Rethinking climate responsibility : from theory to measurement to practice
Type
doctoral thesis
Date Issued
2022-09-19
Author(s)
Abstract
This PhD thesis sets out to rethink climate responsibility in line with a new Economic Activity Principle. The Economic Activity Principle holds that agents should be viewed as climate responsible for and in proportion to their economic emissions that are A) inconsistent with a sustainability threshold, B) emitted above an economic capability threshold, and C) emitted after a knowledge threshold. The sustainability threshold follows from the Paris Agreements temperature limits which aim to prevent dangerous climate change. The economic capability threshold aims to protect the goals of equity and development. And the knowledge threshold ensures that once there is agreement on sufficient knowledge, ignorance can no longer serve as justification for evading climate responsibility. The Economic Activity Principle is designed here such that the resulting climate responsibility concept derives from and serves the central goals of effectiveness and equity in the international climate governance regime. I identify the national level of agency as the appropriate level for bearing climate responsibility as nations are the only agents capable of simultaneously fulfilling all climate responsibility requirements developed and defended here. Overall, the thesis provides a normatively defensible, practically useful, and empirically measurable concept of climate responsibility. Its results show that current ways of thinking about climate responsibility based on countries territorial emissions misrepresent climate responsibility by placing undue burdens on poorer and predominantly export-oriented countries.
Abstract (De)
This PhD thesis sets out to rethink climate responsibility in line with a new Economic Activity Principle. The Economic Activity Principle holds that agents should be viewed as climate responsible for and in proportion to their economic emissions that are A) inconsistent with a sustainability threshold, B) emitted above an economic capability threshold, and C) emitted after a knowledge threshold. The sustainability threshold follows from the Paris Agreements temperature limits which aim to prevent dangerous climate change. The economic capability threshold aims to protect the goals of equity and development. And the knowledge threshold ensures that once there is agreement on sufficient knowledge, ignorance can no longer serve as justification for evading climate responsibility. The Economic Activity Principle is designed here such that the resulting climate responsibility concept derives from and serves the central goals of effectiveness and equity in the international climate governance regime. I identify the national level of agency as the appropriate level for bearing climate responsibility as nations are the only agents capable of simultaneously fulfilling all climate responsibility requirements developed and defended here. Overall, the thesis provides a normatively defensible, practically useful, and empirically measurable concept of climate responsibility. Its results show that current ways of thinking about climate responsibility based on countries territorial emissions misrepresent climate responsibility by placing undue burdens on poorer and predominantly export-oriented countries.
Language
English
Keywords
Klimaänderung
Politische Philosophie
Wirtschaftsphilosophie
EDIS-5223
economic philosophy
political philosophy
Klimaökonomie
climate justice
Klimawandel
Climate responsibility
climate change
climate economics
Klimaverantwortung
HSG Classification
not classified
HSG Profile Area
None
Publisher
Universität St. Gallen
Publisher place
St.Gallen
Official URL
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
267341
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
Dis5223.pdf
Size
12.08 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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