As of: March 16, 2024, 10:26 a.m
By: Felicitas Breschendorf
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Political actors and companies should treat future generations more fairly in the climate crisis.
“Waiting is not ethically justifiable.”
The climate crisis is above all a crisis of the future: those who are young today are likely to suffer the most from the consequences.
Make yourself right
Almost half of 12 to 13 year olds and 16 to 18 year olds are very worried about climate change, as a survey (2022) by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows.
Is it therefore unfair if society does nothing about it?
The German Ethics Council in Berlin asked itself the question.
The answer from medical ethicist and council chairwoman Alena Buyx is clear: “In view of the serious effects of climate change on the livelihoods of younger and future generations, waiting, stalling and delaying cannot be ethically justified.” Not only because young people are most affected, but also also because they are excluded from relevant political decision-making processes.
For example, minors cannot vote.
Those who have not yet been born can make even less decisions.
Ethicists agree that young people are being treated unfairly in the climate crisis.
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Ethics Council describes CO2 storage (CCS) as a “postponement”
The Council calls on political decision-makers to pay more attention to the interests of young people in the climate crisis.
For example, that's why he rejects the
CO₂ storage (CCS), which Robert Habeck (Greens) is calling for, among others.
This is the name of a process in which CO₂ is removed from the air and stored externally.
To ensure this, special storage facilities must be built – similar to a final storage facility for nuclear waste.
The Ethics Council warns that future generations would most likely be confronted with the stored CO₂.
“You have to make sure that such solutions are not just a delay and may help for a few decades, but then put a burden on future generations,” says Armin Grunwald.
He is a physicist, philosopher and spokesman for the German Ethics Council.
The Federal Environment Agency also considers CCS to be “not a panacea for climate protection”.
“Climate-friendly action is difficult and sometimes unreasonable”
Who should protect young people from the climate crisis?
“Every person has a moral responsibility to help tackle climate change,” says Grunwald.
“Otherwise, our freedom today will unfairly come at the expense of the freedom of other people who are worse off here, in countries in the global south or of young and future generations.”
Specifically, we are called upon to reflect on our way of life and, if possible, change it.
In reality, the individual obligation that the Ethics Council is proposing here is often difficult to implement: those who live in rural areas, for example, often cannot simply switch to public transport because many places can only be reached by car.
The Ethics Council is also aware of this.
“Climate-friendly action is still difficult and sometimes unreasonable because there are still no good alternatives to existing ways of life,” says Grunwald.
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Companies have an ethical obligation in the face of the climate crisis
The Ethics Council would like to make political actors – from local authorities to federal politicians – more accountable.
They are intended to “create regulations, incentives and alternatives”.
But the Council sees responsibility not only for the state and the individual, but also for so-called collective actors: non-profit organizations and associations, health care providers, and companies.
This particularly affects companies “that are large and produce a lot of emissions,” emphasizes Buyx.
When asked whether this also affected the Tesla factory, which is currently being criticized for high water consumption, the Ethics Council did not provide any precise information.
There was recently an arson attack at the Tesla factory.
In addition, according to the Ethics Council, “intergovernmental understanding and cooperation must be strengthened”.
Current international crises, such as the war in Ukraine or Gaza, are of course standing in the way.
The Ethics Council says: “We are aware that this is difficult at the moment, but it still has to be done.”