Caring for the Climate: Institutionalising care ethics as a framework for collective climate action

Abstract

This thesis examines whether care ethics can serve as a normatively robust and motivationally effective framework for climate ethics. Dominant approaches grounded in justice, utility, or rights can define obligations but often fail to mobilise action in the face of collective, long-term harms. Care ethics offers a relational alternative, yet is often criticised as too personal or proximate for global challenges. This thesis argues that care ethics can generate and motivate climate obligations when interpreted as a political and institutional ethic. It traces the development of care ethics, critiques limits in mainstream climate ethics, reconstructs care as a framework for collective action, and illustrates its institutional applications. Institutionalising care ethics replaces individualism with interdependence and supports a just, cooperative climate response.