Moral Language in Climate Politics

Abstract

First edition. "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."-- Climate change and non-ideal theory : six ways of responding to non-compliance / Simon Caney -- A climate of disorder : what to do about the obstacles to effective climate politics / Aaron Maltais -- Difference-making and individuals' climate-related obligations / Holly Lawford-Smith -- Reducing injustice within the bounds of motivation / Dominic Roser -- Taking UNFCCC norms seriously / Darrel Moellendorf -- Justice and choice of legal instrument under the Durban mandate : ideal and not so ideal legal forms / Peter Lawrence -- Emissions trading schemes in a 'non-Ideal' world / Jonathan Aldred -- A responsible path : advancing a full-participation climate regime through enhanced action on short-lived climate pollutants / Andrew Light and Gwynne Taraska -- Climate justice for LDCs through global decisions / Achala Abeysinghe and Saleemul Huq -- A free movement passport for the territorially dispossessed / Clare Heyward and Jorgen Odalen -- Aristotle on the ethics of communicating climate change / Melissa Lane and Michael Lamb -- Moral language in climate politics / Jonathan Pickering -- The costs of moralizing : how about a 'government house climate ethics'? / Christian Seidel -- Principles or pathways? Improving the contribution of philosophical ethics to climate policy / Martin Kowarsch and Ottmar Edenhofer.