ONLINE FIRST
published on December 7, 2021
Blake Francis

https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics202112230
Climate Change Injustice
Many climate change ethicists argue wealthy nations have duties of justice to combat climate change. However, Posner and Weisbach disagree because there is a poor fit between the principles of justice and the problem of climate change. I argue in this paper that Posner and Weisbach¡¯s argument relies on what Judith Shklar calls ¡°the normal model of justice,¡± the view that injustice results when principles are violated. Applying Shklar¡¯s critique of normal justice, I argue that Posner and Weisbach¡¯s argument limits injustice to include complaints that match rules and principles, shielding the unjust from responsibility and assuming falsely that judgments about injustice can be made from a singular perspective. Drawing on Shklar, this paper develops an account of climate change as a complement to mainstream climate ethicists. On this account, injustice results from indifference and the voices of those impacted by climate change and climate change policy have priority.