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Practical Ethics provides a daily ethical analysis of the latest developments in science, technology and other current affairs.
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The Centre is committed to raising awareness of ethical issues in the broader community and stimulating debate in the public arena. To this end, the resources listed on these pages are freely available to the public, and include journal articles and online lectures (MP3 and MP4).
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Geoengineering
Oxford Geoengineering Institute
Oxford Geoengineering Institute Mission Statement: "This organisation seeks to facilitate the attainment and distribution of knowledge about geoengineering to scientists, governments, NGOs, corporate entities and the wider public. It is not advocating geoengineering, but rather seeking to carefully research all the implications of geoengineering approaches so as to assess their potential and the risks they carry."
The Oxford Geoengineering Institute, is researching a geoengineering technique called Cquestrate. The process works by thermally decomposing (calcining) limestone and adding the resulting calcium oxide to seawater, thereby increasing the capacity of the oceans to act as a carbon sink, whilst at the same time mitigating ocean acidification. The carbon dioxide generated by the thermal decomposition (calcination) of limestone can be sequestered, or utilized either as the starting point for the production of fuels, or to enable biomass to be grown in arid environments, without the need for irrigation. The process thus addresses a number of environmental and social problems: climate change, ocean acidification, food shortages, fuel shortages, water shortages and soil salinification from excessive irrigation. The project is being developed in an open source way so that the expertise of everyone who can help transform the idea from concept to reality can be drawn upon. Visit the Cquestrate website for more information.
James Martin Geoengineering Ethics Working Group
A James Martin Geoengineering Ethics Working Group has recently developed a working paper on the ethics of geo-engineering. Read more about the key issues to be addressed, access the full paper, and find out how to comment.
Should we encourage or avoid large scale environmental manipulation, for example in order to reduce climate change?
Measures such as carbon dioxide capture or ocean iron fertilisation have the potential to mitigate global warming, but what ethical issues are raised by these technologies? How should we take into account the potential risks of such measures, and how should they be weighed against the risks of inaction?
Click here to download Geoengineering Ethics List of Key Ethical Issues [Working Draft], compiled by the James Martin Geoengineering Ethics Working Group:
- Russell Powell, James Martin Fellow
- Steve Clarke, James Martin Fellow Mark Sheehan, James Martin Fellow
- Tom Douglas, James Martin Fellow
- Bennett Foddy, Deputy Director, Institute for Science and Ethics
- Julian Savulescu, Director, Institute for Science and Ethics and Geoengineering Programme
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The ethos of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics is to bring the best scholarship in analytic philosophy to bear on the most significant problems of our time. Our aim is to make progress in the analysis and resolution of these issues to the highest academic standard in a manner that is also accessible to the general public.