| 1. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Cautious Utopias : Environmental goal-setting with long time frames
- 2015
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Ingår i: Ethics, Policy & Environment. - : Routledge. - 2155-0085 .- 2155-0093. ; 18:2, s. 187-201
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable development is a common goal in the public sector but may be difficult to implement due to epistemic uncertainties and required long time frames. This paper proposes that some of these problems can be solved by formulating cautious utopias, entailing a relationship between means and goals differing from both utopian and realistic goal-setting. Cautiously utopian goals are believed, but not certain, to be achievable and to remain desirable, but are open to future adjustments due to changing desires and/or factual circumstances. Quality criteria for such goals are suggested.
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| 2. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-
(författare)
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Cautiously utopian goals : Philosophical analyses of climate change objectives and sustainability targets
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, the framework within which long-term goals are set and subsequently achieved or approached is analyzed. Sustainable development and climate change are areas in which goals have tobe set despite uncertainties. The analysis is divided into the normative motivations for setting such goals, what forms of goals could be set given the empirical and normative uncertainties, and how tomanage doubts regarding achievability or values after a goal has been set.Paper I discusses a set of questions that moral theories intended to guide goal-setting should respond to. It is often claimed that existent normative theories provide only modest guidance regarding climate change, and consequently have to be revised or supplemented. Two such suggested revisions or supplements are analyzed in order to determine whether they provide such guidance.Paper II applies the deep ecological framework to survey the extent to which it can be utilized to discuss issues concerning the management of climate change. It is suggested that the deep ecological framework can provide guidance by establishing a normative framework and an analysis of how the overarching values and principles can be specified to be relevant for actions.Paper III is focused on normative political theory, and explicates the two dimensions of empirical and normative uncertainty. By applying recent discussions in normative political theory on ideal/non-ideal theory, political realism, and the relation between normative demands and empirical constraints,strategies for managing the proposed goals are suggested.Paper IV suggests a form of goal that incorporates uncertainties. Cautious utopias allow greater uncertainty than realistic goals (goals that are known to be achievable or approachable, and desirable),but not to the same extent as utopian goals (goals wherein it is highly uncertain whether the goal can actually be achieved). Such goals have a performance-enhancing function. A definition and quality criteria for such goals are proposed.Paper V considers whether a goal that is becoming all the more unlikely to be achievable should be reconsidered. The paper focuses on the two degrees Celsius target, and asks whether it could still be a sensible goal to aspire to. By applying the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’, the role of such obligations is investigated.Paper VI surveys how to treat circumstances in which an already set goal should be reconsidered and possibly revised, and what would evoke doubt in the belief upon which those goals have been set.Two situations are analyzed: (i) a problematic or surprising event occurs, upsetting confidence in one’s relevant beliefs, or (ii) respectable but dissenting views are voiced concerning one’s means and/or values. It is suggested that the validity of doubt has to be considered, in addition to the level in a goal-means hierarchy towards which doubt is raised.
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| 3. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-
(författare)
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Ethics in biodiversity conservation
- 2021. - 1
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Bok (refereegranskat)abstract
- This book examines the role of ethics and philosophy in biodiversity conservation.The objective of this book is two-fold: on the one hand it offers a detailed and systematic account of central normative concepts often used, but rarely explicated nor justified, within conservation biology. Such concepts include ‘values’ (both intrinsic, instrumental, and, more recently, relational), ‘rights’, and ‘duties’. The second objective is to emphasize to environmental philosophers and applied ethicists the many interesting decision-making challenges of biodiversity conservation. The book argues that a nuanced account of instrumental values provides a powerful tool for reasoning about the values of biodiversity. It also scrutinizes relational values, the concept of rights of nature, and risk, and show how moral philosophy proves indispensable for these concepts. Consequently, it engages with recent suggestions on normative aspects of biodiversity conservation, and show the need for moral philosophy in biodiversity conservation. The overriding aim of this book is to provide conservation biologists and policy-makers with a systematic overview of concepts and assessments of the reasons for reaching prescriptive conclusions about biodiversity conservation. This will prove instrumental in clarifying the role of applied ethics and a refined understanding of the tools it can provide.This title will be of interest to students and scholars of conservation biology, conservation policy, environmental ethics and environmental philosophy.
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| 4. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-
(författare)
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Fundamental challenges for rights of nature
- 2021
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Ingår i: Rights of Nature. - Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Series: Routledge explorations in environmental studies : Routledge. - 9781000386103 - 9780367479596 ; , s. 156-175
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent years many actors have investigated the possibilities of strengthening legal environmental protection by making appeals to the rights of nature. Such rights have also been legally encoded in some countries. This chapter will critically investigate whether it is reasonable to ascribe moral or legal rights to nature. With support from moral and legal philosophy, different propositions in support of rights of nature will be tested to see if reasonable responses can be formulated against objections. If not, the position that nature has rights may ultimately have to be rejected, or at the very least become questionable. It will be suggested that all the investigated propositions require one to commit to one or several of the following shortcomings: rejecting conventional properties of rights-holders; accepting conventional properties but suggesting that natural objects and processes have those properties; accepting conflicting claims between rights of natural entities and human rights; or trivializing the notion of rights. Committing to any of these has significant intellectual and practical costs, and ultimately it will be proposed that the view that nature has rights ought to be rejected.
