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Climate Change Justice
ERIC A. POSNER* & CASS R. SuNSTEIN**
Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would cost some nations much more than others and benefit some nations far less than others. Significant reductions would likely impose especially large costs on the United States, and recent projections suggest that the United States is not among the nations most at risk from climate change. In these circumstances, what does justice require the United States to do? Many people believe that the United States is required to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions beyond the point that is justified by its own self-interest,simply because the United States is wealthy, and because the nations most at risk from climate change are poor This argument from distributive justice is complemented by an argument from corrective justice: The existing "stock" of greenhouse gas emissions owes a great deal to the past actions of the United States, and many people think that the UnitedStates should do a greatdeal to reduce a problemfor which it is disproportionately responsible. But there are serious difficulties with both of these arguments. On reasonableassumptions, redistributionfrom the United States to poorpeople in poor nations would be highly desirable,but expenditures on greenhousegas reductions are a crude means ofproducing that redistribution:It would be much better to give cash payments directly to people who are now poor The argumentfrom correctivejustice runs into the standardproblems that arise when collectivities, such as nations, are treated as moral agents: Many people who have not acted wrongfully end up being forced to provide a remedy to many people who have not been victimized Without reachingspecific conclusions about the proper response of any particular nation, and while emphasizing that welfarist arguments strongly support some kind of international agreement to protect againstclimate change, we contend that standardarguments from distributive and correctivejustice fail to provide strongjustificationsfor imposing special obligationsfor greenhouse gas reductionson the United States. This claim has general implicationsfor thinking about both distributivejustice and corrective justice arguments in the context of internationallaw and internationalagreements.
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Kirkland & Ellis Professor, University of Chicago Law School. © 2008, Eric A. Posner.
** Karl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor, Law School and Department of Political
Science, University of Chicago. © 2008, Cass R. Sunstein. Thanks to Matthew Adler, Joseph Aldy, Susan Bandes, Daniel Cole, Tom Ginsburg, Robert Hahn, Richard McAdams, Frank Michelman, Jonathan Nash, David Strauss, Adrian Vermeule, David Weisbach, and Noah Zatz for helpful comments. Thanks too to workshop participants at Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago Law School. We are grateful to Bryan Mulder for superb research assistance.
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The problem of climate change raises difficult issues of science, economics, and justice. Of course the scientific and economic issues loom large in public
debates, and they have been analyzed in great detail. 1 By contrast, the question of justice, while also playing a significant role in such debates, has rarely received sustained attention.2 Several points are clear. Although the United States long led the world in greenhouse gas emissions, China is now the world's leading emitter. 3 The two nations account for about 40% of the world's emissions, but to date, they have independently refused to accept binding emissions limitations, apparently because of a belief that the domestic costs of such limitations would exceed the benefits. 4 The emissions of the United States and China threaten to impose serious losses on other nations and regions, including Europe but above all India and Africa.5 For this reason, it is tempting to argue that both nations are, in a sense, engaging in tortious acts against those nations that are most vulnerable to climate change. This argument might seem to have special force as applied to the actions of the United States. While the emissions of the United States are growing relatively slowly, that nation remains by far the largest contributor to the existing "stock" of greenhouse gases. Because of its past contributions, does the United States owe remedial action or material compensation to those nations, or those citizens, most likely to be harmed by climate change? Principles of corrective justice might seem to require that the largest emitting nation pay damages to those who are hurt6-and that they scale back their emissions as well. Questions of corrective justice are entangled with questions of distributive justice. The United States has the highest Gross Domestic Product of any nation in the world, and its wealth might suggest that it has a special duty to help to reduce the damage associated with climate change. Are the obligations of the comparatively poor China, the leading emitter, equivalent to those of the comparatively rich United States, the second-leading emitter? Does it not matter
1. For a useful but controversial overview of both, see NicHoLAs STERN, THE ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE (2007). On the economics, see generally William Nordhaus, The Challenge of Global Warming: Economic Models and Environmental Policy (2007), available at http://nordhaus.econ.yale.edu/ dice mss_072407_all:pdf (unpublished manuscript); for an overview of the science, see generally JOHN HOUGHTON, GLOBAL WARMING: THE CoMPLETE BRIEFING (3d ed. 2005). The most detailed reports come from the International Panel on Climate Change [hereinafter IPCC], available at http://www.ipcc.chl index.htm. 2. Valuable treatments include Dale Jamieson, Adaptation, Mitigation, and Justice, in PERSPECTnvE ON CLIMATE CHANGE: ScIENCE, ECONoMICs, PoLmCs, ETmIcs 217 (Walter Sinnott-Armstrong & Richard Howarth eds., 2005); Julia Driver, Ideal Decision Making and Green Virtues, in id.-at 249. Some of the ethical issues are also engaged in STERN, supra note 1. 3. See Audra Ang, China Overtakes U.S. as Top C0 2 Emitter, AssociATED PRESs ONLINE, June 21, 2007, availableat http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id= 3299098. 4. 'See ScoTr BARRETT, ENVIRoNMENT & STATECRAFr (2004), for a good overview of the American position, with particular reference to the Kyoto Protocol; see NAT'L DEv. & REFORM COMM'N, PEOPLE'S REPuBLIc OF CHINA, CHINA's NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAMME (June 2007), for an overview of the
Chinese position.
5. See WILLIAM NORDHAus & JosEPH BOYER, WARMING THE WORLD 91 (2000). 6. See, e.g., Jagdish Bhagwati, A Global Warming Fund Could Succeed Where Kyoto Failed, FIN. TaIEs, Aug. 16, 2006, at 13.
the world. 10. 135. Richard Tol. on the basis of remarks by economist Richard Tol. some nations. supra note 1. 9. at 131.edu/files/352. available at http://www. Such a tax would be likely to impose especially significant costs on the United States. See Nordhaus. Cline's most noteworthy conclusion is "that the composition of agricultural effects is likely to be seriously unfavorable to developing countries. see BJoRN LOMBORG. at 11. for example. with the most severe losses occurring in Africa. . see Cass R. supra. at 15. taken as a whole. REv. COOL IT 153 (2007) (suggesting. however. The effects on wealthy nations are far more modest. We do not question the claim that the domestic cost-benefit analysis for the United States justifies participation in a suitably designed international agreement. for example. would benefit from an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CLINE. The Complex Climate Change Incentives of China and the United States. that the world settled on a specified carbon . and that the expected damage." Id. or even $10 per ton. Broadly in accord are WILLIAM CLINE. from the agreement that would be optimal from the world's point of 1 view. 21 ENvTL.1568 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. On the plausibility of this assumption. $40 per ton. at 67-71. Note that carbon dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas. First. are likely to lose much more. and we do not attempt to give complete answers here. 12 If so. See Nordhaus. Our narrow goal is to evaluate the arguments from corrective justice and distributive justice. should the United States be willing to sign an agreement that is optimal for the world as a whole-but not optimal for the United States? These are large questions. supra note 1. in terms of health and agriculture. a $2-per-ton carbon tax). See id. the United States might be a net loser from a specified worldwide carbon tax even if the world gains a great deal. (forthcoming 2008). To motivate the analysis. supra note 5. 96:1565 that China's per capita emissions remain a mere fraction of that of the United States? Perhaps most important: Because of its wealth. Perhaps the optimal carbon tax. and so a carbon tax would be only a partial solution. 8. and many people may believe that the opti- 7. See No. would be $40 per ton. for the world. supra note 1. 157 (2002). we start with two admittedly controversial assumptions. such as India and those in Sub-Saharan Africa. above all the United States (and China as well). We have said that both assumptions are controversial.7 This assumption is reasonable because increasing evidence suggests that the global benefits of imaginable steps-such as a modest carbon tax. For an especially low but still positive figure. GLOBAL WARMING AND AGRICULTURE: IMPACT EsTIMATES BY COUNTRY 67-71 (2007). ° Suppose. growing over time 8-are significantly larger than the global costs. For the most comprehensive evidence. on net. or $15 per ton. might not benefit. Latin America. Estimates of the Damage Costs of Climate Change. and to put those arguments in their starkest form." Suppose also that the United States is less vulnerable than many other nations to serious losses from climate change. and we are aware that they might be questioned. DHAus & BOYER. and India. Sunstein. For expository clarity.pdf.law. 12. at 2. 11. 9 Second. but the United States would do better with a worldwide carbon tax of $20 per ton. see generally IPCC. is comparatively low-and that in those terms other nations. simply because its per capita emissions rate is so high. 55 UCLA L. STERN. & REsOURCE EcoN. we will focus on carbon taxes and similar regimes.uchicago. at 91.tax-say. supra note 1.
