Toward a Virtue Based Ethic for Nonessential Greenhouse Gas Emissions
emissions have an outsized impact because they influence others. 5 John Nolt attempts to dismiss the perception of an individual’s emissions as negligibly small by calculating the expected harm of an American's lifetime GHG emissions (he estimates that the average American causes “serious suffering and/or death of two future people” from their GHG emissions). 6 Although there is no consensus on the material impact of individual emissions, this paper will operate with the understanding that an individual’s GHG emissions can do harm. There is also debate about the moral permissibility of subsistence emissions. Goran Duus-Otterstrom argues that while individual subsistence emissions are morally permissible, people have an obligation to “correct” for emitting them, either via offsets or financial contributions to adaptation and compensation initiatives. 7 However, most take a more lenient perspective, asserting the unconditional permissibility of subsistence emissions. 8 This paper will operate with the understanding that all subsistence emissions are morally permissible, and that the individual emitter is not independently responsible for correcting for associated harms. Although there is consensus that some groups and individuals bear more responsibility for implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, the division of responsibility is contentious. Differing levels of responsibility are often dictated by a laundry list of factors, including socioeconomic
5 Marion Hordequin, “Climate, Collective Action and Individual Ethical Obligations.” Environmental Values , no. 19 (4), 2010: 443 - 464. 6 James Nolt, “How Harmful Are the Average American's Greenhouse Gas Emissions?” in Ethics, Policy & Environment, (2011). 7 Göran Duus-Otterström, "Subsistence Emissions and Climate Justice," in British Journal of Political Science (2022). 8 Henry Shue, Climate Justice: Vulnerability and Protection , (Oxford University Press, 2014).
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