W12- Climate Change Powers

Question 1

Climate change moral questions

Answer 1

1. Do individuals have a moral responsibility to design their lives to combat climate change?
2. If so how demanding?
3. Obligations of nations?
4. Do wealthy nations hold more repsonsibility?

Question 2

Climate complication

Answer 2

Countries most affected are developing countries who have not contributed as much as developed nations

Question 3

Duty of mitigation

Answer 3

requires people to engage in ‘mitigation’. i.e., activities which reduce and eventually halt emissions
E.g. carbon off-setting

Question 4

Duty of adaptation

Answer 4

duty to facilitate and support ‘adaptation’ to climate change i.e. modifying human behaviour… in order to avoid catastrophic climate change

Question 5

The problem

Answer 5

The effects of greenhouse gas emissions (accumulated over hundreds of years) include rising global temperatures, which causes significant impacts on ecosystems, weather patterns, sea levels, etc.

Question 6

Polluter pays principle (PPP)

Answer 6

Those who caused the problem should pay
This is a backward-looking ‘historical principle’ that takes into account responsibility for past emissions
Duty to restore to the existing state of affairs (status quo)

Question 7

Beneficiary pays principle (BPP)

Answer 7

• You have benefitted most from the injustice so you pay!
• compensation to those who have been harmed is due from those that have benefited only if the actions of the predecessors can be shown to be morally culpable
• affluent nation-states should be responsible for addressing climate change not individuals or corporations

Question 8

Human Rights Approach - Ability to pay principle (APP)

Answer 8

• Those who have the greatest ability to pay should pay
• This is a forward-looking ‘time-slice principle’ that looks at existing wealth distribution and allocates responsibility accordingly

Question 9

Negative rights approach

Answer 9

Negative rights: to not “interfere with others’ ability to maintain a decent human life for themselves
P1: catastrophic climates change will violate various human rights
P2: we are under a duty to avoid activities which violate human rights
C: therefore, we are under a duty to avoid activities which promotes catastrophic climate change

Question 10

Against PPP

Answer 10

1) The major historical polluters did not know what they were doing
2) The major polluters at the time, the UK and the US, would not be able to pay for it alone now. Need a more global effort

Question 11

Against BPP

Answer 11

1) Even the poorest countries benefit from the system that has created emissions
2) The non-identity problem – it is incoherent to say that you have benefitted from the injustice because without the injustice you would not exist.
3) Nations aren’t right entities to hold accountable

Question 12

Rebuttal PPP objection

Answer 12

strict liability- holding them causally responsibly rather than morally responsible

Question 13

Rebuttal BPP objection

Answer 13

nations- they make decisions that make a footprint thus should be held responsible