as seems clear. Climate Change andAnimals. see MATTHEW ADLER & ERic A. 14. On conventional assumptions. If the United States loses more than the world gains. See RicHARD STEwART & JONATHAN WENER. the standard resolution of the problem is clear: The world should enter into the optimal agreement. whereas another would be technological assistance. supra note 4. that the United States would lose. the world should act so as to induce it to participate in an agreement that would promote the welfare of the world's citizens. on net. an agreement might be justified on welfare grounds even without side payments. See NoRDHAus & BoYER. L. NORTHEAST (2007). and the United States should be given side-payments in return for its participation. PA. whereas the United States would pay somewhat more and gain somewhat less. Sunstein. at 15. 15. 18. and yet another would be initial allocations under a cap-and-trade program. see BARRETT. An illuminating discussion of some of the complexities here can be found in ScoTt BARRErr. As a matter of actual practice. See the general treatment of the "Side Payments Game" in id. See BARRETT. at -346-49.' 8 an international agreement could be designed so as to make all nations better off and no nation 13. available at http://www. 16. An important clarification that will emerge from the discussion: We are not suggesting that as a matter of first principle.1 4 Suppose. Significant side-payments were given to poor nations in connection with the Montreal Protocol. WHY COOPERATE? (2007). as we shall see-one possibility would be cash. See STEwART & WIENER. We are not contending that benefits and costs should be understood in purely monetary terms. See Wayne Hsiung & Cass R. we do not mean to take a stand on the interests of nonhuman animals at risk from climate change. at 335-51. for example.S. does this point suggest about the proper content of the agreement? Let us assume.org/assetsldocuments/climatechoices/ confronting-climate-change-in-the-u-s-northeast.pdf. this approach is the correct one. it remains important to specify the content of that agreement. 17. In referring to citizens. arguing for significant steps for the United States and suggesting significant losses for a large part of the United States. For a recent study. For general discussion. if anything.1 But even if this is so. Side-payments might take various forms. What. With side-payments to the United States. supra note 4. Thus. On side-payments in general. the optimal agreement should be assessed by reference to the overall benefits and costs 1 6 of the relevant commitments for the world. POSNER. at 162. 155 U. . supra note 13. To the extent that the United States is a net loser. most starkly. RECONSTRUCTING CLIMATE PoLicy: BEYOND KYOTO 49-53 (2003) (suggesting that participation by the United States is in that nation's interest and suggesting steps that might make participation worthwhile for China as well). NEw FOUNDATIONs FOR CosT-BENEFrr ANALYSiS (2005). Russia and Eastern Europe were given emissions rights worth billions of dollars in the Kyoto Protocol. from a climate change agreement that is optimal from the standpoint of the world taken as a whole.. CONFRONTING CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE U. at 335-58. REv 1695 (2007). of the kind that have elsewhere induced reluctant nations to join environmental treaties. see generally PETER FRUMHOFF ET AL. supra note 5. for example. that India and Africa would pay little and gain a great deal from an agreement.' 7 taken as a whole.' 5 The reason for this approach is straightforward.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1569 the mal agreement for 3 world is not terribly far from the optimal agreement for the United States.climatechoices. nor are we saying anything contentious about what benefit-cost analysis should entail.
L. that one of the most influential articles in tort law explores this possibility.Southern Moral Entitlement and InternationalEnvironmental Governance. Farber.2 3 No one thinks that assistance to the United States. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF LAW 10-16 (6th ed. 1115-25 (1975). ONE WORLD (2002). 1605.Tim ECONOMISTS' VOICE. 1. were given financial assistance as an inducement to reduce their emissions of ozonedepleting chemicals. See generally RIcHARD A. available at www. or to other wealthy countries. 16-17 (2007).action.bepress. 1089.2 2 and indeed the "Bali Roadmap" seems to do so. 1641 (2007). 23. See United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC]. In Defense of HistoricalAccountability for Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Stavins.19Who could oppose an agreement based on international Paretianism? Our puzzle is that almost everyone does so. Indeed. the Pareto principle is satisfied when a project makes at least one person better off without making anyone else worse off. e. Subsistence Emissions and Luxury Emissions..1570 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. The United States is the richest nation in the world. including China.bali. 155 U. available at http://unfccc. May 2007. 22.g. In the exhaustive analysis in STERN. 20. See Guido Calabresi & A. it might be far more plausible to suggest that nations should pay China for agreeing to participate in a climate change agreement. Daniel A. POSNER. there is no suggestion of side-payments to the United States. See. Sunstein. above all the United States. and above all by poor nations.com/ev. 21. L. 33 EcoLoGicAL EcON. developing nations. Note. e. 363 (2002). See Cass R. The dominant view among philosophers is decidedly to the contrary. have imposed serious risks on other nations. One reason involves distributive justice. Basic Compensationfor Victims of Climate Change. wrongdoers should pay for the damage that they have caused and should be asked to stop. See. Of Montreal and Kyoto: A Tale of Two Protocols. J. Eric Neumayer. however.85 HARv. They should not be compensated 19. also discussed infra note 167. by suggesting financial assistance to developing nations. But claims about distributive justice are only part of the story here. wealthy nations should be expected to contribute a great deal to solving the climate change problem.int/files/meetings/cop-13/application/pdf/cp-. Corrective justice matters as well. ENvTL. supra note 1.25 On the conventional view. 185. 2003). If ideas of distributive justice are at work. .2 4 The basic thought is that the largest emitters. and many people would find it odd to suggest that the world's richest nation should receive compensation for helping to solve a problem faced by the world as a whole. And indeed. 25. L. Northern Economic Obligation. see Mark A. REv.31 HARv. A Meaningful Second Commitment Periodfor the Kyoto Protocol. Surely it cannot be right for nations to request payments in return for ceasing to harm others. for example. Bali Action Plan.g.2 ' Some people think that a climate change agreement should build on this precedent. side-payments would be perverse. 96:1565 worse off. perhaps on the ground that the argument would be regarded as preposterous. Douglas Melamed. Call this a form of internationalParetianism. the United States is not even arguing for side-payments. ENVTL. 24. For other examples of side payments in environmental treaties.. Drumbl. PETER SINGER. PA. REV. is in order. Sheila Olmstead & Robert N.pdf [hereinafter Bali Action Plan]. No one is suggesting that the world should offer side-payments to the United States. Liability Rules and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral.2 ° On this view. Property Rules. REv. Henry Shue. 15 LAW & POL'Y 39 (1993). L. In economics. 187 (2000) (noting that "almost every scholar and policy maker from the developing world" supports taking into account differences in historical emissions). 27 COLUM.
See LOMBORG. and agricultural benefits in Argentina. that such a tax could be accompanied with economic assistance for those who need it. Bhagwati et al. Spain. Redistribution from wealthy countries to poor countries is hardly the same as redistribution from wealthy people to poor people. 28 But significant greenhouse gas reductions are a crude and somewhat puzzling way of attempting to achieve redistributive goals. See generally MARTHA C. supra note 12. of course. since a dollar is worth more to a poor person than to a wealthy one. REv. 33. Belgium. then.32 For another thing. 32. could make the future far less wealthy than the present. at 627 (remarks of Thomas Schelling). Our puzzle. GLOBAL SOLUrIONs 605. InternationalLaw: A Welfarist Approach. We shall raise serious questions about both accounts here. China.. NUSSBAUM. L. 30. poor people in wealthy countries may well pay a large part of the bill for emissions reductions. Posner. 28. Japan.33 The upshot is that if wealthy people in wealthy nations want to help poor people in poor nations. This is a claim about history. for example. CLNE. supra note 5. 73 U. rather than to current poor people? 30 In any case. See Eric A. and Russia). Russia. Canada. with carbon fertilization). 26. 635 (Bjorn Lomborg ed. Rejecting international Paretianism. 2004) (remarks of Vernon Smith). 29. For one thing. to the extent that agricultural productivity will increase 3 and to the extent that they will suffer less from extremes of cold. 487. 27. Id. id. people are likely to be much wealthier than people are now. and we do not contend that increasing wealth is built into the fabric of the universe. in GLOBAL CRisas. Catastrophic climate change. FRONTMERS OF JUSTICE (2006). we agree that in many domains. is why distributive justice is taken to require wealthy nations to help poor ones in the context of climate change.2 6 Such redistribution might well increase aggregate social welfare. 31. at 67-71 (showing agricultural benefits in New Zealand without carbon fertilization. resources should be redistributed from rich nations and rich people to poor nations and poor people. at 76 (showing benefits in China. a stiff tax on carbon emissions would come down especially hard on the poor. 29 Why should wealthy countries give money to future poor people. they are collections of people. Expert PanelRanking.20081 CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1571 for taking corrective action. Germany. emissions reductions are unlikely to be the best means by which they might to do so. at 12. Current emissions reductions will generally fail to help current poor people.2 7 prominent nonwelfarist arguments also favor such redistribution. many poor people in some countries will benefit from global warming. . and the United States. simply because the effects of such reductions will not be felt for many years. Cm. See NoRaDHtAus & BoYEa. The arc of human history suggests that in the future. France. supra note 9. See Jagdish N. when wealthy nations are not being asked to help poor ones in areas in which the argument for help is significantly stronger. -nations are not people.. at 505. 500-09 (2006). 630. It is possible.
