Climate change is a globalized issue that presents both a practical challenge simply to solve, as well as a moral challenge to engage in solutions while remaining within the realm of moral permissibility. While improving technological efficiency or transitioning to non-carbon-based energy systems are obvious and morally uncontroversial means of addressing the human effects on climate change, these initiatives merely attempt to stem carbon emissions from the perspective of per capita usage. Given the trend of global industrialization and general trend of population increase amongst post-industrialized nations, combatting the carbon emissions motivating climate change from merely the perspective of efficiency is not sufficient to adequately address humanity’s influence on the climate. In order to fully address climate change, institutions must be incorporated to limit …show more content…
Coercive methods can be describe as those that directly force a population to decrease (Rust). One of the most egregious examples of coercive methods to decrease population is Ghengis Khan’s brutality in Asia. By killing millions of people, Khan allowed the agricultural land occupied by these people to return to its natural forested state and to sequester atmospheric carbon, causing an observable decrease in global temperatures (Henley). While producing a positive effect to the natural environment, Khan’s actions constitute as crimes against humanity, robbing a generation of moral agents of their lives. Though these actions would achieve the desired result of combatting climate change, the result is gained at a significant moral cost. Though Khan’s brutality represent an extreme example, it illustrates the need to navigate this global challenge while remaining within the realm of moral