainability framework when analyzing the value of the bequest being made to future generations. Third, it treats climate change as fundamentally a collective action problem, not an issue of distributive justice. Fourth, there is the acceptance of cost-benefit analysis, or more precisely, the view that a carbon pricing regime should be guided by our best estimate of the social cost of carbon. And finally, there is the view that when this calculation is undertaken, it is permissible to discount costs and benefits, depending on how far removed they are from the present. This book attempts to make explicit and defend these presuppositions, and in so doing offer philosophical foundations for the debate over climate change policy"--

Handbook of the Philosophy of Climate Change

Handbook of the Philosophy of Climate Change

Author: Gianfranco Pellegrino

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published:

Total Pages: 1286

ISBN-13: 303107002X

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Book Synopsis Handbook of the Philosophy of Climate Change by : Gianfranco Pellegrino

Download or read book Handbook of the Philosophy of Climate Change written by Gianfranco Pellegrino and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 1286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Climate Justice

Climate Justice

Author: Ravi Kanbur

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-10-18

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0192542710

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Climate justice requires sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its resolution equitably and fairly. It brings together justice between generations and justice within generations. In particular it requires that attempts to address justice between generations through various interventions designed to curb greenhouse emissions today do not end up creating injustice in our time by hurting the currently poor and vulnerable. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) summit in September 2015, and the Conference of Parties (COP) to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015, brought climate change and its development impact centre stage in global discussions. In the run up to Paris, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Climate Change, instituted the Climate Justice Dialogue "to mobilize political will and creative thinking to shape an ambitious and just international climate agreement in 2015". The editors of this volume, an economist and a philosopher, served on the High Level Advisory Committee of the Climate Justice Dialogue. They noted the overlap and mutual enforcement between the economic and philosophical discourses on climate justice. But they also noted the great need for these strands to come together to support the public and policy discourse. Climate Justice: Integrating Economics and Philosophy is the result. Bringing together contributions from economists and philosophers, Climate Justice illustrates the different approaches, how they overlap and interact, and what they have already learned from each other and might still have to learn.


Book Synopsis Climate Justice by : Ravi Kanbur

Download or read book Climate Justice written by Ravi Kanbur and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-18 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate justice requires sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its resolution equitably and fairly. It brings together justice between generations and justice within generations. In particular it requires that attempts to address justice between generations through various interventions designed to curb greenhouse emissions today do not end up creating injustice in our time by hurting the currently poor and vulnerable. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) summit in September 2015, and the Conference of Parties (COP) to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015, brought climate change and its development impact centre stage in global discussions. In the run up to Paris, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Climate Change, instituted the Climate Justice Dialogue "to mobilize political will and creative thinking to shape an ambitious and just international climate agreement in 2015". The editors of this volume, an economist and a philosopher, served on the High Level Advisory Committee of the Climate Justice Dialogue. They noted the overlap and mutual enforcement between the economic and philosophical discourses on climate justice. But they also noted the great need for these strands to come together to support the public and policy discourse. Climate Justice: Integrating Economics and Philosophy is the result. Bringing together contributions from economists and philosophers, Climate Justice illustrates the different approaches, how they overlap and interact, and what they have already learned from each other and might still have to learn.

Philosophy and the Climate Crisis

Philosophy and the Climate Crisis

Author: Byron Williston

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-10-11

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1000200663

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This book explores how the history of philosophy can orient us to the new reality brought on by the climate crisis. If we understand the climate crisis as a deeply existential one, it can help to examine the way past philosophers responded to similar crises in their times. This book explores five past crises, each involving a unique form of collective trauma. These events—war, occupation, exile, scientific revolution and political revolution—inspired the philosophers to remake the whole world in thought, to construct a metaphysics. Williston distills a key intellectual innovation from each metaphysical system: • That political power must be constrained by knowledge of the climate system (Plato) • That ethical and political reasoning must be informed by care or love of the ecological whole (Augustine) • That we must enhance the design of the technosphere (Descartes) • That we must conceive the Earth as an internally complex system (Spinoza) • And that we must grant rights to anyone or anything—ultimately the Earth system itself—whose vital interests are threatened by the effects of climate change (Hegel). Philosophy and the Climate Crisis will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, environmental philosophy and ethics and the environmental humanities.


Book Synopsis Philosophy and the Climate Crisis by : Byron Williston

Download or read book Philosophy and the Climate Crisis written by Byron Williston and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-10-11 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores how the history of philosophy can orient us to the new reality brought on by the climate crisis. If we understand the climate crisis as a deeply existential one, it can help to examine the way past philosophers responded to similar crises in their times. This book explores five past crises, each involving a unique form of collective trauma. These events—war, occupation, exile, scientific revolution and political revolution—inspired the philosophers to remake the whole world in thought, to construct a metaphysics. Williston distills a key intellectual innovation from each metaphysical system: • That political power must be constrained by knowledge of the climate system (Plato) • That ethical and political reasoning must be informed by care or love of the ecological whole (Augustine) • That we must enhance the design of the technosphere (Descartes) • That we must conceive the Earth as an internally complex system (Spinoza) • And that we must grant rights to anyone or anything—ultimately the Earth system itself—whose vital interests are threatened by the effects of climate change (Hegel). Philosophy and the Climate Crisis will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, environmental philosophy and ethics and the environmental humanities.

