Preventing Global Climate Change: A Report on Environmental Ethics and Policy
Written By Dr Joseph Moore
Preventing global climate change is currently the main item on our collective environmental agenda. I am certainly convinced of the need to reduce carbon emissions, restore carbon-sequestering ecosystems, generate renewable energy and develop more sustainable economic practices. Yet as I reflect on the nature of life and the history of the planet, it seems to me that mitigating or hopefully even undoing anthropogenic climate change is but a first step, an emergency measure in an environmental triage. If we do manage to stabilise the global climate, we will then face questions and issues of even longer-term environmental ethics and policy. Specifically, we will know how to push the global climate in any direction, towards higher or lower average temperatures and levels of atmospheric carbon, and with that knowledge and ability comes responsibility. Deciding how best to use this knowledge will require deciding how we want to relate to other forms of life, to the planet and to its ecosystems—or so I will suggest.
I do not have answers to these long-term questions, and they may not be as pressing as more immediate practical concerns, but here I want to begin to put some of these issues forward for discussion. We will (hopefully!) have to reckon with them eventually and being aware of them now might impact how we go about trying to prevent climate change in the present.
The Earth’s Climate and Natural Fluctuations
My reflections stem from the fact that the Earth’s climate changes without the influence of humans. Average global temperatures have been much lower and much, much higher than they are today (Fig. 1). And for at least 3.7 billion years of the Earth’s 4.5 billion-year history, life has found a way to change with it. The same environmental factors that most concern us today have been implicated in mass extinction events and adaptive radiation of new species: temperature, sea levels, oxygen, ozone, sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide. Global warming after large volcanic eruptions may have caused the dinosaurs to become ascendant; impact winter and the acidification of oceans and rainwater after the asteroid hit probably wiped them out and made room for mammals to diversify.
Fig. 1. Source: Michon Scott and Rebecca Lindsey, ‘What’s the hottest Earth’s ever been?’, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate.gov (https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-hottest-earths-ever-been). Originally adapted from Scott Wing and Paul Huber, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Some have cited these natural fluctuations to make the case that the current bout of rising global temperatures is not the result of human action and therefore not something we need to solve by changing our behaviour. This is not my point at all—quite the contrary. It is not an inexplicable coincidence that the millennia-long trend of gradual global cooling sharply reversed following the invention of the steam engine (Fig. 2). Human industrialisation appears to be having the global effect of massive volcanic eruptions without the volcanoes.
Fig. 2. Source: Ed Hawkins, ‘2019 years’, Climate Lab Book (https://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/2020/2019-years/).
What I am grappling with now is precisely that, as far as we can tell, humans are driving climate change, we know how we are doing so and, moreover, it seems well within our collective knowledge and power to push the global climate in either direction. Right now, the name of the game is reducing our carbon emissions as much as possible to minimize anthropogenic climate change, which is likely to be extremely harmful to many ecosystems, species and individuals, including many people, especially the worst-off. To undo existing damage and to avoid the extreme weather that we’ve been experiencing of late, it would be even better to return atmospheric carbon to pre-industrial levels by restoring and expanding carbon-sequestering ecosystems, like forests and wetlands, or capturing and storing carbon by artificial means.
The Significance of the Anthropocene
But suppose we did successfully undo anthropogenic climate change and returned the Earth to its pre-industrial cooling trajectory. And then suppose that inevitable natural forces began pushing the planet towards another ice age or towards another hot
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?
- SDG 13: Climate Action
- SDG 15: Life on Land
The article discusses the need to address climate change and its impact on ecosystems and species, which aligns with SDG 13. It also mentions the importance of understanding and adapting to natural climate change throughout Earth’s history, which relates to SDG 15 and the preservation of biodiversity.
2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?
- SDG 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
- SDG 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning
- SDG 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats
- SDG 15.9: By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies, and accounts
The article emphasizes the need to address climate change through resilience building, policy integration, and planning, which aligns with SDG 13.1 and SDG 13.2. It also highlights the importance of reducing habitat degradation and integrating ecosystem and biodiversity values into planning processes, which relate to SDG 15.5 and SDG 15.9.
3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?
- Indicator for SDG 13.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected people attributed to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
- Indicator for SDG 13.2: Number of countries that have communicated the establishment or operationalization of an integrated policy/strategy/plan which increases their ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change
- Indicator for SDG 15.5: Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type
- Indicator for SDG 15.9: Extent of integration of ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies, and accounts
The article does not explicitly mention indicators, but the identified targets can be measured using the indicators mentioned above. These indicators provide a quantitative way to track progress towards building resilience, integrating climate change measures, reducing habitat degradation, and integrating ecosystem and biodiversity values into planning processes.
Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 13: Climate Action | 13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters 13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning |
Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected people attributed to climate-related hazards and natural disasters Number of countries that have communicated the establishment or operationalization of an integrated policy/strategy/plan which increases their ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change |
| SDG 15: Life on Land | 15.5 Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats 15.9 By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies, and accounts |
Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type Extent of integration of ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies, and accounts |
Behold! This splendid article springs forth from the wellspring of knowledge, shaped by a wondrous proprietary AI technology that delved into a vast ocean of data, illuminating the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Remember that all rights are reserved by SDG Investors LLC, empowering us to champion progress together.
Source: blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk
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