Sustainability

Earth consciousness involves an understanding of our relationship with earth. It involves the study of earth forms, their life processes and inherent needs. The concept has created a field of frameworks and knowledge systems permeating into the day to day lives of humans including their political-economic-cultural spaces. The expression earth consciousness can be interpreted in many ways to include human awareness of nature & its processes, or the bond with mother earth and all its forms . Earth consciousness or the (...) universal respect for nature and all of its forms is manifesting in different ways. The multidisciplinary approaches that build the idea of Earth consciousness have added much weight to building frameworks for protection & preservation. One can see an influence of cultural, ethical, legal, philosophical, religious, & spiritual perspectives in the realization of a deep & meaningful relationship between humans with nature. This document sheds light on the diverse frameworks evolved and evolving to give effect to the growing earth consciousness. Much emphasis also placed on the "Rights in Nature Framework" and the "Post 2020 Bio-diversity Framework". (shrink)

We make the case that scientifically accurate and politically feasible responses to the climate crisis require a complex understanding of human cultural practices of niche construction that moves beyond the adaptive significance of culture. We develop this thesis in two related ways. First, we argue that cumulative cultural practices of niche construction can generate stable equilibria and runaway selection processes that result in long-term existential risks within and across cultural groups. We dub this the back of the invisible hand. Second, (...) we argue that the ability of cultural groups to innovate technological solutions to environmental problems is highly constrained in ways that are exacerbated by sustained intergroup conflict, inequality and by inherently unpredictable cascades in climate change and human migration patterns. After developing these theoretical points about human cultural practices of niche construction in detail, we conclude our discussion with some tentative practical suggestions about the way that cultural evolutionary history can more fruitfully be used in efforts to remit the climate crisis and contribute to sustainable practices of human climate change adaptation. (shrink)

In this article, we present two independent arguments in favor of the view that parents have a pro tanto moral duty to feed their children a predominantly plant-based diet. The first is the ‘Animal Harm Argument’. The significant suffering caused to animals by harmful animal agriculture is morally wrong, and consequently there is a moral duty to avoid consuming products coming from such circumstances. In a family context, parents have a moral duty to teach their young children the best ‘rules-of-thumb’ (...) to comply with morality’s demands. Therefore, parents should, as a rule, provide their children with a plant-based diet. The second is the ‘Environmental Harm Argument’. Consuming animal products is associated with a large ecological footprint. There is a moral duty to reduce one’s ecological footprint, and significant reductions are not feasible without substantially cutting down on animal products, so moving towards a more plant-based diet is morally required. In families, parents have a special responsibility to help reduce their children’s ecological footprint, and to prepare them to heed laws requiring such reductions in the future, and therefore should feed them a predominantly plant-based diet. Lastly, we address several objections to our arguments and show why they do not hold. (shrink)

Joseph Heath sometimes plays the role of a gadfly in climate and environmental ethics. He often defends conventional, economics-focused claims which rub many philosophers the wrong way—claims that are at the heart of issues raised in these pages, claims such as that discounting is justifiable, growth is good, or cost-benefit analysis is appropriate in liberal democracies. I think we can all agree that sophisticated defences of conventional positions play an important part in the ecosystem. For philosophers, a gadfly can challenge (...) entrenched conceptions. If we agree that these goals are worthwhile, then this book serves as a useful summary and synthesis of the ways Heath has ably defended conventional claims about climate policy. (shrink)

Many books explain why global warming is a problem; this book shows what must be done. It addresses central themes of climate change in straightforward terms, laying out the actions that need to be taken to slow global warming and adapt to the near and long-term future that we have created for ourselves. -/- Collecting knowledge, personal stories, and practical insights from experts across a dozen specialties, this volume shows how we can adapt to climate change in order to protect (...) the most vulnerable among us. Grappling with a complex range of topics, including risk, migration, and societal inequality, the authors take a constructive approach that balances realism with actionable solutions. They look back across human history for lessons that still matter today, particularly the importance of building a supportive and committed community to nourish hope. Without losing sight of the scale of the challenge, the volume chronicles the opportunities to mitigate environmental impacts and to leverage the challenge as impetus for broader transformations of society. -/- Written in an accessible, non-technical style, _Climate Change: What Must Be Done?_ is a must-read for students, policymakers, and environmentally conscious individuals who want to know how to make a difference. (shrink)

This article explores the ethical foundations of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which represent a global consensus on human and ecological well-being but lack a clear moral framework justifying obligations to future generations. I argue that the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights supports the notion of temporal justice and underpins SDGs. Although some philosophers contend that future generations cannot possess moral standing, a comprehensive understanding of the metaphysics of time demonstrates that they exist (tenselessly) as surely as (...) we do. The primary barriers to protecting their interests are political and epistemic in nature, necessitating thoughtful institutional design. (shrink)

