Collective Action & Climate Change

Nevin Chellappah says we can't dodge responsibility by our effects being small.

- By Nevin Chellappah

A common response climate activists face when they ask people to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions is: “My individual emissions make no difference to the harms done by climate change, so I have no moral reason to reduce my emissions.” This argument is problematic given the current threat climate change poses for our lives, for it could lead to apathy and defeatism about the climate crisis. It raises the problem of collective impact, which concerns how the aggregation of individually inconsequential actions can produce a morally bad outcome overall.

First, I shall formally set out the argument against us having a moral reason to reduce our individual emissions. Then, I'll argue against the argument's first premise, demonstrating that individual emissions have nonzero expected effects on a chaotic weather system. Thereafter, I'll respond to an objection by arguing that the effects of individual emissions have an average negative value. Next, I'll reframe the argument using small nonzero expected effects before arguing against the second premise, suggesting that individual emissions worsen the effects of climate change experienced by individuals. Subsequently, I'll respond to another objection by suggesting that not having a marginal effect does not absolve you of responsibility for the overall outcome. Finally, I shall conclude that the argument that we have no moral reason to reduce our individual emissions is unsound.

We Have No Moral Reason to Reduce Our Emissions

The argument that we have no moral reason to reduce our emissions can be formally presented as:

P1. Individual emissions have zero expected effects on climate change.
P2. Zero expected effects on climate change cause no harm.
C1. Individual emissions do not cause harm.
P3. To have a moral reason to cut our emissions, individual emissions need to cause harm.
C2. Therefore, we have no moral reason to cut individual emissions.