Very few moral philosophers have written on climate change. This is puzzling, for several reasons. First, many politicians and policy makers claim that climate change is not only the most serious environmental problem currently facing the world, but also one of the most important international problems per se. Second, many of those working in other disciplines describe climate change as fundamentally an ethical issue. Third, the problem is theoretically challenging, both in itself and in virtue of the wider issues it raises. Indeed, some have even gone so far as to suggest that successfully addressing climate change will require a fundamental paradigm shift in ethics.nnnnArguably, then, there is a strong presumption that moral philosophers should be taking climate change seriously. So, why the neglect? The most plausible explanation is that study of climate change is necessarily interdisciplinary, crossing boundaries between (at least) science, economics, law, and international relations. This fact not only creates an obstacle to philosophical work (since amassing the relevant information is both time-consuming and intellectually demanding) but also makes it tempting to assume that climate change is essentially an issue for others to resolve. Both factors contribute to the current malaise-and not just within philosophy, but in the wider community too.nnnnThe aims of this survey, then, will be twofold. First, it will try to overcome the interdisciplinary obstacle to some extent, by making the climate change issue more accessible to both philosophers and nonphilosophers alike. Second, by drawing attention to the ethical dimensions of the climate change problem, it will make the case that the temptation to defer to experts in other disciplines should be resisted. Climate change is fundamentally an ethical issue. As such, it should be of serious concern to both moral philosophers and humanity at large.