35.34 the view that when people in one nation wrongfully harm people in another nation. and it is hard to blame all greenhouse gas-emitters for wrongful behavior. 96:1565 We also accept. act. is justified. corrective justice arguments in the domain of climate change raise many of the same problems that beset such arguments in the context of reparations more generally. Consider the example of genocide: If a nation could prevent genocide at a modest cost to itself. have a special obligation to remedy the harms they have helped cause and certainly should not be given side-payments. and we would approve of a situation in which wealthy nations are willing to engage in a degree of self-sacrifice and would urge only that they should choose the most efficient method for aiding others. with American participation. might ultimately justify American participation in an agreement that is not in the 34. See Nordhaus. It might seem to follow that the largest emitters. the United States should probably participate even if the domestic cost-benefit analysis does not clearly justify such participation. But the application of standard principles of corrective justice to problems of climate change runs' into serious objections. especially those from the past who are partly responsible for the current stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Blame must ordinarily be apportioned to individuals. 36. including those raised by climate change. Nor do we exclude the possibility that some idea of "rough justice. We would prefer to understand the issue in welfarist terms. Notably. both of them face serious difficulties. and that once the two arguments are separated. Our principal submissions are that the distributive justice argument must be separated from the corrective justice argument." attentive to the difficulty of achieving optimal redistribution or corrective justice in its standard form. 36 We reject international Paretianism. As we shall show. This conclusion should not be misunderstood. It is true that many people in poor nations are at risk because of the actions of many people in the United States. reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely to be the best way for it to accomplish that goal. even if that nation is a net loser. except metaphorically. Nations are not individuals: they do not have mental states and cannot. the wrongdoers have a moral obligation to provide a remedy to the victims. at 152. for purposes of argument. Lomborg's skeptical treatment of many arguments on behalf of greenhouse gas reductions argues for a significant tax on carbon emissions. at 137. Corrective justice might well be seen as a kind of heuristic for welfarism. at 49-52.1572 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. We favor a welfarist approach to international questions. supra note 1. but this view is controversial. and above all the United States. but the idea of corrective justice does not easily justify any kind of transfer from contemporary Americans to people now or eventually living in (for example) India and Africa. If the United States wants to assist poor nations. . supra note 13. and we do not attempt to defend it here. See SmwART & WmER. supra note 9.3 5 and all things considered. LomBORG. it should do so. We do not question the proposition that an international agreement to control greenhouse gases.
respectively.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1573 nation's domestic self-interest. See the brief discussion of biodiversity in BARREerr.3 8 As we shall see. distributive justice and corrective justice ideas are invoked in favor of the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities. 4 ° We concentrate in this Part on a review of those facts that are most relevant to the questions of justice and that help establish the complex relationship between the interests of the world. taken as a whole. In many domains.g. A/CoNF. I. but it is important to see that other redistributive strategies might be much better for helping those who are most disadvantaged. The rest of this Article comes in four parts. Among international lawyers. identification of the underlying difficulties has general implications for thinking about distributive and corrective justice in the context of international law and international agreements. supra note 14. Common but DifferentiatedResponsibilities in InternationalLaw. 98 AM. Part I briefly outlines relevant facts about the climate change problem. 151/5/REv. See supra note 1. and the interests of the United States. UN Doc. For a valuable discussion that touches on both the distributive justice and corrective justice problems with this view." the idea that wealthier and more-at-fault nations should contribute disproportionately to the creation of international public goods. Rio DECLARATION ON ENViRoNMENT AND DEvELoPlmENT at 877. J. See. As we shall see. above all the United States. it is important to identify both the actors and the victims. e. often beg or obscure the key questions. distributive justice might seem to require wealthy nations to make special contributions. abstract references to nations as wrongdoers. Our goal here is not to question these propositions or to suggest any particular approach to the climate change problem. Part IV discusses the view. Parts II and III turn to the questions of distributive justice and corrective justice. this claim amounts to a plea for significant redistribution from wealthy countries. at 350. 38. 40. and to nations as victims. that emissions rights should be allocated on a per capita basis.. see generally Christopher D. DwFERENwiAL TREATMENT IN INTERNATIONAL ENvIRoNmENTAL LAW (2006). 276 (2004). Our argument suggests that if the goal is to act in accordance with corrective justice. pressed by China in particular.N. Stone. 39. above all China and India. but more narrowly to show that contrary to widespread beliefs. We turn to the notion of common but differentiated responsibilities in Part III. supra note 2. ETHICALLY RELEVANT FACTS It is an understatement to say that there is a voluminous literature on the science and economics of climate change. Iw'L L. Because it pro37. As we will see. ON ENv'T & DEv.3 9 Such nations would do well to pay their proportionate share or even more. . 31 ILM 874 (1992). See also LAvANYA RAJAMANI. to poor countries. 1 (1992). Corrective justice arguments arise in many areas in which previous generations in one nation acted in a way that harmed or threatened to harm those in another nation. CoNF. different nations stand to gain and to lose significantly different amounts both from climate change and from emissions reductions. 37 standard ideas about distributive or corrective justice poorly fit the climate change problem. Jamieson. See U.
followed by larger an ones over time. Oct. For our purposes it is not necessary to explore the resulting debates. at 108-09.-Dec. and so forth all would pay the same tax (on the theory that the relevant amount would reflect the social cost of the emissions). But as compared to "business as usual. Symposium. supra note 1 (arguing for aggressive. at 75-238. supra note 1. Symposium on Intergenerational 44." much would be gained. WoRL ECON. 96:1565 vides an illuminating comparison. supra note 1. LOMRORG. the benefits would almost certainly exceed the costs. 46 A worldwide tax on carbon emissions might start relatively low-at. For discussion. WORVD EcON.-June 2007. See supranote 1. WoRLD ECON. say. Chi. Compare STERN. at 25 (arguing for modest carbon tax). Stem's conclusion is driven by a choice of a discount rate close to zero. Diverse perspectives and vigorous debates can be found in the various contributions to Symposium. designed to capture the externalities associated with climate change.-Mar. Rev. supra note 1. 42 To be sure. see generally Equity and Discounting. for a 10% reduction. we shall draw special attention to the situation of China as well. different nations would gain and lose different amounts from any given tax. 2007.4 7 On an approach of this kind.4 trillion net present-value benefit of an "optimal" climate change policy). 46.supra note 13. See STEWART & WINER.. Climate Change.g. by a specified 41. Climate Change. immediate restrictions). See Nordhaus. nations might create a worldwide "cap" on aggregate emissions---calling. the United States. if modest reduction policies were adopted soon. with LOMBORG.. IN GENERAL As we have noted. say. it should select one of two possible approaches. There is also a consensus that if the world does undertake an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. STEWART & WtENER. $10 per ton-and increase as technology advances. The second approach would involve a system of cap-and-trade.4 5 The first is an emissions tax. at 171 (claiming a $3. 74 U.4 1 If all of the major emitting nations agreed to such steps.. 47. see Nordhaus. see STERN. perhaps aggressive reductions are justified in the near future. 49 Under such a system. China. See Nordhaus. at 121-36 (defending carbon tax). e. it is generally assumed that the tax would be uniform. at 152 (suggesting a range of between two dollars and fourteen dollars per ton). Symposium. L. For discussion.1574 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 45. supra note 9.48 and as we shall see. at 64-80. There is a disagreement about the magnitude of the optimal tax. at 133-258. Citizens of Russia. a strong consensus supports the view that the world would benefit from significant steps to control greenhouse gas emissions. See Nordhaus.43 or perhaps adaptation deserves at least equal priority. with important implications for questions of justice. 2006.. supra note 1. See id. supra note 9. Apr. 1 (2007). at 530-53. and less lost. India.. A. supra note 1. Nordhaus. supra note 13. . Much of the disagreement between Stem and those who favor a more modest approach stems from a difference over the appropriate discount rate. Climate Change. akin to that in the Kyoto Protocol. For one treatment. France. at 86-90. specialists continue to disagree about the appropriate timing and severity of emissions reductions and about the relationship between such reductions and adaptation. at 137-38. Jan. 48. 43. 49. 42. supra note 1. at 165-250. See.
supra note 1.55 But if developing nations were included.77°C to 3. See IPPC. or even the United States-stabilized its emissions rate at 2000 levels. and justice. at 22 (finding that the Kyoto Protocol. STEWART & WIENER. with further reductions over time. at 85-88. supra note 5. required most of the industrialized world to cut emissions significantly. at 152. for example. France. A cap-and-trade system would require a judgment about the appropriate cap and also an initial allocation of emissions rights.. A prominent study offers this stunning finding: Full compliance with the Kyoto Protocolwould have reduced warming by merely 0. for example. supra note 9. 2006). supra note 5. NoRDHAus & BOYER.97°C.72 0 C is not exactly trivial. both because of the large existing "stock" of greenhouse gases. The gains would be quite limited if all nations complied with their Kyoto obligations and reduced those figures to 54 a range of 1. The need for broad participation has important implications for questions of efficiency. See ROBERT PERCIVAL ET AL. 2007). effectiveness. 54. supra note 13. 50 As we will see. 51. that Northeastern states followed what has been vigorously urged as a "3% solution. the use of existing levels is highly controversial and in a sense arbitrary.1 (Susan Solomon et al.at 167-68. from worldwide emissions in 2007. 55.1°F by 2050 and by 0. would reduce warming by 0.30 F by 2100). 53. and because global increases in greenhouse gas emissions would not be much affected if only a single nation stabilized or even reduced its emissions. On one version. ErvimomFsNrAL REGULATION 50-53 (5th ed. but because developing nations refused to accept any emissions restrictions. Suppose. far more significant reductions could be anticipated.03'C by 210052 Consider the fact that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change now provides a "best estimate" of warming ranging from 1. eds. It is important to see that an agreement to control greenhouse gas emissions loses nearly all of its point if only a few nations are willing to participate. CLmATE CHANGE 2007: THE PHrsIcAL SCmNCE BASIS 824. supra note 5. and the difference between "business as usual" warming and warming between 1. at 45-46. fig. Germany. existing emissions levels would provide the foundation for initial allocations. at 11. supra note 13.0°C by 2100. see NoRDHAus & BoYER. current practices are the starting point for regulatory measures. 53 under a "'business as usual" scenario.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1575 date. See LOmBORG. Nordhaus. it is close to a uniform carbon tax. the effect on warming would be very small. This is an exceedingly ambi50. STEwART & WIENER. with American participation.8°C to 4. The Kyoto Protocol. See NoRDHAus & BoYEr. For an estimate of the savings from a 0.280 C by 2100. the actual effect on anticipated warming would not have been large. . A more optimistic estimate finds that full compliance with the Kyoto Protocol might reduce global warming by as much as 0.." in the form of annual emissions reductions of 3%. at 156-67 (suggesting $96 billion in worldwide benefits). in both cases. 5 But analytically. 52. nations would have to reduce levels by a certain percentage from those existing levels. roughly embodied in the Kyoto Protocol.3°C reduction in warming.52°C and 3. If any particular nation-the United Kingdom.
01°C-simply because Northeastern states are such a small contributor to anticipated warming. supra note 14. by contrast. at 228. say.01°C). available at http://www. was very much in the interest of the United States. in return for trivial gains. first because the United States is only one nation. such an approach would impose real costs on the United States. We do not have clear data on the costs of emissions reductions 56. 58. and failing to do much for the world as a whole. the analysis was altogether different.1576 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. and second because Kyoto called for a percentage reduction (8%) from 1990. If so. . 61. EMITTERS To understand the issues of justice and the motivations of the various actors.6 1 B. 57. it is important to appreciate the disparities in emissions across nations. the commitment would have little discernible effect on climate change by 2100 (again probably under 0. In the context of ozone-depleting chemicals. 60. in which case the benefits would increase. but if China acted on its own to freeze its emissions as of 2007.3°C. while benefiting that nation very little or perhaps not at all. . Unilateral action by the United States.5 9 Such unilateral action was relatively inexpensive and by itself promised to produce significant gains in the form of reduced cases of skin cancer and cataracts. China's emissions already exceed and will soon dwarf those of the United States.vhich is most unlikely to act if the United States does not. 96:1565 tious proposal. above all the developing world. would reduce warming by 0. or the United Kingdommight be justified on the ground that it could stimulate technological innovation or spur a cascade of action that might eventually have higher benefits than costs. such an approach would impose significant costs.pdf. that steps of this kind could spur other such steps. By itself. See BARRr. Our goal is to state the consequences of unilateral action. California. If the United States stabilized emissions at 2000 levels. Estimating Strategic Complementarities in a Dynamic Game of liming: The Case of the Montreal Protocol(2007) (unpublished manuscript). 60 For greenhouse gases. restricting the emissions of such chemicals. elementary logic shows that it would produce a small fraction of that benefit. edu/uw2101/WagnerJobMarketPaper. For an interesting related discussion. say. This judgment comes from the finding that the Kyoto Protocol itself. We are not arguing against such a step. Wagner. Note as before that unilateral action might be justified as a way of spurring activity by a range of nations. with American participation. including some hardship on people who are not wealthy. the total effect on warming by 2100 would be very small-undoubtedly well under 0. 59. it is plain that unilateral action by the United States would not be in the domestic interest of that nation. 5 8 As we will see. of course. But even with such reductions. 57 By itself. see generally Ulrich J. which could spur additional ones. There is a complex question whether unilateral action-by. supra note 13. not to argue against it. simply because the cost would be significant and the benefits necessarily small. See FRUMHOFF ET AL.columbia. See id. the effects would alsobe modest.56 Or suppose that the United States committed to significant reductions on its own-by. It is possible.. the United States. capping emissions at the rates prevailing in 2000.
Estimates suggest that the largest contributors are likely to continue to qualify as such. 65. as much as 80% of the world's total cost.1% 4.html. but that major shifts will occur.5% 4. 63.4% 4. see UNFCCC. http://www.pdf. . on some estimates. but it is reasonable to predict that the largest carbon emitters would bear the largest burdens from (say) a worldwide carbon tax. the United States and China emerged as the top emitters. See STEwART & WIENER. 66.9% 3. This judgment is crude. 81 tbl.en36734052_36761800_1_1_1_1_1.5% 4. supra note 13. NATIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS INvENroRy DATA FOR THE PEOD 1990-2005 (2007). consider the following: Table 1. See CASS R.3417. -and more than ten times the cost of the Montreal Protocol. supra note 5.7% 16.org/pages/ 0. its burdens of course would be lower. accounting for nearly 40% of the world's total. If the goal is to understand the costs of controls. which on a prominent estimate would have cost the United States $325 billion 6 3 to say the least. 64. See DEP'T OF ENERGY.1% 4. availableat httpJ/unfccc. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY OuiooK. See NoRDtAus & BOYER. 67. WORST-CASE ScENARIos 83 (2007). an obvious question is this: If the United States is going to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to help poor people in poor nations.9% 15. SUtSTEN.7% 3. at 10.oecd. then.00.2% 2004 22.0% 16. 2003 and 200466 United States OECD Europe 67 China India Japan Africa Russia 2003 22.A8 (2007).2% As early as 2004. availableat www.eia. the Kyoto Protocol. are emissions reductions the best option? For a snapshot of the recent situation. DOEEIA-0484. Here and in other tables we provide data for carbon dioxide emissions. For statistics involving all greenhouse gases. above all with emissions growth in China and India and emissions reductions in Russia and Germany. If a high-emitting nation could reduce its emissions at a relatively low cost.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1577 for different nations. for example. 62. this table does not tell us nearly enough. at 161.3% 17.gov/oiaf/ieo/index. a substantial amount.html. OECD Europe refers to those European countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. the United States would have had to pay more than half of the entire cost of the Kyoto Protocol and. Share of Global Emissions. Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas but is not the only one. 64 Indeed. A list of members can be found on OECD's website. however. perhaps because of technological innovation.int/resoule/docs/2007/sbi/eng/30.doe. we need to know future projections as well.3% 4.6' Consider. 6 5 To get ahead of the story.
8% 87.5% 104.0% 96. CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion 1971-2004 114-.1% 4.6% 110. See id.8% 4.9% 25.4% 3.4% 23. See DEP'T OF ENERGY. Emissions of CO 2 from energy-related sources only. 70.9% With these trends.5% 15.8% 3.9% 10.0% 20.4% 4. the United States is expected to be well below China.2% 4. 70 At that time.8% 3.1% 3.A1O (2007). Carbon Dioxide Emissions Changes.3% 19.2% -47. At that time.8% Table 3.5% 3.7% 85.5% 21.0% 3.5% 19.8% 18.6% -15. 68.4% 11.7% 4. See SUNMsEmN. the developing world is expected to contribute no less than 55% of total emissions.3% 16. we can project changes to 2030.1% -24.3% 17. supra note 64.7% 4.5% 22. leading to lowered emissions. Relative Contributions of Annual Carbon Dioxide Emissions by 69 Country/Region (Approximate Percentage of Worldwide Emissions) United States OECD Europe China India Japan Africa 1990 2003 2004 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 23. with 45% coming from developed nations.4% 12.1578 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. at 98-99.9% 16. 1990-200468 China United States India South Korea Iran Indonesia Saudi Arabia Brazil Spain Pakistan Poland EU-25 Germany Ukraine Russia 1990-2004 108. . 96:1565' Table 2.7% 137.4% 18.7% 22.9% 3.7% 18.9% 3.1% 4.0% 26.6% -12. The large reductions in Eastern Eumpean countries are a product of economic contractions.9% 4.9% 5. See Int'l Energy Agency.2% 2.6% 13.1% 3.1% 22.7% 4.7% 3.3% 1.3% 3.8% 59. supra note 66.6% 67.1% 19. 69.6% 10.5% 3. at 93 tbl.0% 4.7 (2006).3% 14.
See IPCC. supra note 53. About half of the CO 2 emitted in 1907 still remains in the atmosphere. as we shall see.378 8500 Rank 1 4 2 3 7 9 5 6 11 23 Share 29% 8% 26% 8% 4% 2% 7% 6% 2% 1% The countries are listed in the order of their total emissions as of 2003.198 24. it helps to explain. China apparently surpassed the United States in CO 2 emissions in June 2007 or perhaps earlier.71 The numbers we have presented refer to flows: how much a given nation emits on an annual basis.347 78. India to ninth. the stock of CO 2 in the atmosphere in 2107 would remain at about 90% of what it is now.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1579 This projection is fairly recent. supranote 3. and South Korea to twenty-third. See Ang. Cumulative Emissions (1850-2003)72 United States China European Union Russia Japan India Germany United Kingdom Canada South Korea CO2 318.314 286. 74. The emissions data reflect only carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion and not from other activities. Column 3 shows that while the United States is by far the highest ranked contributor to the stock as well as to flows. The reason for these disparities is that greenhouse gases dissipate very slowly.740 85. why even significant emissions reductions will reduce but hardly halt anticipated warming. such as land use change. See World Resources Institute's Climate Analysis Indicators Tool.499 67. but with explosive emissions growth in China. Table 4 tells the story.orgl. over time. it is already out of date. .wri. China drops to a distant fourth.764 88. even though the latter might today contribute more on an annual basis. Id. available at http:H cait. for example. 73.348 23.74 This point greatly matters to many issues. contributed to the current stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. are the stocks: how much a given nation has. Table 4. We are now in a better position to 71. so countries that industrialized earlier have contributed more to the stock than countries that industrialized later. CO 2 is in megatons.302 45.7 3 If by some miracle the world suddenly stopped emitting CO 2 today. Also relevant for claims of justice. 72.
