Introduction to Collective and Shared Responsibility for Climate Change

The starting position for this book is that not only states and international bodies have a responsibility to take action to mitigate climate change. Other collective agents need to also be considered and to come onboard. This includes corporations and other companies, regional and local governments and their organisations, cities, banks, pension funds, non-governmental organisations, art and culture establishments, universities and other educational institutions, sports associations, and so on and so forth. The main claim of the book is that collective responsibility must be construed widely to grasp the scope of climate change responsibility. Climate change requires an all-hands-on-deck approach at this point in time. The second main claim in the book is that although collective agents should be at the forefront of mitigation efforts, their responsibility should not be discussed in isolation of the responsibility of their members. Framing climate change responsibility exclusively from either the collective or the individual perspective leaves out something crucial: how we all are influenced by the collectives we belong to and how, in turn, collectives are influenced by individuals. Shared responsibility as members of collective agents can be our key responsibility when it comes to climate change (depending on our circumstances and characteristics). In addition to shared responsibility as members, there are two other possible sources of moral responsibility for individuals in relation to climate change harms: shared responsibility as constituents of unorganised collectives and direct responsibility as super-polluters. This chapter explains the urgency of the climate threat and the structural nature of the problem, as well as what collective agency is. It also elaborates on the concept of responsibility that the book is concerned with.