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| 5. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Justice in energy transition scenarios : Perspectives from Swedish energy politics
- 2023
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Ingår i: Etikk i praksis. - : Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Library. - 1890-3991 .- 1890-4009.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article we justify why justice ought to be considered in scenarios of energy transitions, stipulate what dimensions should reasonably be considered, and investigate whether such considerations are taken in Swedish parliamentary debates on energy policies. Through interviews we investigated how Swedish parliamentary politicians think through justice in energy transitions, providing a practical perspective. We conclude that while there is some overlap between minimal conditions for energy justice and the issues brought forward by Swedish politicians,several issues are omitted. Examples include procedural justice and recognizing Sámi interests. On the other hand, principles of energy justice omit economic issues, which are however often brought up by respondents. It can be argued that justice issues, and not only the technical and economic issues that currently dominate the political debate, should be considered in energy transitions. It is therefore unfortunate that questions about justice are not adequately recognized by Swedish members of parliament, as outlined here by interview results. Stronger conclusions would require more empirical work, but the article points out several discrepancies between the topics discussed in the research literature on energy policies, and the topics discussed by elected parliamentarians having a specific focus on energy policies.
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| 6. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-
(författare)
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Knowledge, participation, and the future : Epistemic quality in energy scenario construction
- 2021
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 75
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Constructing energy scenarios is traditionally an endeavour driven by experts. I suggest that an outcome of relying solely on expertise is incompleteness. Moreover, expertise, while being a necessary condition, is not a sufficient condition for epistemic quality and normative legitimacy of energy scenarios given the scope of transitions that energy scenarios entail, which includes substantial societal repercussions. Four reasons will be provided for wide participation when constructing energy scenarios. First, there are several forecasting shortcomings of top-down approaches. Second, to rely solely on expertise provides incomplete conceptualizations of energy and central concepts such as ‘smartness’, in addition to neglecting normative views. Third, increased epistemic quality is an outcome of wide participation. A fourth reason is derived from the argument of inductive risks, stating that thresholds of evidence should reflect the potential outcomes if erroneously corroborating or rejecting a hypothesis. As energy scenarios provide input to decision-making having potentially large societal impact, they ought to be both normatively legitimate as well as of sufficient epistemic quality, components provided by wide participation.
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| 7. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Max Power: Implementing the Capabilities Approach to Identify Thresholds and Ceilings in Energy Justice
- 2022
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Ingår i: Science and Engineering Ethics. - : Springer. - 1353-3452 .- 1471-5546. ; 28:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we apply the capabilities approach-with the addition of capability ceilings-to energy justice. We argue that, to ensure energy justice, energy policies and scenarios should consider enabling not only minimal capability thresholds but also maximum capability ceilings. It is permissible, perhaps even morally required, to limit the capabilities of those above the threshold if it is necessary for enabling those below the threshold to reach the level required by justice. We make a distinction between tragic and non-tragic conflicts of capabilities: tragic conflicts are instances when one cannot raise an agent's capabilities above the threshold that justice requires without pushing someone else below the threshold or restricting someone from reaching the threshold. In contrast, a non-tragic choice is when increasing someone above the threshold required by justice does not entail pushing someone else's capabilities below the threshold. We utilise this framework to discuss energy justice and emissions of greenhouse gases. Drawing on the relation between points on the human development index and levels of energy consumption, we conclude that non-tragic mitigation policies now are highly preferable to tragic policies later.
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| 8. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-
(författare)
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Risk-Reducing Goals : Ideals and Abilities when Managing Complex Environmental Risks
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Risk Research. - : Routledge. - 1366-9877 .- 1466-4461. ; 19:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social decision-making involving risks ideally results in obligations to avoid expected harms or keep them within acceptable limits. Ambitious goals aimed at avoiding or greatly reducing risks might not to be feasible, forcing the acceptance of higher degrees of risk (i.e., unrealistic levels of risk reduction are revised to comport with beliefs regarding abilities). In this paper, the philosophical principle ‘ought implies can’ is applied to the management of complex risks, exemplified by the risks associated with climate change. In its common interpretation, the principle states that we cannot expect an agent to perform something that lies beyond his or her abilities. However, it is here argued that this principle requires setting thresholds for legitimate claims of inabilities that justify the waiving of normative demands. This paper discuss three claims: (1) that caution is required before revising a risk-reducing goal that is perhaps exceedingly ambitious; (2) that claims on abilities are not only descriptive, but also value-laden; and (3) that the function of a goal has to be clarified before risk-reducing goals are revised. Risk-reducing goals that initially seem unrealistic arguably serve performance-enhancing purposes in risk management. Neglecting such goals could lead to choosing less desirable, but certainly feasible, risk-reducing goals.