it will do nothing (directly) about the rest of the flow.g. at 67-7 1. will accomplish so little. The DistributionalImpact of Climate Change on Rich and Poor Countries. 135.5'C Warming as 7s a Percentage of GDP India Africa OECD Europe High-income OPEC Eastem Europe Japan United States China Russia 4. CtUNE.1580 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JouRNAL [Vol. a sector that is highly vulnerable to climate change. in part because of a lack of information about each nation's ability to adapt to warmer climates. Third. . at 139. at 91. 96:1565 see why unilateral action. Damages of a 2. 21 ENVTL. 158 (2006). ECON. STERN. To get a handle on the problem. There is a great deal of guesswork here. let us assume that warming will be 2. C. See NoRDAus & BoYER.83 1. are in a much better position for three independent reasons.22 -0. supra note 12. supra note 12. supra note 12. & RESOURCE ECON. the extent of the damage in 2100 cannot be specified now.91 2. STERN. Such action cannot affect the existing stock. at 67-71 (also finding extreme variations in effects across nations). which also decreases their vulnerability. For a more recent effort that uses different climate forecasting models. For a study of anticipated effects on agriculture. 157 (2002).65 75. 11 ENV'T & DEv. they have much more in the way of adaptive capacity. VICTIMS Which nations are expected to suffer most from climate change? Of course the precise figures are greatly disputed. 77 higher latitudes. supra note 1. including the United States. 76. e. see Robert Mendelsohn. 7 6 First. Second.5 0C and consider a prominent estimate of how the harms are likely to vary across nations and regions: Table 5. They find even more extreme variation across nations. Estimates of the Damage Costs of Climate Change. and by definition. 78.71 0. 77.45 0. Some of the most systematic analysis of nation-by-nation variations with respect to agriculture can be found in CuNE.93 3. But it is generally agreed that the poorest nations will be the biggest losers by far.95 0. Ariel Dinar & Larry Williams.75 The wealthy nations. the wealthy nations are generally in the cooler. a smaller percentage of their economies depend on agriculture.50 0. Richard Tol. even by the largest emitters.. See. see CLUN. supra note 5. at 139. Id. supra note 1.
86. with 24. CLINm. at 67-71. eds.1581 To be sure. the United States. it is readily apparent that some nations are far more vulnerable than others. 88 But to the extent that the United 79. 80. STERN. CLMATE CHANGE. finds that India will face. supra note 12. and FRANK ACKERMAN & IAN FINLAYSON. and Russia. Structural Uncertainty and the Value of a StatisticalLife in the Economics of . between 28% and 38% output losses from agriculture. 81 For Sub-Saharan Africa. See generally NAT'L RESEARCH COUNCIL.7 9 On some estimates. NoRHAus & BoYER. 83. India and Africa are anticipated to be massive losers.5°C warming. indeed. see also STERN.677. 81. For a technical discussion. U.. 80 In terms of health alone. 84. The United States faces significant but unquestionably more limited threats to both agriculture and health.000 coming from malaria. Id. Africa. AvomING DANGEROUS CLnMATE CHANGE (Hans Schellnuber et al. India has been projected to lose 3.pewclimate.org/global-warming-in-depth/allreports/marketconsequences. Accord Tol.000 years of life because of climate-related diseases. Russia is expected to gain. 85.. and Europe would probably have a major impact on the United States. Id. But on these estimates. at 147-48 (providing a brief summary of climate change effects on the United States' GDP). in GLOBAL PROBLEMS. Because nations are economically interdependent.S. supra note 5.2% of GDP at 30C. these estimates will have to be revised upwards. India is expected to experience devastating losses in terms of both health and agriculture. See id. CLrIE. 2006). We do not yet have anything like precise understandings of the effects of climate change on different regions of the world.8 6 The most pessimistic case projects losses of 1. By contrast. THE ECONOMICS OF INACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE: A SENsmvrr ANALYSIS (forthcoming 2008) offer a picture of more serious monetized damage from climate change. these rough estimates are at best only suggestive. and Russia are expected to lose relatively little from 2. at 148.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE . 87. supra note 5.. see Martin Weitzman. available at http://www. 84 The study offers both optimistic projections by 2100. 88. 82 Sub-Saharan Africa has been projected to lose 26. involving less adaptation and higher warming. China. 83 And if warming exceeds 2. including a high level of adaptation and low warming.000 years of life because of climate-related diseases. supra note 12. 2004).000 years of life lost from malaria. or any reasonable variation. ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE: INEVITABLE SURPRISES (2002).385. 82..5°C. MARKET CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL CLImATE CHANGE (2004). GLOBAL SOLUTIONS 13 (Bjorn Lomborg ed. and pessimistic projections. at 68. significant adverse effects on India. should hardly be taken as undisputed.600. 8 7 These estimates. at 81. Id. supra note 1. For 3°C warming. and the risk of catastrophe greatly complicates matters. with a massive anticipated increase in climate-related diseases. China. the major problem involves health. too. at 81.5°C. supra note 1. supra note 75. the most optimistic case projects an increase of 1% in GDP. See DALE JORGENSON ET AL. 85 the benefits are highest at 2°C warming and decline from 3. WILLIAM CLINE. Consider a careful study of the long-run effects of climate change on a range of economic variables in the United States. NoRaHAus & BOYER. by 2080. with 769.
9. even or perhaps especially if the goal is to prevent premature death. 96 that some nations would benefit far more than others from world-wide reductions. thus far. supra note 12. But on any current estimate.9 2 The loss of more than 600. Citing "Right To Development.89 And if the United States anticipates a less-than-alarming "worst case"-1. for Regulatory Studies. supra note 5. 07-11. 2. Sept. France. 2007). the nation's behavior is consistent with that prediction. supra note 5.9 3 For China. . at 76. at 71. finds between a 5. If warming is above 2. See Geoffrey York. from climate change.2% loss of GDP at 3°C warming by 2100-the incentive is relatively weak.5°C warming will cause China to lose 603. 94 Note in this regard the striking fact that the citizens of China and the United States are less concerned about climate change than are the citizens of Japan. at Al. at 70. NoRDHAUS & BOYER supra note 5. at 22. 90 and while it will suffer health losses. 96:1565 States anticipates that it is likely to lose little. 90. Like Russia. at least on these figures. its incentive to agree to expensive emissions reductions will not be very high. For a dated but helpful overview of various assessments. 95. See NoR.9 1 On one projection.95 Of course.org/publications/abstract. Britain. and indeed has been. June 5. THE ECONOMIST. economic growth. far below those expected in Africa and India. China faces lower risks than India and Africa. and that the United States would not be the largest beneficiary and could even be a net loser from a large uniform carbon tax or from a cap-and-trade program that requires major reductions from existing CatastrophicClimate Change (AEI-Brookings Joint Ctr. 15 91. it is possible that new estimates will suggest that China has a great deal more to lose than is suggested by the evidence sketched here. at 81. See NoR-HAus & BoEmR. but it is far below the corresponding losses for the most threatened nations. China has been projected to benefit in terms of agriculture. it seems useful to analyze the questions of justice by assuming that the world would benefit from an agreement to control greenhouse gas emissions. Id. supra note 12. This point is confirmed in the context of the Kyoto Protocol-the United States would have had to pay by far the most of any atio to comply with its obligations. they are comparatively modest. GLOBE & MAmI. CLne.aei-brookings. available at http://www. at 68. and Germany.000 years of life from climate-related causes and just 8000 from malaria. See Doing It Their Way.php?pid= 1196.5°C. 92. To the extent that the losses are not overwhelming. 89. the damage will be higher. India. on net.000 years of life is highly significant. see NoRDHAus & BOYER. supra note 5." China Rejects Emission Cap.9% loss in agriculture output (without carbon fertilization) and an 8% gain (with carbon fertilization) by 2080. 96. CLIME. 2006. 93. 94.2% loss (without carbon fertilization) and a 6% gain in agricultural output (with carbon fertilization) for the United States by 2080. Working Paper No.1582 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. From this brief survey. we might expect that China would be unlikely to be particularly interested in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Spain. that the United States would have to pay a significant amount to reduce its emissions. 2007. finds between a 7. See id.DHAus & BOYER. a higher priority might well be. 91.
