Humanity is in real trouble…
Environmental degradation is putting pressure on our ecosystems, economies, political organisations and households. Our failure to act responsibly is placing present and future generations at risk, and driving deeper divisions in our societies. To survive, we all must embrace our common humanity and unify to tackle global threats. There is no more room for a business-as-usual approach. Time, resources and opportunities are running out.
Many of us know this, but there’s something amiss. We all feel like we are ‘good’, and yet when it comes to climate action, very few of us can really claim to be doing enough.
“The dominant discourses about the nature of the climate threat are scientific and economic. But the deepest challenge is ethical.”
CGC#1: Climate Ethics
CGC#1 brought citizens, experts, public and private sector leaders, and other opinion-shapers together to talk about the risks we face, identify root causes, ask penetrating questions about our ethical duties, and build consensus around what practical choices produce effective solutions. A wide variety of climate issues were discussed with a focus on deploying ethics and ethical thinking a lens. Solutions came up, as did problems, but the event was held in the spirit of discussion and exploration, not debate. CGC#1: Climate Ethics sought to pinpoint and understand key decision-making settings where unethical choices stand in the way of climate change solutions.
The event included:
An examination of the moral underpinnings of action on climate
Case studies of solutions viewed through ethical lenses - food, ‘geoengineering’ and more
A focus on key decision-making processes requiring closer scrutiny with ethics as a framework
Discussions about the role of ethics in markets and economic climate calculations
The Ethics of geoengineering - should we do it, who is “we”, and how should it be governed?
The discussion featured, ethicists, scientists, activists, governance experts, philanthropists, members of XR and geoengineers, as well as policy and economics experts. Key questions covered included: What does ethical leadership look like in the face of climate breakdown? What responsibility do we have to younger / future generations?
CGC#1: Climate Ethics will take place at the beautiful Intellectual Forum, Jesus College, Cambridge
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(Banner image - Abbie Trayler-Smith; UK DFID)