Abstract
This paper explores the ethical centrality of climate action within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, arguing that SDG 13 is not simply one goal among many but a moral cornerstone essential for achieving the broader vision of global justice and sustainability. Drawing on a wide-ranging literature review of philosophical theories—such as the capability approach, intergenerational justice, ecological ethics, and climate justice—as well as empirical linkages between climate change and goals on poverty, health, gender, inequality, and peace, the study maps a “moral geometry” of development. It contends that climate stability is a precondition for realising human rights and socio-environmental well-being across the SDGs. The analysis is further deepened through critical examination of tensions within the SDG model, including contradictions between economic growth and ecological limits, technocratic measurement cultures, and greenwashing tendencies. The paper highlights alternative ethical frameworks, including Indigenous knowledge systems, decolonial thought, and justice-based models, to suggest pathways for recentering climate action in SDG implementation. This research contributes to ongoing debates about the coherence and future of the sustainable development agenda and offers a compelling case for treating climate action not merely as an environmental concern but as an ethical imperative that should guide policy across sectors. In so doing, it invites scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to rethink development priorities in a warming world and to embed climate justice as the ethical scaffolding of global sustainability efforts.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Human Impacts and Responsibility
KEYWORDS
Climate Ethics, Sustainable Development Goals, Moral Geometry, Climate Justice, Intergenerational Equity, Interpretative Analysis
