Bradford Seminar: “Justice Considerations in Climate Research”

Kian Mintz-Woo, senior lecturer of philosophy at University of Cork, Ireland, will present “Justice Considerations in Climate Research.” This seminar will be held in-person (PUID holders only) and available via livestream (open to all). We use the term “justice” in many climate contexts (e.g. “just transition”)—and indeed in a variety of other political and policy contexts (e.g. “social justice”). What does it mean? In this talk, I break down some common forms of justice from a philosophical point of view in order to inform climate science and policy. The goal is to have a flexible, modular, but powerful framework that makes discussions of justice accessible and practically applicable. This presentation is based on recent co-authored work and finding applications for it is the primary motivation for my current visit to Princeton. Mintz-Woo is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Philosophy at University College Cork (Ireland). He is also affiliated with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis’ Equity and Justice group (Austria). This semester, Mintz-Woo is a Visiting Fellow at Princeton’s University Center for Human Values. Mintz-Woo is also a member of the Irish Government’s Carbon Budgets’ Working Group, helping to propose and support national planning. He works primarily on moral philosophy, both theoretical and applied to climate policy. Some of his recent work has focused on questions related to carbon prices including carbon taxes; loss and damage in the post-Paris climate policy space; justice aspects of shared socioeconomic pathways and just transitions; and the ethics of carbon dioxide removal.