Eike Düvel

Postdoctoral researcher, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

I work in ethics and political philosophy, mainly on the ethics of risk, climate justice, and AI and democracy.

Projects

Energy System Design Designing the energy system of the future Lead on ethical aspects; writing team for the next funding period Helmholtz research programme
Methane Removal A critical assessment and research agenda Lead on the ethics chapter of the synthesis paper Helmholtz Forum Earth and Environment
TwinRISE Trusted AI-generated digital twins for research infrastructures and scientific excellence Postdoctoral researcher on ethical, legal and social aspects Horizon Europe, from 2027

Public philosophy

2026Justice in the shadow of uncertainty: Whom should we save? Public lecture and discussion, Wissenschaft & Weisheit series, University of Zurich (in German).
2024Commentary on the German Ethics Council’s statement on climate justice, with Laura García Portela, for the Science Media Center. Quoted in Süddeutsche Zeitung.
2023Fair public transport. Citizens’ workshop at technik.kontrovers, Karlsruhe.
2016–18Founding member and editor of the blog Climate Footnotes.

Teaching

I teach ethics and political philosophy at BA, MA and PhD level, in German and English. Much of my teaching brings ethics into courses for students in engineering and the natural sciences.

2024–26Philosophical perspectives on risky technologies. PhD seminar, ITAS, KIT.
2026Ethics modules in energy and environment, environmental communication and financial mathematics. Co-teaching, KIT.
2026Contractualism and risk. Guest lecture, Erasmus University Rotterdam.
2024The political philosophy of artificial intelligence. Seminar, KIT.
2024Ethics and resource cycles. Seminar, KIT.
2018Theories of intergenerational justice. Seminar, University of Graz.

I supervise PhD projects on the ethics of battery raw material mining, the moral agency of AI systems and the resilience of energy systems.

Papers

Published and forthcoming

Non-identity and compensation for climate change With Laura García Portela. Utilitas, forthcoming.
Fairness in emissions accounting: A moral responsibility approach With Laura García Portela. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 2026.
The obligation to long-term governance: A philosophical analysis With Michael W. Schmidt. Energy, Sustainability and Society 16:3, 2026.
The ethics of climate change loss and damage With Laura García Portela. WIREs Climate Change 15(6), 2024.
Human rights-based precautionary approaches and risk imposition in the context of climate change In Oksanen, Dodsworth and O’Doherty (eds.), Environmental Human Rights. Routledge, 2018.
Ethics and risks: Approaches and issues With Adriana Placani and Thomas Pölzler. Introduction to the special issue Ethics and Risks, Ethical Perspectives 25(3), 2018. Free version

In preparation

Emissions accounting for AI research emissions With Theresa Willem, Leo Kaindl, Michael Schmidt and Marie Piraud.
Making sense of resilience: Energy policy and normative trade-offs
Stranded assets and legitimate expectations
Contractualism and risk Book project.

Recent talks

Nov 2026Can democracy be delegated? ENCODE closing conference, Rotterdam.
Sep 2026Can democracy be delegated? MANCEPT Workshops, Manchester.
Jun 2026AI and the value of public deliberation. Conference on Large-Scale AI Risks, KU Leuven.
Sep 2025The persisting relevance of the non-identity problem. GAP.12, Düsseldorf.
Jan 2025The not-so-minor difference claim. Climate Ethics above 1.5°C, Rotterdam.