Call for Participation
Climate Ethics And Climate Economics: Risk, Uncertainty and Catastrophe Scenarios
Workshop at the University of Cambridge
Convened by Simon Beard (with Kai Spiekermann), supported by the ESRC, in partnership with the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk
8-10 May 2017
Accompanied by public lectures given by Professor Doyne Farmer and Professor Hilary Greaves on the evenings of the 8th and 10th of May.
The fifth of six ESRC-funded workshops on Climate Ethics and Climate Economics.
We are now looking for participants.
Confirmed Speakers
Matthew Rendall (University of Nottingham)
John Halstead (University of Oxford)
Elizabeth Baldwin (University of Oxford)
Doyne Farmer (Oxford Martin School)
Tina Sikka (University of Newcastle)
Iñaki San Pedro (University of the Basque Country)
Eike Düvel (University of Graz)
Hilary Greaves (Future of Humanity Institute)
Mariam Thalos (University of Utah)
Kieran Marray (University of Oxford)
Workshop Description
Some scholars, most notably Martin Weitzman (2009; 2011) have warned that there is an uncertain chance of runaway climate change that could devastate the planet. At least since Hans Jonas’s The Imperative of Responsibility (1981), some have argued that even low-probability existential risks should be treated in a fundamentally different way. How should we act when we believe that there is some chance of a catastrophe, but cannot make reliable probability estimates (Elster 1979; Haller 2002; Gardiner 2005)? How much should we worry about worst-case scenarios? What should we do when experts disagree about whether catastrophe is possible?
Papers will be pre-circulated, with short presentations and comments from discussants.
Please pre-register here.