In the recent debate about who should provide international climate finance (ICF) to developing countries on concessional terms, some have argued that the ultra-rich should cover a significant proportion of the associated costs. This would apply regardless of the climate responsibilities or level of development of the countries in which the ultra-rich reside. In this article, I examine whether the rich-pay-for-ICF proposal aligns with any reasonable viewpoint on climate justice. To do so, I test the claim against a hybrid model (...) of remedial responsibility for climate change that combines outcome responsibility and the ability to pay. I argue that the rich-pay-for-ICF proposal can be justified on normative grounds by distinguishing between the weighty and frivolous interests of emitters and investors, and by adopting a broad and objective view of equal sacrifice. Finally, I propose a global policy toolbox for implementing the rich-pay-for-ICF proposal in a manner consistent with the aforementioned hybrid model of responsibility. (shrink)

Recently developed frameworks that explicitly define boundaries of sustainability, such as “a safe and just space” or “consumption corridors,” are key for achieving good lives for all within ecological limits and have been explored in multiple influential studies. However, these “corridor frameworks” have rarely been explicitly applied to mobility and transport, and there is a need for more work in this direction. In this article, we provide an overview of the corridor frameworks and their links to four main strains of (...) mobility and transport literature: sustainable transport, transport poverty, accessibility, and tourism and long-distance travel. The literature traditions have meaningful links to the corridor frameworks, but their approaches to social and ecological justice are largely disparate and disconnected. Existing studies rarely consider explicit ecological ceilings, and when ecological impacts are considered, the focus is usually on efficiency or relative improvements. Transport poverty and accessibility literature provide a meaningful contribution to defining social floors, but they largely neglect ecological ceilings and consumption maxima. Considerations of floors and ceilings are rarely explicit or are based on unquestioned assumptions of necessity and excess. Explicit ecological ceilings and social floors in mobility have been defined at national or global scales, but there is a need for more work on locally-specific thresholds that are distributively and procedurally just. We highlight the need to more comprehensively apply the corridor framework to transportation research and suggest a research agenda with seven main directions. (shrink)

AI for good, and AI for sustainability projects, are being developed by often well-meaning innovators across the world, intending to support initiatives in sustainable development. Some such projects have been positioned within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. In this paper, we critically engage with this phenomenon using a virtue-based Ricoeurian narrative philosophy. Through conceptual analysis and normative argumentation, we make a theoretical contribution to scholarship on this topic. We argue that SDGs could be regarded as internationally agreed high-order (...) end-norms that crystallise values considered to constitute the good life. We argue for exercising caution in applying SDGs as end-norms to AI projects as they are of a high order, are not directly action guiding, and threaten to sediment presentist dominant values. We argue for narrative hospitality between AI innovators and community stakeholders to guide reflection on specifying the SDGs to more situated contexts and to support the development of AI systems that may be more contextually appropriate, and more capable of supporting plural visions of the good life. Such narrative hospitality represents accommodation between parties, but refusal or resistance to engagement with AI innovators can be justified when community interests are not respected, and actors within AI industries can also be morally obliged to resist or refuse development or deployment of systems for contextually inappropriate environments that would be incompatible with a critical reading of the SDGs formed in narrative exchange with the other. (shrink)

We argue that aviation exceptionalism is both a demand side and a supply side problem. Despite exponential increases in demand for international air travel, plane makers have achieved only modest linear movement toward low carbon aviation technologies. Meanwhile, the global aviation regime has become adept at shaping user practices and culture to enable and encourage unconstrained air travel consumption. This has influenced the public’s perception of possible regulatory regimes and, along with persistent overestimation of technical debt, has prevented the use (...) of regulations similar to those that are successfully moving the automotive sector to new low carbon technologies. On the supply side, there is no realistic prospect of attaining sustainable aviation technology without a government-led, private-sector supported, moonshot-style collective effort. On the demand side, the psychological barriers to behavior change will not be resolved without confronting the drivers that ‘create’ air travel consumption and artificially accelerate demand. (shrink)

