Bulletin n. 2/2016 | ||
December 2016 | ||
Knight Carl |
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Climate change, fundamental interests, and global justice | ||
in Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy , Volume 19, Issue 5, 2016 , 2016 , 629-644 | ||
Abstract Political philosophers commonly tackle the issue of climate change by focusing on fundamental interests as a basis for human rights. This approach struggles, however, in cases where one set of fundamental interests requires one course of action, and another set of fundamental interests requires a contradictory course of action. This article advances an alternative response to climate change based on an account of global justice that gives weight to utilitarian, prioritarian, and luck egalitarian considerations. A practical application of this pluralistic account is provided, which shows that it handles trade-offs between individuals’ interests in an appealing way and that it supports an aggressive policy of climate change mitigation. This account provides a more plausible justification for rights against the harms of climate change. | ||