Description
This workshop aims to explore approaches to value diversity in climate economic models, in the context of both the urgency of climate policy, and increasing public contestation about appropriate solutions.The IPCC’s sixth assessment report highlights the unprecedented urgency of climate policies needed to limit warming to ‘well below’ 2C. The last few years have also seen sustained public pressure on policymakers to deliver ambitious climate policy, spurred on by protest movements such as Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion.
Debates about appropriately ambitious climate policies reflect diverse values, which may not be well expressed in official policy discourses or policy assessment. One key disagreement is the assumption that economic growth is necessary for ambitious climate policy, which features in most of climate economics but is controversial among some sectors of the public. The IPCC has made this issue explicit for the first time in its history in the Sixth Assessment Report, where Working Group III examines limitations of growth-based Integrated Assessment Models for wellbeing and environmental sustainability.
Model-specific assumptions in climate economics concerning uncertainty and risk also reflect certain values and disciplinary assumptions, but these may not reflect societal values concerning climate risk. It is unclear whether climate economics could integrate other societal values, or how this would affect model results.
The prevalence of value diversity is also a key finding of IPBES’ forthcoming Values Assessment, which finds a wider range of environmental values in society than are usually reflected in conservation policy. However, the diversity of environmental values remains a blind spot for climate economics and are yet to be considered by the IPCC.
In light of these issues, deliberation could improve the choice of normative assumptions in climate economics. Facilitating a deliberative learning process among decision-makers, researchers and citizens about policy alternatives and their effects may help reveal the diversity of normative perspectives, clarify the meaning of abstract values for policy, and increase the legitimacy of climate economics.
| Period | 2021 Jun 1 → 2022 Mar 31 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Workshop |
| Location | BERLIN, GermanyShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |