Common concern for the global ecological commons: solidarity with future generations?

Marianne Takle

doi:10.1177/00471178211036218

Abstract

This article elaborates on ideas concerning future generations and whether they are useful in understanding some aspects of the concern for the global ecological commons. The article’s main scholarly contribution is to develop analytical tools for examining what a concern for future generations would require of current generations. It combines the scholarly literature on future generations with that of solidarity. The ideas concerning future generations are interpreted in terms of an ideal typical concept of solidarity with future generations. This concept is divided into four dimensions: the foundation of solidarity, the objective of solidarity, the boundaries of solidarity and the collective orientation. By applying these four dimensions in the context of the political process leading to Agenda 2030, the potentials and limitations of the concept are evident. The article concludes that the absence of reciprocity between current and future generations and uncertainty about the future are both crucial issues, which cut across the four dimensions. We cannot expect anything from people who have not yet been born, and we do not know what preferences they will have. This shows the vulnerability of forward-looking appeals to solidarity with future generations. Nevertheless, such appeals to solidarity may give global political processes a normative content and direction and can thereby contribute to understanding common concerns for the global ecological commons.

Highlights

Since the early 1970s, there has been an increasing recognition of the finite nature of the planet’s natural environment including the atmosphere, the ozone layer, the global system cycles, the climate system, as well as genetic and species diversity
The foundation of solidarity with future generations is emphasized, as the natural environment was framed as a global ecological common that needs to be safeguarded for all people today and in the future
This article explores ideas concerning future generations and whether they are useful in understanding some aspects of the concern for the global ecological commons

Summary

Introduction

Since the early 1970s, there has been an increasing recognition of the finite nature of the planet’s natural environment including the atmosphere, the ozone layer, the global system cycles, the climate system, as well as genetic and species diversity. Elaborating on this question, the article explores whether ideas about future generations can be crucial for understanding aspects of the global commons It develops an ideal typical concept of solidarity with future generations and applies it to the global ecological commons. The foundation for solidarity could be defined as a matter of safeguarding the global ecological commons The potential of such a concept is associated with a new awareness that use of natural resources needs to be assessed in relation to what is left to future generations, and that the contemporary way of life in large parts of the world will lead to escalating global.

Objective

Summary and conclusion