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Is climate change an ethical issue? Examining young adults’ beliefs about climate and morality

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  • Ezra Markowitz

Abstract

Moral philosophers argue that climate change poses an ‘ethical problem’ for humanity and thus that humans have moral obligations to respond. Little empirical research has explored whether non-philosophers agree with these conclusions. This is unfortunate, because non-experts’ moral intuitions (or lack thereof) about climate change likely hold important implications for willingness to engage cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally with the issue. After reviewing the moral philosophical position on climate change, I present results of two studies conducted with a total of 922 U.S. undergraduate students that explored beliefs about the ‘ethics of climate change.’ Forty-five percent of the students sampled stated unequivocally that climate change represents a moral or ethical issue; a full quarter of students said it was not an ethical issue and roughly 30% were unsure. Participants’ beliefs regarding the causes of climate change were predictive of intentions to perform pro-environmental actions, and this relationship was fully mediated by ascriptions of personal moral obligation to respond. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

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  • Ezra Markowitz, 2012. "Is climate change an ethical issue? Examining young adults’ beliefs about climate and morality," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 479-495, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:114:y:2012:i:3:p:479-495
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-012-0422-8
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    1. Dieter Helm, 2008. "Climate-change policy: why has so little been achieved?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 24(2), pages 211-238, Summer.
    2. Ezra M. Markowitz & Azim F. Shariff, 2012. "Climate change and moral judgement," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(4), pages 243-247, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lei Zhang & Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Jing Gao, 2024. "Climate Change Social Norms and Corporate Cash Holdings," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(3), pages 661-683, March.
    2. Aikaterini Zerva & Evangelos Grigoroudis & Evangelia Karasmanaki & Georgios Tsantopoulos, 2021. "Multiple criteria analysis of citizens’ information and trust in climate change actions," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 7706-7727, May.
    3. Matthew J. Hornsey & Kelly S. Fielding & Emily A. Harris & Paul G. Bain & Tim Grice & Cassandra M. Chapman, 2022. "Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, March.
    4. Jonathon P. Schuldt & Adam R. Pearson & Rainer Romero-Canyas & Dylan Larson-Konar, 2017. "Brief exposure to Pope Francis heightens moral beliefs about climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 167-177, March.
    5. Brock Bastian & Airong Zhang & Kieren Moffat, 2015. "The Interaction of Economic Rewards and Moral Convictions in Predicting Attitudes toward Resource Use," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-9, August.
    6. Zachary A. Wendling & Shahzeen Z. Attari & Sanya R. Carley & Rachel M. Krause & David C. Warren & John A. Rupp & John D. Graham, 2013. "On the Importance of Strengthening Moderate Beliefs in Climate Science to Foster Support for Immediate Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(12), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Jialing Huang & Janet Z. Yang & Haoran Chu, 2022. "Framing Climate Change Impacts as Moral Violations: The Pathway of Perceived Message Credibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-19, April.
    8. Amanda Rikner Martinsson & Maria Ojala, 2024. "Patterns of climate-change coping among late adolescents: Differences in emotions concerning the future, moral responsibility, and climate-change engagement," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(8), pages 1-21, August.

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