Skip to main content
SLU publication database (SLUpub)
Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2022

Libertarianism, Climate Change, and Individual Responsibility

Torpman, Olle

Abstract

Much has been written about climate change from an ethical view in general, but less has been written about it from a libertarian point of view in particular. In this paper, I apply the libertarian moral theory to the problem of climate change. I focus on libertarianism's implications for our individual emissions. I argue that (i) even if our individual emissions cause no harm to others, these emissions cross other people's boundaries, (ii) although the boundary-crossings that are due to our 'subsistence emissions' are implicitly consented to by others, there is no such consent to our 'non-subsistence emissions', and (iii) there is no independent justification for these emissions. Although offsetting would provide such a justification, most emitters do not offset their non-subsistence emissions. Therefore, these emissions violate people's rights, which means that they are impermissible according to libertarianism's non-aggression principle.

Keywords

Libertarianism; Non-aggression principle; Boundary-crossings; Individual emissions; Offsetting; Individual climate responsibility

Published in

Res Publica
2022, Volume: 28, number: 1, pages: 125-148
Publisher: SPRINGER

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Ethics

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-021-09514-3

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/112614