Call for abstracts for third workshop on Climate Ethics and Climate Economics

Fat Tails - Imposing and Redistributing Risks

Workshop at the London School of Economics
Convened by Kai Spiekermann and Jonathan Aldred, supported by the ESRC
14-15 September 2016

This is the third of six ESRC-funded workshops on Climate Ethics and Climate Economics and will be accompanied by public lectures given by Professor Pindyck and Professor Gardiner on the evenings of the 13 and 15 September.

Keynote Speakers:

• Professor Stephen Gardiner, University of Washington
• Professor Robert S. Pindyck, MIT

This workshop will focus on large-scale risks caused by climate change. In particular, we are interested in discussing theoretical, empirical and normative questions arising from large-scale risks and so-called "fat tail" risk distributions. The realizations that climate change may well be catastrophic and the probabilities of catastrophic outcomes difficult to quantify has shifted the debate towards more "precautionary" approaches. Debates about the most rational response to large scale risks and uncertainty should be complemented by a normative analysis of risk imposition: under which conditions, if any, is it permissible to impose such risks or redistribute them from one group to another? The workshop seeks to bring together economists, philosophers and practitioners to tackle these pressing questions.

Papers will be pre-circulated, with short presentations and comments from discussants.

Please submit an abstract of 300-500 words before July 4 at: http://goo.gl/forms/Xjm5zi1XPFRGXooo2

Some funding may be available for graduate students. Please indicate whether you would like to be considered.