The ethics of climate generosity and the “Median Commons”: An experimental future within complexity

Abstract

Government and business are not solving the problems of climate change or ecological destruction. Indeed, they seem implicated in them through the politics of neoliberalism. This paper is an essay on applied philosophy, attending to a case study of the organisation Clean Energy for Eternity (CEFE), in the Bega region of NSW, and their use of “climate generosity” to make a local impact. This generosity operates by gifting solar panels to public buildings, and contributing to a new ethics. The paper explores how climate generosity can work with the complex systems of the world and contrasts with: a) neoliberal ethics and politics; b) ‘restricted property;’ and c) climate justice, to open new pathways. Climate generosity suggests a way of building relationships, habits, and new modes of operating which are more in tune with futures we need to develop for 'civilization' to survive.