The growing planetary poly-crisis—marked by climate change, ecological degradation, and planetary health inequities—necessitates a fundamental transformation in healthcare systems. This paper examines the historical progression of health systems from public health to planetary health, where human well-being is understood within the limits of planetary boundaries. Planetary health provides a framework for sustainable health systems that reduce disease burden, optimize care delivery, and decarbonize healthcare operations. Within this context, artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a transformative tool for addressing healthcare sustainability. AI (...) applications offer significant potential to optimize resource use, improve preventive care, and enable circular economies in healthcare, thereby facilitating the transition toward planetary health. However, AI poses environmental challenges, including high energy consumption and resource-intensive development processes. To ensure its long-term viability, AI must align with sustainability principles by minimizing its ecological footprint while enhancing ecological integrity and social justice. This paper contributes to the literature in three key ways: (1) it briefly outlines the evolution of health systems toward planetary health, contextualizing the role of sustainability; (2) it presents emerging AI applications that support healthcare sustainability within the planetary health paradigm; and (3) it applies a structural–ethical approach—building on the work of Bolte and van Wynsberghe—to situate AI within the broader socio-technical, institutional, and ecological systems of healthcare, moving beyond second-wave AI ethics’ focus on isolated artifacts and design-level principles. By positioning AI as both a solution and a subject of scrutiny, this study advances the discourse on AI’s potential for planetary health while critically examining its alignment with long-term sustainability goals. (shrink)

Ocean-based salmon farming, as presently practiced, is thought to pose an existential threat to what we today think of as wild salmon. This raises ethical questions about, first, the value of wild salmon, and, second, the value of wild salmon of the particular type that exists today. This essay uses the debate around ocean-based salmon farming as a case study of ‘irreversible damage,’ a concept that figures heavily in environmental laws and regulations, in particular, in the so-called ‘precautionary principle.’ It (...) is argued that although ocean-based salmon farming may, on the surface, seem to be a prime example of a threat of irreversible damage, a wish to avoid irreversible damage does not support banning such farming. In contrast, it is argued that concern for irreplaceable value might support a ban. The findings suggest that it often would be appropriate for environmentalists and conservationists to focus more on irreplaceable value and less on irreversible damage. (shrink)

Much has been written about the ethics of eating meat. Far less has been said about the ethics of serving meat. In this paper I argue that we often shouldn’t serve meat, even if it is morally permissible for individuals to purchase and eat meat. Historically, the ethical conversation surrounding meat has been limited to individual diets, meat producers, and government actors. I argue that if we stop the conversation there, then the urgent moral problems associated with industrial animal agriculture (...) will go unsolved. Instead, we must also consider the important but overlooked role that midsized institutions play in addressing major collective problems. I focus mostly on the harms that industrial animal agriculture inflicts on humans, animals, and the environment, but the discussion bears on other global issues like climate change. Institutional choices are an underexplored avenue for driving social change—their power and influence outstrip individual actions, and they can shape behavior in modest ways that promote social goods. Here I highlight the paradigmatic case of catered events and suggest three ways that institutional actors can reduce meat consumption and shape cultural attitudes surrounding meat: large impact decisions, subtly shaping incentives, and consolidating burdens. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing rapidly in an era in which the urgent need to address climate change is being confronted by anti-regulatory headwinds. These opposing forces complicate the pursuit of Sustainable AI, an ambitious goal that requires motivating private actors to reduce their AI-driven environmental impacts at the same time that the environmental consequences of AI remain highly uncertain. In this essay, I present a productive way to overcome this conundrum. Acknowledging the real issues that stand in the way (...) of companies disclosing environmental performance and drawing practical insights from scholarship on voluntary environmental governance, I propose a Sustainable AI that shuns wishful thinking in favor of a healthy dose of pragmatism. (shrink)

In this article, I apply Australian logician and ecofeminist philosopher Val Plumwood’s Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, specifically its alternative logic of “the dance of interaction,” to a controversial community-engagement program in my home state of Alabama. At Rural Studio, Auburn University students design free housing and public works for one of the poorest regions in the United States, known as the “Black Belt.” Through the lens of Plumwood’s ecofeminist dancing logic, the marginalized source of Rural Studio’s survival is (...) revealed to be the resilience of the disempowered majority-Black community. Inspired thereby, I sketch an ecofeminist choreography with three “dancing” concepts (namely Plumwood’s “the master model,” Vandana Shiva’s “nature’s logic,” and Ariel Salleh’s “holding”), acknowledging the resilience of the disempowered as a necessary step toward an ethically-sustainable aesthetics. (shrink)

Strategies for combating climate change which advocate for human population limitation have recently been understandably criticised on the grounds that they embody a form of 'climate colonialism': a moral wrong that involves disproportionally shifting the burdens of climate change onto developing, historically exploited nations (which have low per capita emissions but high fertility rates) in order to offset burdens in affluent nations (which have high per capita emissions but low fertility rates). This article argues that once the relevance of population (...) growth to climate change has been correctly understood as working in tandem with consumption levels, this objection fails as a general criticism. Moreover, even if population could be ignored as a variable, the climate colonialism charge would re-emerge in a different form, since, at present population sizes, it would be environmentally catastrophic for developing nations to reach production ambitions which see their per capita emissions massively increase. Even if emission reductions in affluent nations are (rightly) prioritised, there are good reasons to prevent enormous growth of emissions in developing nations. Those environmental risks become much greater given those nations' projected population increases in the coming century. The article then explores how the necessary radical environmental policies pertaining to fertility rates might be enacted in non-coercive ways, reducing the sting of the ‘climate colonialism’ charge. The article ends by considering some reasons to be moderately sceptical about such policies. (shrink)