Imagine finally that the threat can be eliminated. obliged to contribute significant sums of money to protect India from the asteroid? On grounds of distributive justice. this means that a $10 per ton agreement should be feasible. If we assume that nations are motivated by domestic self-interest. But if we reach that conclusion. but only if others pay the United States $20 per ton. and perhaps that China should too. But if the world acts as a whole. a threat of a collision with a large asteroid. should face special obligations in the context of climate change-special in the distinctive sense that the 'United States should sign an agreement that is in the world's interest but not its own. It is tempting to think that. THE ASTEROID Imagine that India faces a serious new threat of some kind-say. CLIMATE CHANGE AND DISTRIBuTIvE JUSTICE To separate issues of distributive justice from those of corrective justice. let us begin with a risk of natural calamity that does not involve human action at all. On one view. considering relevant costs and benefits.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1583 emissions levels. India would be devastated by having to bear that cost now. A. it can begin to build technology that will allow it to divert the asteroid. thus ensuring that it does not collide with India a century hence. it might also be able to eliminate the threat or reduce the damage if it comes to fruition. the United States should actually pay $40 per ton. H. simply for purposes of clarifying the problem. Are wealthy nations. to reduce their emissions. now. We now turn to two popular arguments on behalf of these conclusions. but only if others pay China $10 per ton to reduce its emissions. Assume. and a $40 per ton agreement is feasible as well. that the optimal global carbon tax is $40 per ton of carbon. but it is lower than the discounted benefit of eliminating the threat. today. it could well be that the optimal tax for the United States is just $20 per ton. it is tempting . If the world delays. a $20 per ton agreement is feasible too. that it would be able to . the United States.to think so. we are secondarily interested in the proper approach of and toward China. Our primary question is how to understand the moral obligations of the United States. It would be possible to go further and to suggest that the United States is obliged to transfer large sums of money to compensate (poor? all?) countries at risk from climate change. But many scientists believe that the best approach. at least. while the optimal tax for China is only $10 per ton. and to clarify intuitions. how is the case different from one in which India contends. on the assumptions that we have given. it lacks the resources to do so. On the basis of the evidence above. as a practical matter. The cost is high. and China $30 per ton. such the United States. at a cost. Imagine too that the threat will not materialize for a century. is to start immediately to build technology that will divert the asteroid.
we accept the conclusion that wealthy nations should transfer resources to poor people in poor nations. Posner. And on welfarist grounds. 96:1565 prevent millions of premature deaths from disease and malnutrition if the United States gave it (say) some small fraction of its Gross Domestic Product? If one nation is threatened by malaria or a tsunami. Suppose that all nations favor an international agreement that requires contributions to a general fund. . See Posner. the world will certainly act to divert the asteroid. and a range of other factors. Otherwise the problem is the same. then. the more sensible kind of redistribution would be a cash transfer. at 316-17. But even generous nations do not conventionally think that a threatened nation has an entitlement to their assistance. its technology. scientists believe that each nation faces a risk. and it seems clear that the United States will contribute substantial resources for that purpose.g. supra note 26. At first glance. Because of its adaptive capacity. 97 the puzzle remains: Why is there an entitlement to help in avoiding future harm from an asteroid.1584 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. because it is less vulnerable. supra note 26. so that poor nations can use the money as they see 97. whose adverse effects are not limited to a single nation. it is certainly generous and in that sense commendable to assist those in need. To make the analogy closer. at 499-500 (discussing global welfarism as a goal for international law reform). But there is an immediate problem: If redistribution from rich nations to poor nations is generally desirable.9 8 the intuition appears sound. But the risk is not identical. NuSSBAUM. assistance in the case we are describing is less valuable than direct financial aid-a point we shall be emphasizing. Other things being equal. the United States believes that the -fund should be smaller than the fund favored by the more vulnerable nations of Africa and Europe. rather than current harms from other sources? The problem of the asteroid threat does have a significant difference from that of climate change. assume that the United States is less vulnerable to serious damage than (for example) India and the nations of Africa and Europe. other nations might well agree that it is appropriate to help. supra note 28. For those who believe that there is such an entitlement. assume that all nations are threatened by the asteroid in the sense that it is not possible to project where the collision will occur. NtJSSBAUM. it is not at all clear that it should take the particular form of a deal in which the United States joins an agreement that is not in its interest. its location. 98. Under plausible assumptions. it might seem intuitive to think that the United States should accept the proposal for the larger fund simply because it is so wealthy. See.supra note 28. Some scholars believe that poor nations have an entitlement to help from wealthy nations. If resources should be redistributed from rich to poor on the ground that redistribution would increase overall welfare or promote fairness. but. those nations with the most to lose will naturally seek a larger fund than those nations facing lower risks.. From the standpoint of domestic self-interest. and by India. 324 (arguing that among the principles required to achieve social justice by meeting basic human needs is an obligation of richer nations to provide "a substantial portion of their GDP to poorer nations"). at 499-500. But even if this is so. e. at 316-17.
See. 101. We are putting to one side the possibility that technological change will make it easier to divert the asteroid in the future. See.. such as India. Poor nations would benefit more from cash transfers. 14.. 92-93 (1986) (discussing the view that government policies that intervene in consumer choices on the grounds that individuals will not act in their own best interests are paternalistic). but it remains puzzling why wealthy nations should be willing to protect poor nations from the risks of asteroid collisions (or climate change). or on health care generally. it will be spending current resources for the sake of future generations. at 627 (remarks of Schelling).g. and poor countries. From the standpoint of distributional justice.9 9 Perhaps India would prefer to spend the money on education. If redistribution is what is sought. or on AIDS prevention. Indeed. there should be short-term welfare gains. e. Economists have long criticized such in-kind programs as paternalistic and as less likely to be in the interest of beneficiaries than cash transfers.. Unfortunately. If the goal is to help the poor. many of the beneficiaries of the deal are in rich nations and are not poor at all-a point to which we will return. ECONOMICS OF THE Putuc SEcrOR 55. specialists do believe that cost-benefit analysis justifies immediate action.' 1 The current poor citizens of poor nations are probably much poorer than will be the future poor citizens of those nations. as long as the aid reaches the intended recipients (which it sometimes. 102. short-term) welfarist benefits. a generous deal with respect to the threat of an asteroid collision seems a crude way of achieving it. See Bhagwati et al. 10 2 Thus far. then. and the current poor have a stronger claim to assistance than the future (less) poor. housing assistance is better than nothing. There is a second difficulty. But it is possible that because of technological advances. 1. while not being willing to give them resources with which they can set their own priorities.. such as the United States.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1585 fit. However. it is odd for the United States to spend significant resources to help posterity while neglecting the present. JosEPH E.g. which are likely to be much richer. future generations will be able to eliminate the threat more cheaply than present generations can. this case is far weaker and provokes politically explosive memories of rationalizations of imperialism in the context of government-to-government foreign aid. Wealthy countries. have many poor people. a generous deal with respect to the asteroid threat may be worse than housing assistance as a redistributive strategy because. If the world takes action now. there is a difference between economic growth and (at least. Simeon Djankov et al. Analytically. 100. there is a third problem. Does Foreign Aid Help?. 1 °° If redistribution is desirable. ranging from very rich to very poor. e. that deal has some similarities to housing assistance for poor people when recipients might prefer to spend the money on food or health care. cash transfers have generally not had their intended effect of promoting economic growth in poor countries. . If the United States is 99. they are collections of people. 17 (2006). Snarr. By hypothesis. 26 CATo J. have many rich people. And although a case can be made for paternalism when governments attempt to aid citizens who suffer from self-control problems. does). but not always. by hypothesis. supra note 29. We have stipulated that the asteroid will not hit the earth for another 100 years. Nations are not people. or are poor and uneducated. the claim that the United States should join what it believes to be an unjustifiably costly agreement to divert the asteroid is doubly puzzling.
96:1565 paying a lot of money to avert the threat of an asteroid collision. suppose that an international agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions would cost the United States $325 billion. Any such increase-from either carbon taxes or cap-and-trade-would be regressive. it is plausible to think that if wealthy nations contribute a disproportionately high amount to the joint endeavor. Because the median member of wealthy nations is wealthier than the median member of poor nations. 10 If distributive justice is the goal. for example. No one would gain from an asteroid collision. three general questions emerge. rather than poor nations now? Third. it would be good to know whether that cost is being paid. the problem of climate change is closely analogous to the asteroid problem. who spend a smaller portion of the income on energy costs. the argument from distributive justice runs into an additional problem in the context of climate change. Suppose. by wealthy Americans or by poor Americans.1586 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. that greenhouse gas reductions lead to a significant increase in the cost of energy. why should redistribution take the form of an in-kind benefit. in the sense that it would hit poor people harder than wealthy people. wealthier than the Indians who are paying less. at 159. From that problem. 104. if redistribution is the goal. supra note 5. the Americans who are asked to make the relevant payments are. such 10 3 a tax is hard to defend. rather than a general grant of money that poor nations could use as they wish? Second. on average. why should rich nations help poor nations in the future. should the United States spend $325 billion on climate change. . CLIMATE CHANGE: FROM WHOM TO WHOM? In terms of distributive justice. Of course creative systems might be developed in which externality-correcting taxes are combined with subsidies to offset burdens imposed by such taxes on the poor. why should it take the form of action by rich nations that would hurt many poor people in those nations and benefit many rich people in rich nations? To sharpen these questions. B. We agree that products should be priced at their full social cost and thus that an externality-correcting tax would have strong justifications here as elsewhere. in turn. perhaps there would be far better means than emissions reductions. But if the concern is to help people who need help. it would also be good to know whether the beneficiaries are mostly rich or mostly poor. In fact. or instead on other imaginable steps to help people who are in need? If the goal is to assist poor people. See NoRtoixus & BoYER. 161 (estimating $325 billion in abatement costs imposed on the United States by the Kyoto Protocol). But asking Americans to contribute more to a joint endeavor is hardly the best way of achieving the goal of transferring wealth from the rich to the poor. 103. Many of the beneficiaries of actions to reduce a worldwide risk are in wealthy nations. If redistribution is our goal. First. the distributive effects will be good. and so it should be clear that the class of those who are helped will include many people who are not poor at all. For example.
