Climate Ethics Session 4 | Prof. Simon Caney 'Power, Political Responsibilities and Climate Change'

To access the handout for this talk, please click here:

Join us for the fourth and final session in this series with Professor Simon Caney on "Power, Political Responsibilities and Climate Change"!

This University of Oxford, Faculty of Philosophy series brings together some of the world’s leading experts in climate ethics — John Broome, Megan Blomfield, Henry Shue and Simon Caney — to showcase the latest and cutting edge work in the area. These talks are all accessible on the Oxford Climate Society's YouTube Channel.

Abstract: Tackling climate change and the transition to a zero carbon economy requires a radical transformation of the social, economic and political institutions that structure our lives. It calls for the overhaul of our cities, towns, and buildings and infrastructure; putting a price on carbon; investing in clean energy and facilitating clean energy transfer; and the re-evaluation of existing practices and social norms. It is also imperative that this transition is a just one, one in which any burdens are borne by those with the greatest ability to pay. All this requires concerted political action.

But what kind of political action is required? Who has what political responsibilities to bring about this change? What political responsibilities do you or I have? What are the sources of these responsibilities? Political action requires coalitions and cooperation with others, but then this raises further questions that arise from membership of a political movement. What form should such political cooperation take? What responsibilities do people have as political actors? Do we have a duty to temper our view and compromise in the interests of effectiveness or out of respect for others? What epistemic responsibilities do agents have? How do we go about answering such questions?

My aim in this talk is to provide some answers to these questions. I argue that Erik Olin Wright's theory of social transformation provides a fruitful framework for thinking about these issues. With this in mind, and drawing on the social scientific work on the politics of carbon, energy and energy transitions, I outline an account of agents' political responsibilities.

Convened by Alice Evatt