My Climate Risk meets Philosophy of Science
Institute of Philosophy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, 14-15 October 2024
In MCR we have been discussing for some time the possibility of engaging with philosophers to strengthen the epistemic justification for the bottom-up approach being pursued by MCR. Vincent Lam, a philosopher at the University of Bern, has been involved in these discussions and attended a recent MCR GA as a guest. He felt that it was important to begin with an in-person meeting and offered to host it. However, from the MCR perspective, we felt that it was essential to have strong engagement from the Global South. An opportunity arose through a workshop on the ethics of climate information for adaptation in Paris. By combining funding from that workshop with some remaining MCR funds in 2024, we were able to bring six members of the MCR community from overseas to Europe (as well as a few from within Europe) to engage in discussions with a number of philosophers who are interested in the MCR approach. The group met for 1.5 days in Bern, generously hosted by Vincent Lam.
The discussion was very fluid and included a few presentations to triangulate the landscape, breakout group discussions, and a concluding discussion on ways forward. There was enthusiasm to start a Philosophy Working Group in MCR, which will be led by Vincent Lam, and to liaise with the Education Working Group to consider developing suitable pedagogical materials in this area, which is not covered in traditional climate science educational programmes.
We are delighted to include this additional ‘mycorrhiza’ in our MCR mycorrhizal network. The MCR community will greatly benefit from it as many of MCR's principles are already discussed extensively in Philosophy.
Back row: Patricia Nying’uro, Fiona Spuler, Mason Majszak, Vincent Lam, Mathias Frisch, Ted Shepherd, Monica Morrison, Julia Mindlin
Front row: Laura García-Portela, Narelle van der Wel, Regina Rodrigues, Anna Sörensson, Paula Arias, Ana Durán-Quesada, Kendra Gotangco Gonzales. Not in photograph: Julie Jebeile