Is climate change a human rights violation?

McKinnon, Catriona; Petersmann, Marie-Catherine

doi:10.4324/9780429446252-12

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Broader questions in political philosophy are also pressing. Does inaction in the face of climate change represent a human rights violation against those who are harmed by it (MacKinnon and Petersmann, 2019)? Is democracy up to the task of combatting climate change?…”

Section: Philosophical Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Philosophy’s other climate problem☆

Brownstein

Levy

2021

Journal of Social Philosophy

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Climate change will be among the most influential forces shaping human life in the 21 st century and beyond, if not the most influential force. Philosophers typically recognize this fact, and some have responded to it by producing a body of genuinely excellent work. Despite this, the profession has not responded adequately. Too few philosophers are engaged with climate change, and the work of those who have is insufficiently mainstream. Moreover, a wide range of philosophical problems central to climate change remain almost untouched by anyone. More than 15 years ago, Gardiner (2004) issued a "call to arms" to moral philosophers, urging them to respond with an urgency that matches the seriousness of the problem. Today we repeat that call, this time addressed to all philosophers. 1 Climate change is not just a moral challenge, or an environmental issue. Rather, as one leading environmental engineer recently put it, it is the landscape on which our future unfolds. 2 It permeates every aspects of our lives, and philosophers must respond.We begin by briefly laying out likely pathways correlated to potential degrees of global warming, based on relatively conservative climate modelling, none of which is our own ( §1). We then consider the discipline of philosophy's response to the climate crisis. Despite the fact that excellent work has been produced in some areas, the discipline's response has thus far been incommensurate with the gravity of the problem. ( §2). We then discuss some obligations anthropogenic global warming (AGW) creates for philosophers as individuals and as a professional community ( §3). Finally, we consider specific topics and questions about climate change that some philosophers have considered in great depth, but which warrant wider attention ( §4). 3 Climate PathwaysThe earth today is about 1-1.1°C hotter than it was in the 19 th Century. 4 In the United States, the effects of this warming are evident: Superstorm Sandy, the California wildfires, Hurricane Harvey. 5 To dwell on Harvey for a second: as David Wallace-Wells (2019) points out, this was a once-every-500-year event. That is, it was a storm of such 1 Only with some hesitation do we repeat militaristic language such as a "call to arms," but we do it here to give due credit to Gardiner's important work. Note also: while Gardiner ( 2014) is addressed to moral philosophers, it touches upon a wider set of topics (e.g., philosophy of economics). 2 https://twitter.com/costasamaras/status/1246532602871386112 3 There is one thing in this paper about which we are very confident: we have surely overlooked some valuable existing philosophical work on climate change. We apologize in advance to whomever's work this may be, and we hope critique of the gaps in this paper helps bring more attention to that work. 4 Hereafter we refer to temperature in Celsius, unless otherwise noted. 5 Extreme events (droughts, wildfires, floods) have always occurred and would continue to occur in the absence of climate change. But the rapidly developing field of event...

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Section: Philosophical Workmentioning

confidence: 99%