The present ecological crises that mark the Anthropocene make it clear that our exploitative way of relating to the world undermines the potential of humans and many other beings to flourish on Earth. Therefore, education should be concerned with fostering awareness and understanding of the value and vulnerability of (the conditions for life on) our planet, and our dependency in relation to this good. Gratitude experiences are characterized by and can contribute to such forms of awareness, types of understanding, and (...) corresponding motivations to cherish certain goods. Moreover, experiences of existential gratitude can enrich our relationships with the natural world – focusing, beyond instrumental benefits, on our interconnectedness with its intrinsically valuable entities. Such experiences can provide us with meaning by deepening our sense of identity, and by infusing our lives with a sense of moral responsibility to care for the ecosystems we are part of. Thus, gratitude not only has the potential to enhance flourishing, but may also influence how we approach the ontological-ethical question of what it means to be and flourish as a human being. However, there seems to be a tension between existential gratitude and central elements of the modern western worldview that appear to bear the mark of humanism. We discuss how humanism can disentangle itself from this problematic worldview, and explore how wonder and awe can help to foster existential gratitude within the framework of humanistic education. (shrink)

Moral arguments against the consumption of animal products from factory farms are traditionally categorical. The conclusions require people to eliminate from their diets all animal products (veganism), all animal flesh (vegetarianism), all animals except seafood (pescetarianism), etc. An alternative “reducetarian” approach prescribes progressive reduction in one’s consumption of animal products, not categorical abstention. We articulate a much-needed moral defense of this more ecumenical approach. We start with a presumptive case in favor of reducetarianism before moving on to address three objections (...) – that it falls short of our obligations to address such an egregious practice, is a rationalization of the status quo, and cannot fix systemic injustices in animal agriculture. We conclude that reducetarianism is a defensible approach for many people and is a promising route to moral progress on factory farming. (shrink)

Healthcare systems produce significant greenhouse gas emissions, raising an important question: should healthcare be treated like any other polluter when it comes to reducing its emissions, or is healthcare special because of its essential societal role? On one hand, reducing emissions is critical to combat climate change. On the other, healthcare depends on emissions to deliver vital services. The resulting tension surrounds an idea of healthcare exceptionalism and leads to the question I consider in this paper: to what extent (if (...) any) should the valuable goals of healthcare form an exception to the burdens of reducing greenhouse gas emissions? The goals of this paper are twofold. One is to think about how to address the issue of healthcare exceptionalism. Second is to discuss the extent of healthcare’s climatic responsibilities. I examine two perspectives on healthcare exceptionalism. The first treats a responsibility to reduce emissions and the delivery of healthcare as separate issues, each governed by its own principle. I reject this view, proposing instead that we consider healthcare’s environmental responsibilities in conjunction with its essential functions. I defend an “inability to pay” principle, suggesting that while healthcare should indeed contribute to mitigating climate change, its obligations should be constrained by the necessity of maintaining its core goals like protecting health and preventing disease. Healthcare should be treated differently from other sectors, but not to the extent that it is entirely exempt from efforts to reduce emissions. (shrink)

NASA and the CNSA have both released plans for lunar human exploration. This paper reviews those plans through the lens of strategic capability development. It examines the history of NASA’s development of bioregenerative space habitation systems and shows how past research and policy decisions, including funding cuts and program discontinuations, have led to critical gaps in current NASA capabilities. These gaps pose a strategic risk to US leadership in human space exploration that must be addressed urgently to sustain international competitiveness. (...) It concludes with recommendations for program investments crucial for the deployment of mature bioregenerative technologies in the coming decade. (shrink)

The main purpose of climate policy is to preserve what is valuable in the face of dangerous changes to the climate. It must do so urgently. This urgency means that we cannot hope to change deeply held and widespread beliefs about value in time. Instead they ought to be, and can be, accounted for in policymaking. This thesis explores how a pluralist account of value can inform climate policy without falling into some of the pitfalls faced by traditional environmental ethics. (...) I focus on some commonly held pluralist and anthropocentric beliefs about value and the impact they ought to have on key questions of climate policy, so that what is most valuable is preserved. I defend the widespread view that some things have irreplaceable value. I identify the class of things that have the strongest claim to such value, and argue that climate policy ought to give priority to their preservation. Another claim about value that I explore and defend is that the autonomy of future people is both valuable and something we can protect and advance today. I argue that we can make sense of the kinds of options future people will require to be autonomous, even if we cannot predict their conceptions of the good. Finally, I explore the widespread anthropocentric view that there is no value that is independent of humans. I argue that this view cannot be used to justify environmentally harmful policies, and that it does not on that account need to be avoided in policymaking. (shrink)

Paving the Way to Sustainable Societies by Correcting the Erroneous Assumptions Present in Finance, Technology, and Psychology Today. Think: Wealth-Not-War.

