The Research Area in Ethics and Climate Justice deals with ethical issues related to the climate crisis and ecological transition, from the individual, state and global perspectives. The two leading research topics are intergenerational justice, both historical and future-oriented, and the ethics of energy and decarbonisation policies. The main objective of the subgroup in climate ethics is to contribute to the definition of a just and inclusive climate transition and to the analysis and elaboration of the correlative relevant policies.

Highlights

• The PRO3 Workshop ‘Towards Just Transitions: Carbon Budget, Sustainability, And Social Tipping Points’. Sant'Anna School and Scuola Normale, Pisa (IT), 23-24 October 2023.

• The '2nd Inter-University Conference for Emerging Scholars of St. Anna School of Advanced Studies, University of Graz and Central European University: 'Climate Change and Technology. Ethical Challenges and Normative Responses' (October 12-13, 2023).
• Lecture Prof. Alberto Pirni  - 'Anthropocene or Anthopocynism? On the subtle fascination of human self-awareness', Series of Seminars on the Anthropocene organized by the PhD program in Agrobiodiversity, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, 18th April 2023
• Seasonal school. ECLIRE - The Ethics of Climate Change: Reshaping Responsibilities for Present and Future Generations (February 20th -24th, 2023; Deadline for Registration: January 23rd, 2023).
• The '1st Inter-University Conference for Emerging Scholars of St. Anna School of Advanced Studies and University of Graz: Transitional, Distributive and Compensatory Justice in Responding to Global Challenges (October 27-28, 2022).
• Bright – La notte dei ricercatori: Il Cerchio di Considerazione Morale (September 30, 2022)

Grants

• Progetto PRO3: Theories and Toolkit for the Ecological Transition: Philosophical, Mathematical, Ethical and Legal Profiles of the Carbon Budget Sustainability Challenge [March 2022-February 2024]. (Grant Number: PROGMIURC21_23AP). Consorzio: Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Scuola Normale Superiore, IUSS Pavia.
• Convenzione AcquaNovara.VCO e Area di ricerca in "Etica e Cambiamento Climatico", Istituto DIRPOLIS, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna. Piano di Attività di Collaborazione [Ottobre 2023 - Settembre 2026]. Responsabile scientifico Prof. Dr. Alberto Pirni.

Recent Publications

• A. Pirni, R. Buizza (2022). Il ruolo degli individui e delle istituzioni nell’affrontare il cambiamento climatico, Etica & Politica / Ethics & Politics, Vol. XXIV, No. 3, pp. 323-348.
• A. Pirni (2022). Solidarietà vs indifferenza intergenerazionale: urgenza e difficoltà di un compito epocale, in G. Cogliandro, G. Costanzo (eds), Etica e politica, Napoli-Salerno, Orthotes, pp. 275-286.
• F. Corvino, A. Pirni (2022). L’Etica del Cambiamento Climatico alla Prova dell’Inefficacia Causale Individuale: Discutendo la Libertà Collettiva di Emissione di Gas Serra Rispetto all’Obiettivo di 1.5°C, Rivista di Estetica, Vol. 80, No. 2, pp. 165-186.
• F. Corvino (2022). Why We Need Future Generations: A Defence of Direct Intergenerational Reciprocity, Economics & Philosophy, online first, pp. 1-28.
• Corvino, F. (2022). The Disaggregation of Climate-Induced Harm: An Impossible Undertaking for Utilitarians, Teorema, Vol. 41, No.1, pp. 29-50.
• A. Pirni (2021). Solidarietà come obbligo etico-giuridico intergenerazionale, in C. Caporale, C. Collicelli, Pandemia e generatività. Bambini e adolescenti ai tempi del Covid, Roma, Cnr Edizioni.
• A. Pirni, Beyond Diachronic Indifference? Grounding the Normative Commitment towards Intergenerational Justice, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP), 2021, Vol. 24, n. 1
• A. Pirni, Diritti infiniti e doveri limitati? per una fondazione del dovere di giustizia tra le generazioni, Etica & Politica / Ethics & Politics, XXIII, 2021, n. 2, pp. 703-718.
• F. Corvino, G. Pellegrini-Masini, A. Pirni, S. Maran. (2021). Compensation For Energy Infrastructures: Can a Capability Approach Be More Equitable?, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 197-217.
• F. Corvino & A. Pirni. (2021). Discharging the Moral Responsibility For Collective Unjust Enrichment In the Global Economy, THEORIA: An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 139-158.
• F. Corvino (2021). Climate Change, Individual Preferences, and Procrastination, In Climate Justice and Feasibility: Normative Theorizing, Feasibility Constraints, and Climate Action, edited by Sarah Kenehan and Corey Katz, pp. 193-212. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN: 9781538154199.
• G. Pellegrini-Masini, A. Pirni, S. Maran, Energy justice revisited: A critical review on the philosophical and political origins of equality, in Energy Research and Social Science, Vol. 59, January 2020, pp. 1-7.
• G. Pellegrini-Masini, A. Pirni, S. Maran, Christian A. Klöckner, Delivering a timely and Just Energy Transition: Which policy research priorities?, Environmental Policy and Governance, 2020.
• A. Pirni, Overcoming the Motivational Gap: A Preliminary Path to Rethinking Intergenerational Justice, Human Affairs, 2019, Vol. 29, n. 23 pp. 286-296.

Education

• Alberto Pirni, Introduction to Intergenerational Justice (Corso per Allievi PhD in “Human Rights and Global Politics” and in “Sustainable Development and Climate Change”)
• Alberto Pirni – Fausto Corvino – Matthias Fritsch (Concordia Univ. – Canada), Climate Ethics (Corso per Allievi Ordinari e Allievi PhD)
• Alberto Pirni – Fausto Corvino – Tiziana Andina (Univ. di Torino) – Coord., Climate Change and Future Generations – Public Ethics Online International Seminars (serie di seminari aperti)
• Alberto Pirni – Fausto Corvino – Lukas Meyer (University of Graz) – Coord., Joint Colloquium on Moral and Political Philosophy (serie di seminari con partecipazione su invito)

Outreach and impact 

• Pirni A. (2023). “Cura come motivazione al contrasto al cambiamento climatico”. Intervento per il convegno Cura del mondo e urgenza climatica, organizzato da Associazione di Filosofia Sociale Elena Pulcini per la cura del mondo vivente, aprile 2023.
• Pirni A. (2023). “Clima e future generazioni”. Intervento per la Giornata Meteorologica Mondiale presso l’Aeronautica Militare di Roma, marzo 2023. Video dell'intervento di Pirni disponible qui (a partire da min. 1:23:00): https://www.youtube.com/live/6WtI0Th_elI?feature=share
• Pirni A. (2023). “Grounding Transgenerational Motivation”. Intervento per il convegno“Justice is not deconstructible; Jacques Derrida, Law and Culture International Chair of Philosophy – Eighth Edition” organizzato presso l’Università di Torino, marzo 2023.
• Pirni A. (2023). “Sostenibilità tra Retorica e Dialettica” intervista di Angelo Fasulo per la rivista Impronta Zero.
• Bright Night. Il Cerchio di Considerazione Morale (September 30, 2022)