Seeking Climate Justice : A Critical Response to Singer

Abstract: Seeking just procedures to respond to and to handle climate change is the main goal of this thesis. Climate justice is a concept that relates to people’s behavior towards climate; it relates to people’s uses of carbon resources. Philosophers and researchers propose different principles to share the burden of carbon emissions and adapt with climate change. I critically respond to Singer’s views on climate justice. I use conceptual method that engages in interpreting different principles related to climate justice. Singer, in his work One World, offers two principles for sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change. One is the Polluter Pay Principle (PPP) and another is the Equal Share Per Capita Principle (ESPCP). I explain both principles and look at some difficulties for these principles in practical uses. I think Capacity to Pay Principle (CPP) is fairer than Singers’ principles. I suggest that as we know that there is a positive correlation between carbon emissions and development so that CPP would be more appropriate than PPP or ESPCP in distribution of burden and benefit to establish equality across the nations. The logic behind the claim that CPP is a fair principle for climate justice is that the past and present emissions of the developed world have greatly benefited the developed nations. As a matter of fairness, they should shoulder the burden of climate change. Finally, I discuss pluralistic approach for climate justice, where distributive procedure and procedural procedure take place. Distributive justice focuses on an even distribution of the burdens and benefits of climate change, and procedural justice focuses on resolving disagreements to take climate policy. Procedural justice take part in taking rational and just decisions by resolving disagreements among the nations and considering all parties’ concerns. Such decisions generate distributive process. So climate justice consists of both distributive and procedural justice. The study makes the policy makers aware and suggests the legislative bodies to respond to climate change on the basis of our moral thinking and the procedural procedure justifies decisions or policies that take part to mitigate and adapt to climate change. In climate justice we should emphasis on both even distribution of burden and benefit of climate change and just decision to generate distribution.