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| 9. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-
(författare)
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Sustainable Goals : Feasible Paths to Desirable Long-Term Futures
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The general aim of this licentiate thesis is to analyze the framework in which long-term goals are set and subsequently achieved. It is often claimed that goals should be realistic, meaning that they should be adjusted to known abilities. This thesis will argue that this might be very difficult in areas related to sustainable development and climate change adaptation, and that goals that are, to an acceptable degree, unrealistic, can have important functions.Essay I discusses long-term goal setting. When there is a great temporal discrepancy between the point in time of setting and achieving a goal, many uncertainties have to be considered. The surrounding world and the agent’s abilities and values might change. This is an ontological uncertainty. We often form beliefs regarding how abilities and values might change, but this belief is always uncertain. This is an epistemological uncertainty. A form of goal called cautiously utopian goals is proposed, which incorporate such uncertainties, but enables goal setting with long time-frames.Essay II discusses the issue of goals intended to reduce great risks. We cannot expect an agent to do something that lies beyond this agent’s abilities, as exemplified in the principle ‘ought implies can’. Adjusting goals to what we currently, with a high degree of certainty know could be done is difficult. If not including an estimation of how abilities can change, important performance-enhancing functions of goals might be lost. It is argued that very ambitious goals should be set. This is partly due to the great magnitude and likelihood of unwanted consequences and partly due to the difficulty of delineating what lies in agents’ capacity to manage complex risks.Essay III discusses a decision-facilitating tool Sustainability Analysis to be used by Swedish municipal planners. One sub-part of the tool, Goal Conflict Analysis, can be used to identify how the consequences of a planned adaptation measure will affect other long-term municipal goals. Identified goal conflicts can then be used in order to determine whether the conflicts are acceptable, or whether a different adaptation measure should be worked out. The paper discusses a workshop in a Swedish municipality in which the tool has been tested.
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| 10. |
- Melin, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Energiscenarier och rättvisa : Uppfattningar om rättvisefrågor relaterade till energi- produktion och -konsumtion samt energiscenarier inom svensk politik och svenska myndigheter
- 2021
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Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Denna populärvetenskapliga rapport redogör för de viktigaste empiriska resultaten från den första delen (work package 1) av projektet ’Energiscenarier och rättvisa – en fallstudie av Sve-rige’, vilken genomfördes år 2020. Resultaten kommer att analyseras ytterligare med avsikt att publicera dem i vetenskapliga tidskrifter. Projektet i sin helhet pågår år 2020-2022. Under projektets andra del (work package 2) som pågår år 2021-2022 kommer vi att genomföra fokusgrupper som syftar till att bedöma energiscenarier ur ett rättviseperspektiv. Deltagare kommer att vara olika intressenter såsom politiker, tjänstemän och representanter för frivillig-organisationer. Ytterligare två populärvetenskapliga rapporter baserade på projektets andra del kommer att författas. Projektet beviljades medel av Energimyndigheten inom ramen för forskningsprogrammet Människa, Energisystem och Samhälle (MESAM). Det övergripande syftet med projektet är att utveckla metoder och riktlinjer för deltagan-de scenarier som på ett systematiskt sätt kan integrera frågor som rör nationell, global och intergenerationell rättvisa. Projektets första del syftar till att ge en översikt av rättviseuppfatt-ningar i den politiska och administrativa kontexten för energiscenarier. Vi har genomfört en analys av riksdagsmotioner för att förstå vilka explicita och implicita rättviseuppfattningar som dominerar i dessa dokument. För att skapa en bredare bild av rättviseuppfattningar relaterade till energiscenarier inom svensk politik och svenska myndigheter har vi dessutom intervjuat politiker och tjänstemän på nationell nivå och inom region Skåne.
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| 11. |
- Melin, Anders, 1966-
(författare)
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Ledare: Temanummer om energirättvisa
- 2022
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Ingår i: Tidskrift för politisk filosofi. - Stockholm : Thales. - 1402-2710 .- 2002-3383. ; 26:1, s. 1-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 12. |
- Sandin, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Principlism and citizen science: the possibilities and limitations of principlism for guiding responsible citizen science conduct
- 2022
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Ingår i: Research Ethics. - : SAGE Publications. - 1747-0161 .- 2047-6094. ; 18, s. 304-318
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Citizen science (CS) has been presented as a novel form of research relevant for social concerns and global challenges. CS transforms the roles of participants to being actively involved at various stages of research processes, CS projects are dynamic, and pluralism arises when many non-professional researchers take an active involvement in research. Some argue that these elements all make existing research ethical principles and regulations ill-suited for guiding responsible CS conduct. However, while many have sought to highlight such challenges from CS, few have discussed principles per se providing the foundation for regulations. In this article we will investigate the possibilities of midlevel principlism in guiding responsible CS conduct. Principlism has the potential of accommodating many of the concerns taken to reduce the relevance of existing principles.
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