Summary Of Climate Matters: Ethics In A Warming World By John Broome
Devon McCann
October 26, 2015 In Climate Matters: Ethics in a Warming World, John Broome goes beyond the scientific facts of climate change and describes different lenses, be it economic or moral thinking, to view the issue.
Most everyone has heard the argument before that the economy is going to suffer due to climate change, however Broome's argument is an original one I had yet to hear. He argues that emissions of greenhouse gases cause external costs, which means they are inefficient in the sense that it is possible to make someone better off without making anyone worse off. In this case it would mean compensating those emitters who reduce their carbon emissions. The compensation to the emitters should be provided by others in the
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He seems to define weighing the balance of just and unjust between people currently living and future generations. He argues that though the emissions harm people currently living, the amount of suffering with multiply for the people in the future. Most people, including myself, would view justice and fairness as measurements between classes today. It is not often we think about the consequences of our actions after we are no longer around to assess them. Broome prescribes two different methods to help reduce carbon emissions; one for individuals and one for governments. Individuals have a duty of justice to do no harm to others, that is reduce their own carbon footprint and help support offset programs. Governments, on the other hand, have the duties of goodness to improve the world and lives of present generations. I am not in complete agreement with his differentiation between governments and individuals. Individuals have a responsibility to make sure their government is fulfilling their duties of goodness and to elect those (assuming it is a democracy) who will do just that, thus doesn’t that duty also transfer onto them? Though I do appreciate how Broome views the government as an institution and differentiate it as such, I am not sure its responsibilities are such vastly different from an
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