A Communaristocratic Response to the Call of Gaia: Formation of a Noble Indifference Towards Religious Narratives of Nature. This paper takes its starting point from Badiou’s recent diagnosis of “religiosity” in the “dominant current of ecology.” Insofar that this dominant current shies away from considering the real cause of the catastrophic phenomena - which lies according to Badiou in globalized capitalism - its calls for taking necessary measures to save the planet not only end up in feebleness but also strengthen (...) the regime that it allegedly criticizes. The paper traces Nietzschean motifs in Badiou’s diagnosis and suggests linking it to what Nietzsche calls moral-religious humanization of nature. Insofar as today’s religiosity does not refer to any concrete religion, the popularization of the “Gaia Theory” constitutes a prominent expression of a religious conception of nature. What the paper shows is that this kind of conception of nature catalyzes today a capitalist re-articulation of economy and religion which leads to an expansion of circulation of commodity exchange. In other words, capitalism in its latemodern face, is conserved in a sustainable fashion. The objective of the paper is forming a noble indifference vis-à-vis the frame of what we can call moral consumption as the product of such a conception of nature, that is an orientation which affirms the infinite egalitarian power of creativity, instead of being content with the “happiness of the smallest moral superiority” in sustainable consumption. By thinking Badiou’s new communism and Nietzsche’s new aristocracy together, the paper articulates a position that reflects a disjunctive synthesis of Badiou’s radical egalitarian and Nietzsche’s radical aristocratic orientations, which it suggests coining communaristocracy. (shrink)

This Chapter studies legislative initiatives around sustainable finance deriving from the Action Plan: Financing Sustainable Growth (also called ‘Sustainable Finance Action Plan’, ‘Action Plan’ henceforth), published by the European Commission (‘Commission’) in 2018 (Communication 2018/97). I evaluate various instruments proposed in the Action Plan, using a reflexive law approach coupled with insights from business ethics and epistemology (De Bruin, 2013, 2015). I point to the challenges such an approach encounters, and offer suggestions how to address them. Reflexive law approaches to (...) legislation (Farber 1994, Hess 1999, Orts 1994, Farmer & Teubner 1994) acknowledge the limits of law as an instrument to realize social or political goals, and stress the need to encourage self-reflection and transparency among stakeholders through procedural rather than ‘command-and-control’ legislation. Typical reflexive law instruments involve disclosure, reporting, and labelling. Examining the Action Plan, I show that the main legislative instruments it puts forward are reflexive. I use empirical and theoretical work that challenges the effectiveness of some of these instruments. Drawing on recent work from behavioural economics I suggest that these problems may be overcome once we integrate more fully in reflexive law what it means for people ‘reflectively’ to recruit evidence and gather knowledge, and once we appreciate the value knowledge has over and above mere belief. My argument here is not so much to the effect that more interventionist regulatory tools are needed (they are dearly needed, but that is not the point here). Rather I argue that once a regulator opts for a reflexive law approach, a richer notion of information should be deployed. I call this ‘epistemic’ instead of ‘reflexive’ law. The Chapter gives some background information about the Action Plan, introduces the core ideas of reflexive law, shows how the Action Plan is reflexive law par excellence, considers the challenges, and offers a few modest suggestions. (shrink)

This article offers a response to massive environmental destabilization by linking the promising accounts of intergenerational justice as turn-taking with the proposals for a geokinetic view of earth and the idea of a second Copernican revolution. The argument will proceed in four steps. First, I suggest that recent proposals calling on us to respond to the Anthropocene by ‘being geologically human’, that is, by situating lived human time in geological time, should be supplemented by generational time, and thus, by the (...) ethics of human generations following one another. To conceptualize intergenerational justice, I review the proposals for human generations taking turns with the earth. I then suggest that, however, the earth is not an external, exchangeable object of turn-taking (as e.g. a bicycle would be). Rather than being an object that we may choose to use or not, earth is constitutive of generations being able to come about and take turns in the first place. In this constitutive sense, earth also takes turns with us. To further specify this idea, I discuss the so-called ‘second Copernican revolution’, according to which the earth not only moves around the sun, but is internally on the move, its geokinetic processes co-constituting human generations. If the argument goes through, the environmental crises in our very midst should be understood as demanding a reconceptualization of time as always already intergenerational and space as counter-Copernican. (shrink)

