In his 2012 paper, “Academic and Political Responsibility in Confronting Climate Change: A Personal Journey,” Hans Baer discusses the notion of responsibility within the context of climate change discourse. He argues that responsibility is something that social systems and macro-structures have historically contributed to, and still are contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. These structures include global capitalism, the global economy, and large segments of humanity, particularly the more affluent social classes.
He focuses on responsibility, as a duty of care toward creating a safe climate, which ultimately is part and parcel of contributing to a socially just and environmentally sustainable world system. The paper discusses his journey with respect to dimensions of responsibility as a duty of care, namely (1) an academic or scholarly responsibility to develop a critical anthropology of climate change; and (2) a political responsibility to engage in climate activism.
The paper is an insightful exploration of the complex issue of responsibility in the face of climate change, and highlights the importance of both individual and collective action in addressing this global challenge. To learn more, the paper RESPONSIBILITY IN CONFRONTING CLIMATE CHANGE.pdf is in the Climate Change folder in fileshare: https://www.anzuua.org/file-share/7b7e98fc-3115-4323-ab24-537c6977625b