Earth System Governance Speaker Series

On 20 February Ingrid Robeyns and Fergus Green will deliver the fourth public lecture in the Earth System Governance Speaker Series at Utrecht University, titled Fair Limits in the Anthropocene – What are the just boundaries of our ecological footprint?

In this seminar, Robeyns and Green will share their insights from the ongoing Fair Limits project, including how distributive justice can be thought of in terms of ecological resources and in the context of the Anthropocene. 

Robeyns and Green form part of the Fair Limits team, which examines questions about the distribution of economic and ecological resources from the perspective of contemporary normative political philosophy. Within this field, the topic of distributive justice has been central in order to discuss the minimal needs of persons and how to reduce inequalities. The Fair Limits project focuses on ‘limitarianism’ which holds the view that there should be upper limits to how many resources (valuable goods) it is morally permissible to have as a person. What could be the potential value of this perspective when applied to the context of the Anthropocene and the current climate crisis? Should we set upper limits on what quantity of greenhouse emissions is morally allowable to emit as a person, in order to decrease our ecological footprint? How could we justify such limits? What considerations might militate against individual-level limits?

These questions will be delved into further in an ensuing panel debate with Dr. Agni Kalfagianni as discussant and chaired by Dr. James Patterson. Dr. Agni Kalfagianni is Associate Professor of the Transnational Sustainability Governance at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development. She specializes in the effectiveness, legitimacy, and ethical and justice considerations of private and transnational forms of governance in the sustainability domain.

The seminar will take place in the Bistro Area (ground floor) of the Vening Meineszgebouw A. The event will be followed by an informal drink for registered participants.

Attendance open for all – registration is required and open via the Earth System Governance Project website