Demonstrates the fertility of the phenomenological tradition of philosophy for intergenerational justice and climate ethics.--In the face of the current environmental crisis, relations with future people—overlapping generations and more distant ones—have moved to the top of political and scholarly agendas. The anthology proposed here seeks to demonstrate the enormous fertility of philosophical phenomenology in accounting for relations among different generations. This is due to phenomenology’s rich reflections on the role of time in the constitution of the social-historical world and its (...) relation to the environment. The volume will boast 11 chapters from different authors across the spectrum of phenomenological currents and subfields, from Husserl and Heidegger to Jonas, Merleau-Ponty and Levinas. A connecting thread will be the relations among mortality, natality, and generativity in connecting as well as separating generations. Authors will reflect on the social-ontological and normative significance of these connections, paying particular attention to political and environmental obligations to people living in the future. (shrink)

Water plants of all sizes, from the 60-meter long Pacific Ocean giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) to the micro ur-plant blue-green algae, deserve attention from critical plant studies. This is the first book in environmental humanities to approach algae, swimming across the sciences, humanities, and arts, to embody the mixed nature and collaborative identity of algae. Ranging from Medieval Islamic texts describing algae and their use, Japanese and Nordic cultural practices based in seaweed and algae, and confronting the instrumentalization of seaweed (...) to mitigate cow methane release and the hype of algal photobioreactors, amongst many other standpoints, this volume comprehensively addresses the ancestors of terrestrial plants through appreciating their unique aquatic medium. (shrink)

[Book Review] Joseph Heath sometimes plays the role of a gadfly in climate and environmental ethics. He often defends conventional, economics-focused claims which rub many philosophers the wrong way—claims that are at the heart of issues raised in these pages, claims such as that discounting is justifiable, growth is good, or cost-benefit analysis is appropriate in liberal democracies. I think we can all agree that sophisticated defences of conventional positions play an important part in the ecosystem. For philosophers, a gadfly (...) can challenge entrenched conceptions. If we agree that these goals are worthwhile, then this book serves as a useful summary and synthesis of the ways Heath has ably defended conventional claims about climate policy. (shrink)

One branch of the responsible innovation literature involves the direction of innovation: if the public or decision-makers can or should direct innovation, how should innovation be directed? This paper explicates a case study where directionality – the plurality of plausible values for innovation – is directly implicated. In this case, a key technology may require a strategy for innovation, but there are contrasting normative reasons to drive that innovation in different ways, reflecting two distinct moral values, ‘effectiveness’ and responsiveness to (...) ‘need’. In this case, carbon dioxide removal, these values may well conflict. Strategically deploying carbon dioxide removal in a cost-effective manner would tend to support siting it in regions where there are significant oil and gas operations. In contrast, strategically deploying carbon dioxide removal in response to need would tend to support siting it in regions where expected demand for the technology is required for development. [Open access]. (shrink)

Los cuatro capítulos que constituyen los dos bloques temáticos de este libro se presuponen y complementan, estableciendo un diálogo fluido. El primer bloque se centra tanto en la pregunta amplia por lo que significa ser un animal racional entre animales, como por la pregunta sobre el lugar de privilegio desde el cual el animal racional humano ha transformado y destruido la naturaleza en nombre del progreso y la civilización. Entender el modo en que el ser humano se ha olvidado de (...) sí mismo como animal en el proceso histórico de dominación, negando e inhibiendo sus emociones, y el modo en que ha reducido al resto de los animales y a la naturaleza a un producto de sus deseos e intereses egoístas, es fundamental para mirar más allá de lo que creemos ser como especie y para reinterpretar nuestro lugar en el mundo. Ampliar nuestra visión ética a partir del mundo animal como un espejo en el cual nos reflejamos, devela la función de una nueva ética, así como de sentimientos y emociones que contribuyen a nuestro crecimiento moral en medio de la crisis. El segundo bloque retoma la crisis ecosocial desde una doble perspectiva inherente al devenir y función de las ciencias ambientales en particular, y al devenir social en general. Disrupciones, bloqueos, negación y empobrecimiento espiritual caracterizan a un todo social nihilista que avanza lentamente frente a la crisis. Aunque las ciencias ambientales develan en general la crisis material de nuestra época a través de un análisis objetivo de los diversos modos de daños que hemos ocasionado en la estabilidad del planeta, y aunque las ciencias del comportamiento y las ciencias humanas ofrecen criterios para una apropiación crítica de los modos en que nos relacionamos con nosotros mismos y con la naturaleza externa, una pérdida de sentido epistemológico y existencial generalizado, y arraigado en nuestra cultura neoliberal, retrasa las acciones necesarias para no agravar la crisis y permitir que nuevos valores morales, científicos, económicos, políticos y sociales emerjan. Desde ambos bloques dialogamos sobre la gravedad de la crisis, manteniendo un espacio para la esperanza porque coincidimos en que no podemos negar que sigue dependiendo de nosotros dejar que el miedo nos mueva ya sea de la parálisis a la acción liberadora, ya sea de la parálisis al caos y la destrucción. (shrink)

