Intergenerational justice

Intergenerational justice "concerns the moral responsibilities shared among different generations." -Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs ^[1]

Related to the climate crisis, intergenerational justice describes how "present generations have certain duties towards future generations, and climate change raises particularly pressing issues, such as which risks those living today are allowed to impose on future generations, and how available natural resources can be used without threatening the sustainable functioning of the planet's ecosystems. Moreover, when one talks about the rights of future generations this inevitably seems to raise the issue of how to balance the rights’ claims of those alive today against the rights’ claims of future generations." -UNICEF ^[2]

Climate intergenerational justice, in other words, looks at "how climate change creates and worsens injustices between generations." -Scott, & Malivel, 2021 ^[3]

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What are examples of climate intergenerational injustice?

Differences between generations in effort towards emissions reduction targets	Different generations will not have to put the same amount of effort to reach emissions reduction targets. To meet the Paris Agreement goals of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees celsius, future generations do not have as much carbon budget as past generations. Generations before them have overused theirs. ^[4]
Future generations will suffer from more global warming-induced impacts	Extreme weather events and changes in temperatures and water supply are expected to worsen with time. Because of this future generations will suffer greater impacts from climate change than current and past generations. ^[5]

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↑ https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/explore-engage/key-terms/intergenerational-justice
↑ https://www.unicef-irc.org/article/920-climate-change-and-intergenerational-justice.html
↑ Scott, D. N., & Malivel, G. (2021). Intergenerational Environmental Justice and the Climate Crisis: Thinking with and beyond the Charter. Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Forthcoming, Journal of Law & Equality, 17(1).
↑ Hausfather, Z. (2019). Analysis: Why children must emit eight times less CO2 than their grandparents. Carbone Brief. https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why-children-must-emit-eight-times-le ss-co2-than-their-grandparents/
↑ Thompson, A. (2022). How Climate Change Will Hit Younger Generations. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-climate-change-will-hit-youn ger-generations/

[1] ttps://www.carnegiecouncil.org/explore-engage/key-terms/intergenerational-justice

[2] ttps://www.unicef-irc.org/article/920-climate-change-and-intergenerational-justice.html

[3] Scott, D. N., & Malivel, G. (2021). Intergenerational Environmental Justice and the Climate Crisis: Thinking with and beyond the Charter. Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Forthcoming, Journal of Law & Equality, 17(1).

[4] Hausfather, Z. (2019). Analysis: Why children must emit eight times less CO2 than their grandparents. Carbone Brief. https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why-children-must-emit-eight-times-le ss-co2-than-their-grandparents/

[5] Thompson, A. (2022). How Climate Change Will Hit Younger Generations. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-climate-change-will-hit-youn ger-generations/

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Intergenerational justice

What are examples of climate intergenerational injustice?

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