Climate Justice
One of my main research interests for the last seventeen years has been the ethical issues raised by climate change. Below is a list of publications. The topics covered include: the impact of climate change on human rights; inequality and climate change; who has what kind of responsibilities to tackle climate change; the fair distribution of burdens in tackling climate change; the relationship between climate change and population; non-ideal theorizing about climate change; what kind of environmental responsibilities we have to future generations; biofuels; emissions trading schemes; the ethical issues surrounding the stranding of fossil fuel assets; the just transition; and the ethical issues surrounding the extraction of minerals for renewables and for energy storage.
I am currently writing
* a paper on 'Power, Political Responsibilities, and Climate Change'. For a detailed outline see here.
* a paper provisionally entitled 'Climate Responsibilities: Who Should do What?'
2022
'Global Climate Governance, Short-Termism and the Vulnerability of Future Generations', Ethics & International Affairs vol.36 no.2 (2022), 137-155. This is available here.
2021
K. Dooley, C. Holz, S. Kartha, S. Klinsky, J.T. Roberts, H. Shue, H. Winkler, T. Athanasiou, S. Caney, E. Cripps, N. K. Dubash, G. Hall, P.G. Harris, B. Lahn, D. Moellendorf, B. Müller, A. Sagar & P. Singer ''Ethical Choices behind Quantifications of Fair Contributions under the Paris Agreement', Nature Climate Change vol.11 no.4 (2021), pp.300-305.
2020
Entry on ‘Climate Justice’ for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, published online on 4th June 2020. This is available here.
‘Human Rights, Population and Climate Change’ in Human Rights in the 21st Century: Poverty, Conflict, and the Environment (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020) co-edited by D. Akande, J. Kuosmanen, H. McDermott & D. Roser, 348-369.
2019
‘Emissions and Emergence: a New Index Comparing Relative Contributions to Climate Change with Relative Climatic Consequences’, Environmental Research Letters vol.14 no.8 (2019): 084009. Co-authored with D.J. Frame, L.J. Harrington, J.S. Fuglestvedt, R.J. Millar, M.M. Joshi.
'The Environment' in Issues in Political Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019) edited by Catriona McKinnon, Rob Jubb and Patrick Tomlin, pp.284-305.
2018
‘Justice and Posterity’ in Climate Justice: Integrating Economics and Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018) edited by R. Kanbur & H. Shue, 157-174.
‘Climate Change’ in The Oxford Handbook of Distributive Justice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), edited by S. Olsaretti, 664-688.
‘Whose Carbon is ‘Burnable’? Equity Considerations in the Allocation of a ‘Right to Extract’’, Climatic Change vol.150 nos.1-2 (2018), 117-129. (with S. Kartha, N. Dubash & G. Muttitt.)
‘Cascading Biases Against Poorer Countries in Robiou du Pont et al’, Nature Climate Change vol.8 no.5 May (2018), 348-349. (with S. Kartha, T. Athanasiou, E. Cripps, K. Dooley, N. Dubash, T. Fei, P.G. Harris, C. Holz, B. Lahn, D. Moellendorf, B. Müller, J. Timmons Roberts, A. Sagar, H. Shue, P. Singer & H. Winkler).
2016
‘The Struggle for Climate Justice in a Nonideal World’, Midwest Studies in Philosophy: Volume XL “Ethics and Global Climate Change”, vol.XL no.1 (2016), 9-26.
‘Climate Change and Non-Ideal Theory: Six Ways of Responding to Noncompliance’ in Climate Justice and Non-Ideal Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016) edited by C. Heyward and D. Roser, 21-42.
‘Cosmopolitanism and the Environment’ in The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Political Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), edited by T. Gabrielson, C. Hall, J. M. Meyer, and D. Schlosberg, 238-253.
Climate Change, Equity and Stranded Assets (Oxfam America: Research Backgrounder, 2016) [18,000 words]. This was commissioned by Oxfam America. To avoid dangerous climate change it is necessary to keep some fossil fuels in the ground. This paper examined the ethical issues surrounding the stranding of carbon assets. The report can be found here.
2015
‘Governance Traps in Climate Change Politics: Re-framing the Debate in terms of Responsibilities and Rights', WIRES: Climate Change, vol.6 no.6 (2015), co-authored by P. Newell, H. Bulkeley, K. Turner, C. Shaw, S. Caney, E. Shove, N. Pidgeon, 535-540.
2014
‘Two Kinds of Climate Justice: Avoiding Harm and Sharing Burdens’, Journal of Political Philosophy, vol.22 no.2 (2014), 125-149 (Special Issue: Philosophy, Politics & Society). This was reprinted in
(a) Political Theory Without Borders (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2016) edited by R. Goodin and J. Fishkin, 18-45;
(b) Ethics, Environmental Justice and Climate Change (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2016) edited by P. Harris, 125-149; and
(c) Morality and Moral Controversies: Readings in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy (London and New York: Routledge, 2019) edited by S. Scalet and J. Arthur, 297-305.
