Ethics and strongthe Economiststrong What Climate Change Demands of Us.pdf

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE WORKING PAPER NO. 11-02 Ethics and the Economist: What Climate Change Demands of Us J. A. Nelson May 2011 Tufts University Medford MA 02155, USA /gdae This working paper is also available as an E3 (Economists for Equity and the Environment, /) White Paper. A revised version will be published in Ecological Economics . Copyright 2011 Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts University GDAE Working Paper No. 11-02: Ethics and the Economist: What Climate Change Demands of Us Abstract: Climate change is changing not only our physical world, but also our intellectual, social, and moral worlds. We are realizing that our situation is profoundly unsafe, interdependent, and uncertain. What, then, does climate change demand of us, as human beings and as economists? A discipline of economics based on Enlightenment notions of mechanism and disembodied rationality is not suited to present problems. This essay suggests three major requirements: first, that we take action; second, that we work together; and third, that we focus on avoiding the worst, rather than obtaining the optimal. The essay concludes with suggestions of specific steps that economists can take as researchers, teachers, and in our other roles. Keywords: climate change; ethics; catastrophe; uncertainty; interdependence; Enlightenment; responsibility; embodied reason 1 GDAE Working Paper No. 11-02: Ethics and the Economist: What Climate Change Demands of Us Ethics and the Economist: What Climate Change Demands of Us J. A. Nelson Climate change is ch