Who is Responsible for Climate Change?

Co-hosted by the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (Charles Sturt University) and the Australian National University Centre for Moral, Social, and Political Theory
Friday 5 - Saturday 6 September 2014
Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, 10-12 Brisbane Avenue, Barton, ACT

While the ethics of climate change is well-worked territory, notions of responsibility and crucial questions about responsibility are often taken for granted and philosophers seldom train the spotlight on the conceptual complexity of responsibility itself in this context.  This workshop will explore whether in critically addressing a range of questions about responsibility for anthropogenic climate change we are required to challenge prevailing philosophical conceptions of responsibility as well as widely held assumptions about the conditions under which we are responsible for what we do or for what we do not prevent.  Focus questions include:

* Is our responsibility for climate change "common but differentiated"? On what bases might responsibility and responsibilities be differentiated?
* Who (or what) bears responsibility for climate change and who should take responsibility for ameliorating its harmful effects?
* Who are we responsible to?
* How might a focus on philosophical issues of responsibility be significant for the practical ethics of anthropogenic climate change?
* How might philosophical reflection on responsibility be relevant to the development and application of appropriate policy on climate change?

The workshop will be based on draft papers circulated in advance which all participants will be expected to have read.  Main speakers are:

Christian Barry       (Australian National University)
Garrett Cullity       (University of Adelaide)
Robyn Eckersley       (University of Melbourne)
Jeremy Moss           (University of Melbourne)
Timothy Mulgan        (University of Auckland)
Ingmar Persson        (Gothenburg University)
Janna Thompson        (La Trobe University)
Steven Vanderheiden   (University of Colorado (Boulder)/CAPPE (CSU))

Registration
There is no fee and lunches will be provided.  Participants will need to pay their own travel and accommodation, and for optional attendance at the workshop dinner on Friday 5 September.  A special conference accommodation rate of $175 per night is available through the organisers at the nearby Brassey Hotel.
As places will be limited, please contact Mary Walker ([email protected]) by 30 June to obtain a registration form.

Sponsorship
The workshop is co-sponsored by the Society for Applied Philosophy, CAPPE (CSU), and the ANU Centre for Moral, Social, and Political Theory (with support from the ARC Discovery Grant "Benefitting from Injustice").


Dr Mary Walker
Research Assistant
Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics