Climate Change and Ethical Dilemmas (ARTS90031)

This subject integrates perspectives from philosophy, earth sciences, geopolitics, and economics to examine the moral challenges raised by climate change.

Students will review current perspectives and evidence from climate science. They’ll explore fundamental ethical questions raised by climate change – such as our moral duties towards future generations and toward the planet as a whole. They’ll also address climate scepticism and the role of the media and stakeholders in sustaining it.

The core modules of this subject will examine four main topics, where mitigating and adapting to the future effects of climate change generates specific ethical dilemmas.

The first topic is energy policy. The challenge is to determine how we should weigh costs, benefits, risks and uncertainties associated with low pollution solutions such as blue carbon, biofuels and nuclear energy.

The second topic is animals and food. Ethical dilemmas arise when we consider how we should decide which food industries should be promoted to help mitigate climate change. Students will examine the moral duties we may have with respect to animal species, open markets, and individual freedom.

The third topic is urban planning. Students will consider whether we have a duty to create dense, high-rise communities disconnected from nature to reduce emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change within our cities.

The fourth topic is the global South. Students will explore how the burden of reducing global emissions should be shared among states. They’ll also examine whether there is a moral obligation to assist small-island nations or poor and more vulnerable countries and how climate mitigation can be reconciled with the legitimate aspirations to economic development of the global South (and South East Asia more specifically).