This commentary examines the role of sustainability in the latest draft of the WHO pandemic accord, highlighting its notable absence from the official list of guiding principles despite being mentioned frequently throughout the text. It argues that sustainability should be explicitly acknowledged as a core principle and given a clear definition tailored to pandemic preparedness, and proposes defining sustainability as ensuring that immediate emergency responses don't compromise future pandemic preparedness and response capabilities. Including sustainability as a guiding principle would serve (...) two key purposes: validating the relevance of ethical principles in the accord's provisions and emphasizing the importance of long-term planning in pandemic preparedness. The commentary notes that while humans naturally discount future consequences, sustainable pandemic planning requires considering impacts beyond the next pandemic. It recommends coupling any reforms, such as intellectual property changes, with alternative innovation incentives to maintain a balanced approach to pandemic preparedness and response. (shrink)

We claim the climate crisis is the proper baseline for establishing the terms of debate about the viability of a post-work future. In this paper, we aim to assess the viability of a post-work future in which automation replaces a significant portion of human labor. We do this by laying out the possible outcomes of what such a future will look like based on three related axes: technological capacity, politics and social distribution, and alternative conceptions of the good. The purpose (...) in tracking these outcomes is to have a clear picture of those outcomes we should be pursuing in contrast to those we ought to avoid. Put another way, to achieve a post-work future that is egalitarian in character will require ensuring that technological capacity is used to improve the prospects for all humanity. The argument proceeds along the following lines. First, we summarize the scientific consensus about the causes and consequences of climate change, as well as the tools of mitigation and adaptation it recommends. The causes are primarily rooted in the global system of production and consumption that has developed over the last century. We refer to this pattern of development as the “Growth Model” since it primarily relies on energy created from burning fossil fuels and the exponential consumption of resources to promote more growth (Rose 2020). Second, we construct a range of possible outcomes regarding the climate crisis that are based on different trajectories of development. We do so by examining each of two cases located on the poles of three different axes. These axes include technology, political organization and social distribution, and conceptions of the good, yielding eight possible outcomes. The point of considering these cases and how they intersect along these axes is two-fold: to clarify the features that define them and compare their merits and drawbacks, enabling us to formulate the means for avoiding some outcomes and strive for others. Third, we then consider the viability of a post-work future in terms of these outcomes. Some of these outcomes point in a direction where automation replaces labor, and its benefits are shared widely. Others indicate a future in which some groups benefit at the expense of others, while some appear to preclude the emergence of such a future altogether. Finally, we conclude with some observations about the viability of a post-work future given our evaluation of these outcomes. (shrink)

Eco-Rational Education proposes an educational response to climate change, environmental degradation, and desctructive human relations to ecology through the delivery of critical land-responsive environmental education. -/- The book argues that education is a powerful vehicle for both social change and cultural reproduction. It proposes that the prioritisation and integration of environmental education across the curriculum is essential to the development of ecologically rational citizens capable of responding to the environmental crisis and an increasingly changing world. Using philosophical analysis, particularly environmental (...) philosophy, pragmatism, and ecofeminism, the book develops an understanding of contemporary issues in education, especially inquiry-based learning as pedagogy, diversifying knowledge, environmental and epistemic justice, climate change education, and citizenship education. -/- Eco-Rational Education will be of interest to researchers and post-graduate students of social and political philosophy, educational philosophy, as well as environmental philosophy, ethics, and teacher education. (shrink)

While there is agreement on the need to improve sustainability in university hospitals, there are strong differences of opinion on how such goals interact with responsibilities of the medical profession, including research activities. To facilitate sustainability transitions in university hospitals, we need to gain a better understanding of the multiple incentive structures and ethical responsibilities related to sustainability that influence the physicians working there. Furthermore, there needs to be greater awareness and systematic consideration of the health co-benefits of sustainability transitions. (...) Both are necessary to prevent the sustainability agendas in hospital settings from becoming deadlocked due to disagreements over priorities and implementation, despite initial consensus in principle. (shrink)

