Cosmopolitan Justice, Responsibility, and Global Climate Change

2005/12/01 by SIMON CANEY, Simon Caney · 3 citations
Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Climate Change and Geoengineering #Political Philosophy and Ethics #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life

paper · doi:10.1017/s0922156505002992

openalex publication_date 2005/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27

Abstract

It is widely recognized that changes are occurring to the earth's climate and, further, that these changes threaten important human interests. This raises the question of who should bear the burdens of addressing global climate change. This paper aims to provide an answer to this question. To do so it focuses on the principle that those who cause the problem are morally responsible for solving it (the ‘polluter pays’ principle). It argues that while this has considerable appeal it cannot provide a complete account of who should bear the burdens of global climate change. It proposes three ways in which this principle needs to be supplemented, and compares the resulting moral theory with the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’.

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• Fairness in Emissions Accounting: a Moral Responsibility Approach
• Climate change, vulnerability, and cultural loss 1
• Thomas Paine and the Idea of Intergenerational Rights

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