See NoRDHAus & BOYER. supra note 9. many millions of poor people in such countries may benefit from climate change.' " But there is a highly imperfect connection between distributive goals on the one hand and requiring wealthy countries to pay for emissions reductions on the other. For at least some of these people.4.' °6 Warming will also produce monetary benefits in many places. They would bear that cost in the form of higher energy bills. See LOmBORG. 83 tbl. CLINE. 10. than the status quo.7. it will save lives. many millions of people living in rural areas continue to be extremely poor despite the increasing prosperity of the nation as a whole. climate change could well provide benefits by increasing the productivity of their land. 11.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1587 but millions of people would benefit from climate change. Russia. supra note 5. CLnE."8 Some of them will live when they would otherwise die from extreme cold."' It follows that purely as an instrument of redistribution. Recall too that industrialized and relatively wealthy European nations have been found to be at greater risk than the relatively poorer China.L.4. 106.8. supra note 5. by cash subsidies to offset the increase in energy prices. Cf NoRDAus & BOYER. See TODD SANDLER. at least with carbon sequestration). due to increases in agricultural productivity. because disadvantaged people in sub-Saharan Africa and India are at such grave risk. suppose that Americans (and the same could be said about citizens in other wealthy countries) are willing to devote a 105." 0 In addition. at 67-71. supra note 12. supra note 9.GLOBAL PuBLI GOODS (2004). True.10. supra note 5. or than an agreement that would simply require all nations to scale back their emissions by a specified amount. supra note 9. LOMBORG. 10 9 In China. and to the extent that warming reduces cold. Sunstein. We acknowledge that greenhouse gas reductions might be accompanied by efforts to soften the economic hardship faced by poor people. 82. REv. see Eric A. and increased poverty. 107. See NORDIAus & BOYER. See LOMBORG. and the United States).4. CraNE. lost jobs. at 67-71 (showing agricultural benefits without carbon fertilization to New Zealand and agricultural benefits with carbon fertilization to many nations. 109. To see the problem more concretely. These people are among the poorest in the world. as. from the standpoint of distributive justice. 112. at 68 (showing significant benefits to China. a suitably designed emissions control agreement would almost certainly help poor people more than it would hurt them. See NoRnR. Posner & Cass R. at 67-71. for example. many millions of poor people would be hurt by the cost of emissions reductions. including China.supra note 5. supra note 12. Should Greenhouse Gas Permits Be Allocated on a Per CapitaBasis?. 110. .10 (estimating agricultural benefits from warming in China and Russia-both countries with substantial low-income populations). an agreement in which the United States pays more than its self-interest dictates might well be better.us & BOYER.10 5 Many people die from cold. CAL." 2 And true. On some of the complexities here.4. 108. at 91 tbl. such as Russia.4. supra note 12. supra note 12. emission reductions on the part of the United States are quite crude. 91 tbl. at 91 tbl. at 81 tbl. (forthcoming 2009). See Table 5supra. at 76 (showing agricultural gain of $3 billion from CO 2 doubling). 113. CutE.' 0 7 Indeed.
Cm. by way of imperfect analogy. the question remains how this money should be used. that more lives are saved from cutting greenhouse gas emissions than from distributing malaria nets and AIDS drugs. rather than acting to prevent the genocide. greenhouse gas cuts are necessary to prevent a catastrophic loss of life. The question is. And if all of X is spent on global emissions control. at 7-8 (discussing potential impacts from dramatic increases in global temperatures)." 5 Suppose. We cannot exclude this possibility. But this argument is not responsive. REv. One reason is that if many lives are at risk. The second involves the fact that cash transfers will go to governments that may be ineffective or corrupt. and X is also being spent to harm some or many impoverished people living in China and Russia by denying them the benefit of increased agricultural. it would not be sensible to say that rich countries should give money to such a nation. it may be that. see Eric A. C. taking those steps would seem to be the most effective response to the problem. 537. To be sure.1588 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. For multiple reasons. and cash transfers 114. For this argument in the more general context of tort and regulatory standards. but we can say that the match between greenhouse gas reductions and distributive justice is quite crude. and it is quite possible that 10OX is better spent on malaria nets and AIDS drugs than on global emissions control. of their national income to helping people living in poor countries. 115. 583-84 (2005). then none of X is being spent to purchase malaria nets or to distribute AIDS drugs-which are highly effective ways of helping poor people who are alive today rather than poor people who will be alive in 100 14 years. supra note 88. it would be hard to object that they should offer cash payments instead. It is possible. If Americans are willing to pay 2X or 5X or 100X. 72 U. for example. if the only goal is to help the poor. Or suppose that a nation is threatened by a natural disaster that would wipe out millions of lives. One response to this argument is that Americans should pay more than X: they should pay 2X or 5X or 100X. 1. How is X best spent? If X is committed to emissions controls. The first involves the risk of catastrophe. and if they can be saved through identifiable steps. then X is being spent to benefit wealthy Europeans as well as impoverished Indians. Catastrophe On certain assumptions about the science. Sunstein. if other nations could eliminate the harms associated with such a disaster. X. Posner & Cass R. that a genocide is occurring in some nation. Dollarsand Death. given a constant amount of money and taking into account that future lives and current lives must be put on a common metric. 96:1565 certain portion. productivity that warming will bring. the best way to spend X is to cut greenhouse gas emissions. . TWO COUNTERARGUMENTS There are two tempting counterarguments. See Weitzman. L. in fact.
Ultimately the strength of the argument turns on the extent of the risk. As we have stressed. NoRDuAus & BoYER. To the extent that the risk of catastrophe is not low. by governments that do not respect the rule of law. transferring resources to the future rather than to the present.. The catastrophic scenario is a way of saying that the future benefits of cuts could be exceptionally high rather than merely high. help poor people in future generations.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1589 would have little or no advantage. more accurately. or by transferring resources directly to the people rather than to corrupt governments. We cannot exclude the possibility that the argument is correct.116 the argument is weakened. In light of the risk of catastrophe. And it is far from clear that donor states can avoid the pathologies of development aid by. then greenhouse gas abatement could turn out to be the best way to redistribute wealth (or. If poor people in poor nations face a serious risk of catastrophe. it can. at 81-83 (noting vulnerabilities to climate change in India and sub-Saharan Africa). the argument from distributive justice does gain a great deal of force. but it is also possible that a future authoritarian government would expropriate these gains for itself. 136-37. in effect. This is just as true for the future as for the present. or taxed away. To the extent that the catastrophic scenario remains highly unlikely. e. . it depends on the scientific evidence for the truly catastrophic scenarios. Benefits received by individuals can be expropriated. If abatement efforts today result in higher crop yields in Chad in 100 years than would otherwise occur. and partly for that reason. welfare) to people who would otherwise die in the future. THE W=ir MAWs BuRDEN 131-34.g. Suppose that climate change threatens to create massive losses of life in various countries. A legitimate response is that cutting greenhouse gas emissions bypasses the governments of poor states more completely than other forms of development aid do. 117. at best. or that they would be squandered as a result of bad economic policy. supra note 5. 2. or that in the meantime Chad has become a completely different place that does best by 116. including bypassing corrupt'governments when direct aid to government does not produce results for the poor). 117 ordinary development aid has not been very effective. perhaps emissions reductions are preferable to other redistributive strategies. Cf WaaiuAm EASTERLY. 147-57 (2006) (discussing corruption in some poor countries receiving development aid and recommending new aid strategies for donor countries and institutions. this form of redistribution does not help existing poor people at all. and to the extent that it is faced mostly by people living in difficult or desperate conditions. But here too there are counterarguments. This might be counted as a virtue because the governments of many poor states are either inefficient or corrupt (or both). Ineffective or Corrupt Governments We have emphasized that development aid is likely to be more effective than greenhouse gas restrictions as a method of helping poor people in poor nations. of course. Chadians might be better off. See.
96:1565 importing food from elsewhere. rooted in both welfarism and fairness. Notwithstanding the complexities here. while also possibly accepting bribes from local industry that chooses not to buy permits. ECON. is higher than the optimal carbon tax for the United States. 9 There are strong arguments on behalf of a uniform carbon tax and a worldwide cap-and-trade program. greenhouse gas cuts do not seem to be the most direct or effective means of helping poor people or poor nations. 5 J. We speculate that one reason for the difference is a widely held intuition that nations are entitled to keep tax revenues from their own citizens. PROVISIONAL CONCLUSIONS It is worth emphasizing the narrowness of our claims thus far. but it would remain necessary to explain why a crude form of redistribution is feasible when a less crude form is not. to support the view that rich countries should be making large lump-sum payments to poor ones.1590 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. there are strong arguments. What is puzzling is the claim that on distributive justice grounds. But rich countries are not now making such payments. It is noteworthy that while many people argue that distributive goals justify imposing special economic burdens on wealthy nations (above all the United States) in an international cap-and-trade system. including those in developing countries. Corrupt governments would spend this money badly. the best approach is for the United States to try to assist poor people and poor nations through a climate change agreement. . It is interesting that distributive goals seem to provide an inadequate intuitive basis for transferring tax revenue. the government of a poor country would be given permits that it could then sell to industry. 40 (2000).Nordhaus. again assuming universal participation. 119. in return for non-enforcement of the country's treaty obligations. raising enormous sums of money that the government could spend however it chose. D. Who Gives Foreign Aid to Whom and Why. GROWTH 33. As we have said. the basic point remains: in principle. Cf. significant emissions reductions by wealthy nations would directly benefit poor nations. (Recall the possibility that the optimal carbon tax for the world. for example because it is not feasible to provide that direct aid. Even more important. it is not being urged that the United States should give (say) 10% of the domestic revenue from a carbon tax to (say) India and China. much but not all of which appears to be designed to address specific political and strategic goals. 33-34. In cap-and-trade systems. between the two. supra note 1. perhaps using it to finance political repression. in principle. while such goals have intuitive force in the context of cap-and-trade--even though there is no relevant distinction. rather than to take more direct steps to help those who need it. Rich nations do make small foreign aid contributions.! 8 To be sure. See Alberto Alesina & David Dollar.) 118. few people argue that if an international agreement requires a carbon tax. at 130-31 (noting that limitations on emissions creates resource rents that can be exploited or abused under corrupt regimes). We cannot exclude the possibility that the more direct methods are inferior. That is. assuming universal participation. wealthy nations should be transferring some of their tax revenues to poor ones. for example. the claim that emissions reductions avoid corruption overlooks the fact that emissions abatement does not occur by itself but must take place through the activity of governments.
