Taking Responsibility for Climate Change

This book proposes that it is not only states and international bodies that have a responsibility to take action toward mitigating climate change. Other collective agents, such as corporations, need to also come onboard. Additionally, the book argues that climate change is not solely a problem for collective agents, but also for individuals, as they are members of collectives and groups of several kinds. Therefore, framing climate change responsibility exclusively from either the collective or the individual perspective leaves out something crucial: how we all are influenced by the collectives we belong to and how, in turn, collectives are influenced by individuals.

 

The focus of the book is on areas of climate change responsibility that are often left out of the picture or get too little attention in climate ethics, such as carbon inequality within countries. But why should any theoretical arguments about normative issues matter when we have a real-life climate crisis on our hands? Säde Hormio argues that ethical arguments have an important role in setting climate policy: they can highlight what values are at stake and help ground normative arguments in public deliberations.

"Säde Hormio’s Taking Responsibility for Climate Change goes beyond the prevailing assumption that either individual persons or nation-states must exhaust the primary agents to be held responsible for climate-related harm, developing an account of collective responsibility that identifies corporations, subnational governments, and manifold nongovernmental organizations as also responsible and thus necessarily a part of any just solution. In this concise and innovative book, Hormio effectively argues for an 'all hands on deck' approach to assigning climate change responsibility to a wider array of agents than is typically recognized, making the case that ethical analysis matters for complex policy problems like climate change." (Steve Vanderheiden, Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA)

 

"Säde Hormio makes an urgent case for action on climate change. As she explains, we need climate action from at least four quarters: frompowerful collective agents, from individual members of collective agents, from individual members of informal social groups, and from individuals in their private capacity. By interweaving philosophical argument with real-world examples, Hormio makes an important contribution to debates about collective responsibility for climate change." (Stephanie Collins, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Monash University, Australia)

"'All hands on deck!’ Hormio argues that climate change demands action at every level of society, from governments, organizations and groups of every size, down to individuals. Each of us has the responsibility to act and try to activate our governments and other organizations we are connected with. This inspiring book provides philosophical grounds to everyone for action and activism on climate change." (John Broome, Emeritus White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Oxford)

Säde Hormio is an Academy Research Fellow in Practical Philosophy at the University of Helsinki. She is also affiliated with the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm. Her research focuses on shared and collective responsibility.