Principles of Justice and Real-World Climate Politics

There is a major divide between the work of normative theorists and concrete climate action (or inaction) politics and policies. In this volume, authors tackle the strained relationships between principles of justice and climate politics by responding to real-world climate politics and policies, offering proposals and analyses that take concerns of feasibility seriously, and identifying immediate justice and feasibility concerns with recent proposals for climate action. Contributors look at questions of feasibility as they relate to specific international institutions like the IPCC and UNFCCC, and widely discussed principles of climate justice, including backward-looking principles like polluter pays and forward-looking principles like ability to pay. Others explore the feasibility hurdles and justice concerns that challenge popular mitigation proposals.

These international and interdisciplinary contributors re-think the ways the principles of climate justice should be applied, speaking to students, research scholars, activists, and policymakers.

Corey Katz is assistant professor of philosophy at Georgian Court University and was the post-doctoral researcher in the ethics of sustainable development at the Center for Ethics and Human Values and the Philosophy Department at the Ohio State University. His research lies at the intersection of global, long-term environmental problems like climate change, and ethical and political philosophy.

Sarah Kenehan is associate professor of philosophy at Marywood University and works on issues of climate justice, global justice, and applied ethics. Recent publications include: Food, Environment, and Climate: Justice at the Intersection (Rowman and Littlefield, ed. With Erinn Gilson).