‘Climate Change, Intergenerational Equity, and the Social Discount Rate’, Politics, Philosophy & Economics, vol.13 no.4 (2014), 320-342. This was reprinted in The Ethical Underpinnings of Climate Economics (London: Routledge, 2017) edited by A. Walsh, S. Hormio & D. Purves, 41-64;
2012
‘Just Emissions’, Philosophy & Public Affairs, vol.40 no.4 (2012), 255-300;
‘Addressing Poverty and Climate Change: The Varieties of Social Engagement’, Ethics & International Affairs, vol.26 no.2 (2012), 191-216;
‘Global Justice, Climate Change, and Human Rights’ in Leadership and Global Justice (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) edited by D. Hicks and T. Williamson, 91-112.
2011
‘Justice and the Duties of the Advantaged: A Defence’, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, vol.14 no.4 (2011), 439-448.
‘Emissions Trading: Unethical, Ineffective and Unjust?’ in Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement, vol.69 (2011), 201-234 (with Cameron Hepburn).
'Climate Change, Energy Rights, and Equality' in The Ethics of Global Climate Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011) edited by D. Arnold, 77-103.
Biofuels: Ethical Issues (London: Nuffield Council of Bioethics, 2011). (I was a member of the working group that produced this report. The working party was comprised of J. Tait, A. Buyx, M. Adcock, G. Barker, S. Caney, J. Chattaway, R. Gill, J. Hutton, O. Leyser, N. Mortimer, C. Raines, I. Smale & J. Watson). The report proposed six principles to guide biofuels policy. The report can be found at:
http://nuffieldbioethics.org/project/biofuels-0/.
2010
‘Markets, Morality and Climate Change: What, if anything, is Wrong with Emissions Trading?’, New Political Economy, vol.15 no.2 (2010), 197-224.
‘Climate Change and the Duties of the Advantaged’, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, vol.13 no.1 (2010), 203-228. This was reprinted in
(a) Democracy, Equality, and Justice (London: Routledge, 2010) edited by M. Matravers & L. Meyer, 203-228; and,
(b) Intergenerational Justice (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012) edited by L. Meyer, 321-346.
'Human Rights and Global Climate Change' in Cosmopolitanism in Context: Perspectives from International Law and Political Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), edited by R. Pierik and W. Werner, 19-44.
'Climate Change, Human Rights and Moral Thresholds' in Human Rights and Climate Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), edited by S. Humphreys, 69-90. Reprinted in Climate Ethics: Essential Readings (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010) edited by S. Gardiner, S. Caney, D. Jamieson and H. Shue, 163-177.
2009
‘Justice and the Distribution of Greenhouse Gas Emissions’, Journal of Global Ethics, vol.5 no.2 (2009), 125-146. This was reprinted in
(a) Global Social Justice (London: Routledge, 2011) edited by H. Widdows & N. Smith, 58-81;
(b) Globalization and Common Responsibilities of States (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012) edited by K. De Feyter, 11-32; and
(c) Ethics, Environmental Justice and Climate Change (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2016) edited by P. Harris, 125-146.
‘Climate Change and the Future: Discounting for Time, Wealth and Risk’, Journal of Social Philosophy, vol.40 no.2 (2009), 163-186.
‘Giustizia, Morale e Mercato delle Emissioni’, Ragion Pratica, vol.32 June (2009), 203-227.
A revised version was reprinted as ‘Gerechtigkeit, Moral und Emissionshandel’ in Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Verteilungskonflikten (Baden-Baden: NOMOS Verlag, 2012) edited by R. Kreide, C. Landwehr, K. Toens, 211-245;
'Human Rights, Responsibilities, and Climate Change' in Global Basic Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009) edited by C. Beitz and R. Goodin, 227-247. This was reprinted in: Environmental Rights (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012) edited by S. Vanderheiden;
2008
‘Human Rights, Climate Change, and Discounting’, Environmental Politics vol.17 no.4 (2008), 536-555. A revised version has been reprinted in Climate Change, Ethics and Human Security (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010) edited by K. O’Brien, A. St. Clair, and B. Kristoffersen, 113-130.
2006
‘Environmental Degradation, Reparations, and the Moral Significance of History’, Journal of Social Philosophy, vol.37 no.3 (2006), 464-482.
‘Cosmopolitan Justice, Rights and Global Climate Change’, Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, vol.XIX no.2 (2006), 255-278.
2005
‘Cosmopolitan Justice, Responsibility, and Global Climate Change’, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol.18 no.4 (2005), 747-775. This was reprinted in
(a) The Global Justice Reader (Oxford: Blackwell, 2009) edited by T. Brooks, 689-713;
(b) Climate Ethics: Essential Readings (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010) edited by S. Gardiner, S. Caney, D. Jamieson and H. Shue, 122-145;
(c) La Pensée Écologique: Une Anthologie (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2013) edited by D. Bourg and A. Fragnière (an excerpt), 795-802;
(d) Environmental Justice (Farnham: Ashgate, 2015) edited by S. Vanderheiden; and
(e) Ethics, Environmental Justice and Climate Change (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2016) edited by P. Harris, 747-775.
