Global Intergenerational Justice

Abstract

Abstract Many serious problems of intergenerational justice are global in nature. An obvious example is climate change, but there are numerous others. A theory of global intergenerational justice is concerned with what principles of justice apply to all persons across the world (the global component), including both those alive at one time and those who will live in the future (the intergenerational component). This chapter introduces a particular cosmopolitan account of justice, one grounded in a liberal egalitarian account of justice, and examines how one might apply such an approach over time. A theory of global intergenerational justice must address two key questions. First, What principles of distributive justice should apply between generations? Second, since distributive justice concerns the just distribution of burdens and benefits we need to know what makes something a ‘burden’ and what makes something a ‘benefit’. The chapter begins by considering the first question and exploring six principles of global intergenerational distributive justice. It then turns to the second question. While many policymakers focus on economic criteria like the level of gross domestic product, this chapter explores three challenges to this and considers an alternative.