Diotima: The Marist Undergraduate Philosophy Journal
vulnerability, institutional coordination, past emissions, resource availability, and competing moral duties. There is disagreement about whether “the right to pollute” should be ascribed such that individuals have an equal burden or equal absolute share of emissions reductions. Anil Agarwal and Sunita Narain assert that individuals should be granted an equal “per capita” emissions quota. 9 Others argue that we phase in the equal “per capita” view over time so that individuals who reside in countries with currently high per capita emissions begin with a greater- than-equal share of emissions, which would decrease over time as economies trend towards decarbonization. There is further disagreement about the extent to which we consider past emissions. Some assert that emissions rights should be primarily linked to countries, so that a country's past emissions are deducted from the per capita emissions quota of its citizens. 10 To navigate this minefield of equity considerations, philosophers have advocated broad principles that assign responsibility, including the polluter pays, beneficiary pays, and able to pay principles. 11 However, these principles are designed for application on global scales in which nations are rights-bearers. If applied at the individual level, these principles again become inequitable because different additional inequalities exist within nationals, states, communities, etc. The literature review underscores a major deficiency in philosophy attempting to guide the ethical reduction of GHG emissions. Since the majority of literature considers how responsibility ought to be attributed on national and 9 Anil Agarwal, & Sunita Narain, “Global Warming in an Unequal World” in India in a Warming World , 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199498734.003.0005. 10 Eric Neumayer, “In Defense of Historical Accountability for Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” Ecological Economics , 33 (2), 2000: 185–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0921-8009(00)00135-x. 11 Rebecca Buxton, “Reparative Justice for Climate Refugees,” Philosophy , 94 (02), 2019: 193–219. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031819119000019
Volume VIII (2025) 21
Made with FlippingBook Annual report maker