5.3.8.6 Ethics of GHG Mitigation: the Commons Dilemma
There are several important ethical dilemmas both in the public discourse and
in most people’s minds regarding GHG mitigation. Essentially, they boil
down to questions about human relationship with nature, about justice and equity
between human beings, and about the nature of the “good life” (Michaelis,
2000b). In modern society, images of and narratives about the good life often
emphasize individual independence and material well-being. These values may
appear to conflict with messages about the interdependence of people around
the world and the need to moderate the consumption of natural resources.
In addition to the perceived conflict with improving material wellbeing, ethical
arguments for GHG mitigation face several barriers including the perceived weakness
of the evidence that climate change is happening; the difficulty in understanding
the risks associated with low-probability extreme weather events; the difficulty
in tracing climate change impacts to particular emitters of GHGs; and the large
physical and social distance between GHG emitters and victims of climate change
(Pawlik, 1991). It seems that people are inclined to deny and remain passive
about about those kinds of environmental nuisances and risks that they believe
to be uncontrollable (Pawlik, 1990). From an institutional perspective, the
“commons” dilemma charaterizes situations in which people are unable
to co-operate to achieve collective benefits, because they are unable to change
the rules affecting their perverse incentives; these incentives are themselves
institution-dependent (Ostrom, 1990; Ostrom et al., 1993). Current climate may
be seen as an infrastructure which is used jointly by many people, which is
subject to many decision makers, including some in the public sector, and whose
benefits and costs are perceived differently by different people because these
are borne by many people who do not take the protection decisions. Lack of clear
limits on using up resources such as current climate generates costs (climate
change) on all participants through unsustainable exploitation because GHG concentrations
and, therefore, current climate are stocks like fish and timber. Complex institutional
arrangements are required to overcome perverse incentives (Ostrom et al., 1993).
Commons dilemmas reflect persistent conflicts among (not between) many individuals
(producers and consumers).
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