The Philosophical Foundations of Environmental Law

The Philosophical Foundations of Environmental Law

Author: Sean Coyle

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9781472562968

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Legal regulation of the environment is often construed as a collection of legislated responses to the problems of modern living. Treated as such, 'environmental law' refers not to a body of distinctive juristic ideas (such as one might find in contract law or tort) but to a body of black-letter rules out of which a distinct jurisprudence might grow. This book challenges the accepted view by arguing that environmental law must be seen not as a mere instrument of social policy, but as a historical product of surprising antiquity and considerable sophistication. Environmental law, it is argued, is underpinned by a series of tenets concerning the relationship of human beings to the natural world, through the acquisition and use of property. By tracing these ideas to their roots in the political philosophy of the seventeenth century, and their reception into the early law of nuisance, this book seeks to overturn the perception that environmental law's philosophical significance is confined to questions about the extent to which a state should pursue collective well-being and public health through deliberate manipulation and restriction of private property rights. Through a close re-examination of both early and modern statutes and cases, this book concludes that, far from being intelligible in exclusively instrumental terms, environmental law must be understood as the product of sustained reflection upon fundamental moral questions concerning the relationship between property, rights and nature.


Book Synopsis The Philosophical Foundations of Environmental Law by : Sean Coyle

Download or read book The Philosophical Foundations of Environmental Law written by Sean Coyle and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Legal regulation of the environment is often construed as a collection of legislated responses to the problems of modern living. Treated as such, 'environmental law' refers not to a body of distinctive juristic ideas (such as one might find in contract law or tort) but to a body of black-letter rules out of which a distinct jurisprudence might grow. This book challenges the accepted view by arguing that environmental law must be seen not as a mere instrument of social policy, but as a historical product of surprising antiquity and considerable sophistication. Environmental law, it is argued, is underpinned by a series of tenets concerning the relationship of human beings to the natural world, through the acquisition and use of property. By tracing these ideas to their roots in the political philosophy of the seventeenth century, and their reception into the early law of nuisance, this book seeks to overturn the perception that environmental law's philosophical significance is confined to questions about the extent to which a state should pursue collective well-being and public health through deliberate manipulation and restriction of private property rights. Through a close re-examination of both early and modern statutes and cases, this book concludes that, far from being intelligible in exclusively instrumental terms, environmental law must be understood as the product of sustained reflection upon fundamental moral questions concerning the relationship between property, rights and nature.

Climate Modelling

Climate Modelling

Author: Elisabeth A. Lloyd

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-02-13

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 3319650580

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This edited collection of works by leading climate scientists and philosophers introduces readers to issues in the foundations, evaluation, confirmation, and application of climate models. It engages with important topics directly affecting public policy, including the role of doubt, the use of satellite data, and the robustness of models. Climate Modelling provides an early and significant contribution to the burgeoning Philosophy of Climate Science field that will help to shape our understanding of these topics in both philosophy and the wider scientific context. It offers insight into the reasons we should believe what climate models say about the world but addresses the issues that inform how reliable and well-confirmed these models are. This book will be of interest to students of climate science, philosophy of science, and of particular relevance to policy makers who depend on the models that forecast future states of the climate and ocean in order to make public policy decisions.


Book Synopsis Climate Modelling by : Elisabeth A. Lloyd

Download or read book Climate Modelling written by Elisabeth A. Lloyd and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited collection of works by leading climate scientists and philosophers introduces readers to issues in the foundations, evaluation, confirmation, and application of climate models. It engages with important topics directly affecting public policy, including the role of doubt, the use of satellite data, and the robustness of models. Climate Modelling provides an early and significant contribution to the burgeoning Philosophy of Climate Science field that will help to shape our understanding of these topics in both philosophy and the wider scientific context. It offers insight into the reasons we should believe what climate models say about the world but addresses the issues that inform how reliable and well-confirmed these models are. This book will be of interest to students of climate science, philosophy of science, and of particular relevance to policy makers who depend on the models that forecast future states of the climate and ocean in order to make public policy decisions.

Uncertainty and the Philosophy of Climate Change

Uncertainty and the Philosophy of Climate Change

Author: Martin Bunzl

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-09-25

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 1317643054

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When it comes to climate change, the greatest difficulty we face is that we do not know the likely degree of change or its cost, which means that environmental policy decisions have to be made under uncertainty. This book offers an accessible philosophical treatment of the broad range of ethical and policy challenges posed by climate change uncertainty. Drawing on both the philosophy of science and ethics, Martin Bunzl shows how tackling climate change revolves around weighing up our interests now against those of future generations, which requires that we examine our assumptions about the value of present costs versus future benefits. In an engaging, conversational style, Bunzl looks at questions such as our responsibility towards non-human life, the interests of the developing and developed worlds, and how the circumstances of poverty shape the perception of risk, ultimate developing and defending a view of humanity and its place in the world that makes sense of our duty to Nature without treating it as a rights bearer. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental studies, philosophy, politics and sociology as well as policy makers.


