Ethical Stimulus for a Time of Climate Crisis

Responding to climate change while balancing other urgent priorities has become not only a technical, economic, and political challenge but a deeply human one. Central to meeting this challenge are socio-cultural and behavioral changes that—if implemented—have the potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in end-use sectors, such as buildings, land transport, and food, by up to 70 percent.

But despite a dramatic increase in climate commitments, strategies, and policies over the past decade, such changes remain elusive and implementation of action far from what is needed to ensure a safe, civilized, and prosperous future for humanity. To unlock deeper, faster, and more durable changes across diverse cultures, communities, and societies worldwide, urgently requires innovation.

Applied ethics—the practical use of moral reasoning in real-world contexts—offers promising potential to identify new pathways to motivate action at a deeper human level, catalyzing socio-cultural and behavioral changes to overcome division, broaden legitimacy, and trigger positive tipping points to normalize and accelerate implementation.

Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit. The views expressed within this report do not necessarily reflect the position of Carnegie Council.