Règle générale, les éthiciens et éthiciennes du climat développent des arguments centrés sur la juste distribution des ressources atmosphériques et des droits d’émissions dans les structures politiques de l’atténuation des changements climatiques. En revanche, les dispositifs éthiques permettant de guider les choix difficiles des différentes parties prenantes locales confrontées aux défis de l’adaptation aux changements climatiques demeurent largement négligés à ce jour. Afin de remédier à cette lacune, cet article vise à examiner les enjeux éthiques et normatifs d’un terrain en (...) particulier, soit la commune de Guttannen, en Suisse, déjà sévèrement vulnérabilisée par les répercussions des perturbations climatiques. Pour ce faire, deux modélisations d’éthique pratique seront mises à profit dans la présente analyse, soit l’éthique environnementale pragmatiste et le principalisme méthodologique (Voisard et Wallimann-Helmer, 2023). En nous inspirant de ces deux approches éthiques, nous souhaitons offrir des avenues pertinentes au développement d'outils d'analyse éthique capables d’informer et d’accompagner la gouvernance climatique locale. (shrink)

Humans ought to do much more in order to remedy the severe harm caused by climate change. While there seems to be an overall consensus that governments and other national and international political agents need to resolve the problem, there is no agreement yet on the role and responsibility of individuals in this process. In this paper, I suggest an argument of integrity that offers strong pro tanto moral reasons for individuals to reduce their personal greenhouse gas emissions. Hourdequin (2010) (...) has presented an argument of integrity to justify a corresponding obligation. In this paper, I argue that even though Hourdequin’s argument is appealing, it has important limitations. I advance the argument in light of the current literature so that it is not subject to these limitations and establishes an overall more comprehensive justification for why individuals ought to reduce their personal emissions. (shrink)

We uncover a largely unnoticed and unaddressed problem in conservation research: arguments built within studies are sometimes defective in more fundamental and specific ways than appreciated, because they misrelate values and empirical matters. We call this the unraveled rope problem because just as strands of rope must be properly and intricately wound with each other so the rope supports its load, empirical aspects and value aspects of an argument must be related intricately and properly if the argument is to objectively (...) support its conclusion. By characterizing this problem with precision, our study differs from but complements existing studies of value issues in conservation science, in two ways. First, it focuses on key relationships between empirical issues and value issues, relations that have sometimes been obscured by focusing on these issues more independently of each other. Second, it focuses on these relationships within arguments and deploys a method of argument analysis and evaluation honed in other fields but under-utilized in conservation science. By combining our study's novel features, we detail six families of argument defect that exemplify the unraveled rope problem within existing literature. These defects sometimes manifest within basic research stages, rather than just in more applied downstream stages where roles for values are already obvious to many. As scientific reasoning and communication become increasingly important for addressing society's greatest environmental challenges, overcoming the unraveled rope problem will be essential to the success and integrity of conservation research. Therefore, we also outline potential solutions, preventative measures, and useful further work for conservation researchers. (shrink)

In this chapter, we will first argue that current practices in CBE are framed within the market or economic logic and miss the normative dimension of the call for circularity. The transition to the CBE requires a fundamental reflection on the role of economic actors in the social and ecological environment with significant consequences for their business practices. Second, we will argue that the transition to the CBE requires the acknowledgement of the normative and social dimensions of this transition at (...) the meso and macro levels, and the establishment of an environmental and social logic on the micro level of business practices. Third, we will argue that the concept of responsible innovation (RI) can help to articulate the normative and social dimensions of the transition to the CBE, and enables the operationalisation of the environmental and social logic at the micro level. In this respect, RI can be understood as a driver for the transition to the CBE. (shrink)

American philosopher Wilfrid Sellars (1962) once said that “the aim of philosophy, abstractly formulated, is to understand how things in the broadest possible sense hang together in the broadest possible sense.” My main question is this: within the context of contemporary sustainability science, how does the concept of ‘sustainability’ in the broadest possible sense of the concept hang together in the broadest possible sense? I will answer this question by advancing two new explicative definitions of sustainability that jointly constitute a (...) unifying concept of sustainability. This meta-level concept accommodates most of the central meanings conventionally assigned to ‘sustainability’ by sustainability scientists and scholars, offers a useful division of labor between scientists and scholars, and makes explicit value judgements commonly associated with the concept of sustainability. (shrink)

In this short book review, I summarize the main themes of The Virtues of Sustainability and assess its strengths and weaknesses as a collection of interdisciplinary essays. While its usefulness as a teaching text may be limited, I conclude that it is an excellent scholarly resource for those working at the intersection of virtue ethics and environmental sustainability.