Book Synopsis Uncertainty and the Philosophy of Climate Change by : Martin Bunzl

Download or read book Uncertainty and the Philosophy of Climate Change written by Martin Bunzl and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-09-25 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When it comes to climate change, the greatest difficulty we face is that we do not know the likely degree of change or its cost, which means that environmental policy decisions have to be made under uncertainty. This book offers an accessible philosophical treatment of the broad range of ethical and policy challenges posed by climate change uncertainty. Drawing on both the philosophy of science and ethics, Martin Bunzl shows how tackling climate change revolves around weighing up our interests now against those of future generations, which requires that we examine our assumptions about the value of present costs versus future benefits. In an engaging, conversational style, Bunzl looks at questions such as our responsibility towards non-human life, the interests of the developing and developed worlds, and how the circumstances of poverty shape the perception of risk, ultimate developing and defending a view of humanity and its place in the world that makes sense of our duty to Nature without treating it as a rights bearer. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental studies, philosophy, politics and sociology as well as policy makers.

Climate Justice in a Non-Ideal World

Climate Justice in a Non-Ideal World

Author: Clare Heyward

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-08-25

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 0192513842

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Climate change is a pressing international political issue, for which a practical but principled solution is urgently required. Climate Justice in a Non-Ideal World aims to make normative theorising on climate justice more relevant and applicable to political realities and public policy. The motivation behind this edited collection is that normative theorising has something to offer even in an imperfect world mired by partial compliance and unfavourable circumstances. In the last years, a lively debate has sprung up in political philosophy about non-ideal theory and there has also been an upsurge of interest in the various normative issues raised by climate change such as intergenerational justice, transnational harm, collective action, or risk assessment. However, there has been little systematic discussion of the links between climate justice and non-ideal theory even though the former would seem like a paradigm example of the relevance of the latter. The aim of this edited volume is to address this. In doing so, the volume presents original work from leading experts on climate ethics, including several who have participated in climate policy. The first part of the book discusses those facets of the debate on climate justice that become relevant due to the shortcomings of current global action on climate change. The second part makes specific suggestions for adjusting current policies and negotiating procedures in ways that are feasible in the relatively short term while still decreasing the distance between current climate policy and the ideal. The chapters in the third and final part reflect upon how philosophical work can be brought to bear on the debates in climate science, communication, and politics.


Book Synopsis Climate Justice in a Non-Ideal World by : Clare Heyward

Download or read book Climate Justice in a Non-Ideal World written by Clare Heyward and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-25 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is a pressing international political issue, for which a practical but principled solution is urgently required. Climate Justice in a Non-Ideal World aims to make normative theorising on climate justice more relevant and applicable to political realities and public policy. The motivation behind this edited collection is that normative theorising has something to offer even in an imperfect world mired by partial compliance and unfavourable circumstances. In the last years, a lively debate has sprung up in political philosophy about non-ideal theory and there has also been an upsurge of interest in the various normative issues raised by climate change such as intergenerational justice, transnational harm, collective action, or risk assessment. However, there has been little systematic discussion of the links between climate justice and non-ideal theory even though the former would seem like a paradigm example of the relevance of the latter. The aim of this edited volume is to address this. In doing so, the volume presents original work from leading experts on climate ethics, including several who have participated in climate policy. The first part of the book discusses those facets of the debate on climate justice that become relevant due to the shortcomings of current global action on climate change. The second part makes specific suggestions for adjusting current policies and negotiating procedures in ways that are feasible in the relatively short term while still decreasing the distance between current climate policy and the ideal. The chapters in the third and final part reflect upon how philosophical work can be brought to bear on the debates in climate science, communication, and politics.

Philosophy and Climate Change

Philosophy and Climate Change

Author: Mark Budolfson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 0198796285

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"Climate change is poised to threaten, disrupt, and transform human life, and the social, economic, and political institutions that structure it... The sixteen original articles collected in this volume both illustrate the diverse ways that philosophy can contribute to this conversation, and ways in which thinking about climate change can help to illuminate a range of topics of independent interest to philosophers."--Back cover.


Book Synopsis Philosophy and Climate Change by : Mark Budolfson

Download or read book Philosophy and Climate Change written by Mark Budolfson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Climate change is poised to threaten, disrupt, and transform human life, and the social, economic, and political institutions that structure it... The sixteen original articles collected in this volume both illustrate the diverse ways that philosophy can contribute to this conversation, and ways in which thinking about climate change can help to illuminate a range of topics of independent interest to philosophers."--Back cover.