Mapping Climate Justice: Visualizing the Burden of Climate Stabilization

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Climate stabilization is among the most pressing challenges humanity faces in the 21st century. In the words of Pope Francis, “we can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity (2015, p. 78).” While consensus on the necessity for political action to combat climate change is building worldwide, significant questions about how this can be achieved remain. How can we imagine a just and fair, multinational, sharing of the burdens that must be met in order for humanity to successfully combat climate change? This is the problem that I have been working on for some time. My solution maps the future of climate justice using three key principles. First, the principle of climate justice within a country. This means that, as each country moves toward accomplishing their climate justice goals, low- and high-income households should share the same burden proportional to their dispensable income as they do so. Second, the principle of fair climate change burden sharing between countries. Since winning and losing from a warming earth differs vastly around the globe, fairness between countries means that the countries that benefit more from a warmer climate should also bear a higher burden of climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. Thirdly, I propose not only that justice be sought within and between countries today, but that we attend to climate justice over time. I argue that this historical, transgenerational, long-term approach to climate justice can be implemented through the use of innovative climate change bonds.