Determining What Equity Means in the Context of Global Climate Change

• Author: Shannon M. Roesler
• Pages: 243-260

243

Chapter 13:

Determining What Equity

Means in the Context of

Global Climate Change

Shan non M . Roe sler

Two decades ago, ecological economist Herman Daly called the

“term ‘sustainable growth ’ when applied to the economy . . . a

bad oxymoron— self-contra dictory as prose, and unevocat ive as

poetry.”1 is is so because the natura l world upon which economic growth

depends is not innite; if ec onomic expansion oc curs without respecting

the l imits of the nat ural world, it wi ll overtax the environment’s capacity

to regenerate natural re sources and to absorb t he waste and byproducts of

economic expa nsion. Consequently, we cannot keep e xpanding our econo-

mies without careful attention to the short- and long-term eects on t he

natura l environment.

If we are to consi der what sustai nabil ity means in the age of cl imate

chan ge, we ca nnot ignore the complex relat ionship betwe en mark et econ-

omies a nd the natura l world. In relyi ng on fossil fu els to d rive our econo-

mies, we a re depleting nonrenewable natural resources and overta xing

the earth ’s capac ity to assimilat e carbon dioxide and other green house

gase s emitte d when we ext ract and burn these fuels. Natural “sinks”— the

atmosphere, the ocean, and the forest s—have limited cap acitie s to absorb

these gas es.

As we reach these lim its, the earth warms and its climate changes, and as

the climate changes, human societ ies face a range of negative consequences.

Severe weather events, such as tropical cyclones and droughts, grow in

intensity.2 Sea levels rise, which in tur n increases oodi ng and threatens the

1. Herman E. Daly, Sustainable Growth: An Impossibility eorem, in V  E 267 (Herman

E. Daly & Kenneth N. Townsend eds., 1992).

2. See I P  C C (IPCC), M  R  E

E  D  A C C A 13 (2012), available at http://

I want to thank Jessica Owley and Keith Hirokawa for their thoughtful comments and

suggestions in editing this chapter.

244 Rethinking Sustainability

very existence of smal l isla nd states.3 Changes in climate alter agricultural

conditions and deplete water supplies, resulting in food scarcit y and human

migration.4 Variability in cli mate also aggravates climate-sensitive dise ases,

such as malaria.5

ese impacts hit the world’s poorest populations the hardest.6 Geo-

graphic factors are partially responsible. Par ts of A sia, for ex ample, are par-

ticularly vulnerable to increased ooding and storm intensity due to sea-level

rise.7 But even moderate impacts will pose substantia l problems for develop-

ing countries because t hey lack the nancia l resources to prepare for what is

to come and to respond to it when it happens.8 Moreover, should they wish

to mitigate future climate change by reducing global emissions of green-

house gases, they lack the political power to persuade richer nations to make

the necessary reductions. Unilateral reductions or limitations by develop-

ing countries ma ke little sense because developed countries (and China) are

responsible for the vast majority of emissions and because mitigation policies

could limit developing countries’ economic growth.

Because t he impacts of climate change wil l vary from place to place and

because countries are not equally able to mitigate cli mate change impacts

by reducing emissions, any attempt to mitigate and adapt to the eects of

climate change will raise questions of equity. Deciding, for example, how to

allocate c arbon emissions for purposes of a global emissions trading regime

requires a distributive rule t hat reects a normative principle of equality. In

the international context, policyma kers could decide to allocate emissions

equally, granting governments a per capita share. Or, policymakers could

decide to place the burden of emissions reductions entirely on rich nat ions,

allowing developing countries to expand t heir economies wit hout regard

to emissions limits. Another possibility is to ensure that a ll societies are

guaranteed a level of emissions that will continue to meet their basic needs

however dened.

www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/srex/SREX_Full_Report.pdf.

3. See id.; see also I P  C C (IPCC), C C 2007:

W G II: I, A  V §19.3.3 (2007), available at http://

www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch19s19-3-3.html [h ereinafter IPCC, C

C 2007].

4. See IPCC, C C 2007, supra note 3, §19.3.

5. See W H O  W M A, A  H

 C 4 (2012).

6. According to the IPCC, the world’s poorest continent, Africa, is likely to be the most aected by

climate change. IPCC, C C 2007, supra note 3, §19.3.3.

7. See id. §10.4.3.1.

8. See Ruth Gordon, Climate Change and the Poorest Nations: Further Reections on Global Inequality,

78 U. C. L. R. 1559 (2007).