Michel Bourban, Assistant Professor in Environmental Ethics in the Philosophy Section at the University of Twente, has been invited to present in the GrACE Climate Education Webinar Series. His presentation on October 10th will be on "Who should pay for climate change? Climate inequalities and injustices".
Abstract: Climate impacts such as more frequent and severe droughts, floods, and hurricanes raise costs that should be allocated fairly both nationally and internationally; climate policies to mitigate global emissions and adapt to climate impacts also raise costs that need to be fairly distributed. Which agent should do what and how therefore represents a key question of climate justice. In this presentation, I will give some elements of reply to this crucial question, pointing out the responsibilities of individual and collective agents and how these responsibilities can be fulfilled. I will also share some insights on how to teach climate justice-related content, touching upon the emerging topic of eco-anxiety and how it can be addressed though adequate communication in the classroom.
GrACE (“Green Europe: Active Citizenship and the Environment”) is a teacher training initiative in the field of civic education for the environment, funded by the European Union as part of the Jean Monnet programme. It offers a training and refresher course for in-service secondary school teachers in Europe, combining climate change insights with methodological expertise.
Short bio:
Michel Bourban is Assistant Professor in Environmental Ethics in the Philosophy Section at the University of Twente. His research line in moral and political philosophy, “Extending Justice and Citizenship”, aims at clarifying the demands of justice and citizenship in our aera of global environmental changes; it also investigates how these demands can guide just institutional reforms, steer responsible technological innovation, and encourage pro-environmental behaviour. He is involved in several research projects, especially the Horizon Re4Green project, which provides a framework for research and innovation to address overlapping issues in environmental ethics, climate ethics, and research ethics in the context of the European Green Deal, and the "Planetary Justice and Energy Transition Technologies" research project, which strengthens the normative foundations of the planetary justice framework and applies this framework to the energy transition.