it is better. SINGER. PA. See. for the United States to join an agreement in which it agrees to provide technological or financial assistance to poor nations. availableat http://www. 1741 (2007). 1925 (2007). Our only claims are that the aggressive emissions reductions on the part of the United States are not an especially effective method for transferring resources from wealthy people to poor people. see Eric A. As compared to the status quo. PA. L. many alternative policies would probably be better.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1591 We agree. Warming Up to a Not-So-Radical Idea: Tort-Based Climate Change Litigation. CORRECTIVE JUSTICE Climate change differs from our asteroid example in another way.g. or to an agreement that requires all nations to freeze their emissions at existing levels. The argument also rests on moral intuitions about corrective justice-about wrongdo121 ers and their victims.panl. But many people believe that by virtue of its past actions and policies. 155 U. David A. REV..org/publications/ 6 5c-climate. Penalver. and it may even be better.120. REv. 121. e. David Hunter & James Salzman. is particularly to blame for the problem of climate change. however. to greenhouse gas emissions. For a discussion of the possibility of tort claims brought under the Alien Tort Statute. In the international arena. ENGAGING LARGE DEVELOPING EMnrrERs UNDER 120. However. Posner. It should be clear that these claims apply broadly to efforts to invoke distributive justice when asking wealthy nations to participate in international agreements from which other nations might gain. to scale back emissions more than domestic self-interest would dictate. We cannot exclude the possibility that desirable redistribution is more likely to occur through climate change policy than otherwise. L. 1 (2003). . 38 NAT. L. supra note 20. from the standpoint of distributive justice. no one can be blamed for the appearance of the asteroid and the threat that it poses to India (or the world).g. ENvTL. J. JIAHUA PAN. the United States. and that if this is the goal. e. Climate Change and International Human Rights Litigation: A Critical Appraisal. III. 28 COLUM. 155 U. 563 (1998). REsouRcEs J. along with other 20 developed nations. Grossman. See. Eduardo M. the tort claim and the moral claim are overlapping. We do not address whether there are legal challenges. Negligence in the Air: The Duty of Care in Climate Change Litigation. and if the agreement does give particular help to disadvantaged people. There is an extensive literature on this topic.. that if the United States does spend a great deal on emissions reductions as part of an international agreement. from that standpoint.pdf. COMMON BUT DwERENT iTE CoMMrrmENTs: A PRACICAL APPROACH TO L20 (2004). considerations of distributive justice support its action even if better redistributive mechanisms are imaginable. or to be accomplished more effectively through climate policy than through direct foreign aid. specifically tort challenges. the argument that the United States has an obligation to devote significant resources to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not solely and perhaps not even mainly an argument about distributive justice. In the asteroid example. at 44-45. Acts of God or Toxic Torts? Applying Tort Principlesto the Problem of Climate Change.
exceed the United States in terms of both stocks and flows. PA. THE BASIC ARGUMENT Corrective justice arguments are backward-looking. supra note 5. corrective justice requires that the United States devote significant resources to remedying the problem1'2 4-perhaps by paying damages. and the discussion will be lamentably complex. legal systems lack the necessary tools to do so. at 69. supra note 12. We tend to think that welfarists are generally correct here but bracket that point and the associated complexities for purposes of discussion. The most general point. 23 Of course. e. See NoRDHAus & BoinE. at 91. such as Germany and Japan. 1605. See. The emphasis on the United States is warranted by the fact that the United States has contributed more to the existing stock than any other nation (nearly 30%). 122. masks some serious difficulties. might be thought to have a moral claim against the United Statesone derived from the principles of corrective justice-and on this view the United States has an obligation to provide a compensatory remedy to India. 96:1565 A. 123. summarizing the argument as a whole.g. if at all.1592 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 25 we use that nation as a placeholder for those at particular risk. however. India. For this reason. focused on wrongful behavior that occurred in the past. the United States has been the largest emitter historically and thus has the greater responsibility for the stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Daniel A. 124. The apparent simplicity of the argument. We shall identify a large number of problems here. corrective justice claims will not be appealing to welfarists. . l Corrective justice therefore requires us to 12 look at stocks rather than flows. Even though China is now the world's leading greenhouse gas emitter. a disproportionate share of the stock of greenhouse gases can be attributed to other long-industrialized countries as well. for example. L. 1641-42 (2007). We assume this point throughout. who tend to think that corrective justice is relevant. Farber. China will. the corrective justice argument is that the United States wrongfully harmed the rest of the world---especially low-lying states and others that are most vulnerable to global warming-by emitting greenhouse gases in vast quantities. In the context of climate change. or participating in a climate pact that is not in its self-interest. is that the climate change problem poorly fits the corrective justice model because the consequence of tort-like thinking would be to force many people who have not acted wrongfully to provide a remedy to many people who have not been victimized. mutatis mutandi. but if current trends continue. and so what we say here about the United States can be applied. because it serves as a proxy for what welfarism requires. to those other countries. Basic Compensationfor Victims of Climate Change. We put this point to one side for now. On a widespread view.) This argument enjoys a great deal of support in certain circles and seems intuitively correct. 125. agreeing to extensive emissions reductions. in a matter of decades. See Louis KAILow & STEvEN SHtvaL. (Because India is especially vulnerable to climate change.. unfortunately. FAmNos VERsus WauREu 12 (2005). Some of the problems we identify could be reduced if it were possible to trace complex causal chains with great precision. 155 U. CIm. REv.
immigrants or children of immigrants.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1593 B. because current Americans are not the relevant wrongdoers. and how much do they benefit? Many Americans today are. that is.g. L. of course. compensation can work to restore the status quo ante. The most obvious difficulty is empirical. An approach that emphasized corrective justice would attempt to be more finely tuned.. See Stephen Kershnar. Such people may nonetheless gain from past emissions. 103 COLum. or forced to compensate those they have harmed. They avoid driving. many Americans today do not support the current American energy policy and already make some sacrifices to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that result from their behavior. H. THE WRONGDOER IDENTITY PROBLEM The current stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is a result of the behavior of people living in the past. See Eric A. But have they 126. The most natural and best response to this point is to insist that all or most Americans today benefit from the greenhouse gas emitting activities of Americans living in the past. Much of it is due to the behavior of people who are dead. they are not responsible for the harm. to put members of different groups. because they enjoy the kind of technological advance and material wealth that those emissions made possible. where it is argued that Americans today have benefited from the toil of slaves 150 years ago. and so not the descendants of greenhouse-gas-emitting Americans of the past. 8 LEGAL THEORY 243. Reparationsfor Slavery and Other HistoricalInjustices. rather than Americans as a class. Lewis. e. It is true that many Americans benefit from past greenhouse-gas-emissions. Posner & Adrian Vermeule. . 17-34 (Larry May & Stacey Hoffman eds. 266-67 (2002) (describing and criticizing these arguments). and citizens of different nations. it may well make sense to ask them to make compensation to those harmed as a result. The Inheritance-Based Claim to Reparations. On one view. focusing on particular actors. REV. Collective Responsibility. holding Americans today responsible for the activities of their ancestors is not fair or reasonable on corrective justice grounds. 127. The basic problem for corrective justice is that dead wrongdoers cannot be punished or held responsible for their behavior. AND APPLIED ETmcs 17.' 27 To the extent that members of current generations have gained from past wrongdoing. Holding these people responsible for the wrongful activities of people who lived in the past seems perverse. 698 (2003). in the position that they would have occupied if the wrongdoing had not occurred. 1991). in CoLLEcnVE REsPONsmnrrY: FrYE DECADES OF DEBATE tN THEoRETcAL. and therefore it would not be wrong to require Americans today to pay for abatement measures. At first glance. which would appear to violate deeply held moral objections to collective responsibility. See. but how many benefit. they turn down the heat in their homes. In the context of climate however.. this argument runs into serious problems.689. This argument is familiar from debates about slave reparations. 126 The task would be to distinguish between the contributions of those who are living and those who are dead. Indeed. These arguments are often analogized to unjust enrichment arguments.D. and they support electoral candidates who advocate greener policies.
at 699-703. a proper accounting would seem to be necessary. present serious and perhaps insuperable problems when applied historically. What kind of a question is that? In this hypothetical world of limited industrialization in the United States. LOMBORG. supra note 5. at 14. just as many citizens of the United States have not much benefited from them. . 96:1565 actually benefited. building on the tort analogy. supra note 12. and used to offset the requirements of corrective justice. supra note 127. with sufficient accuracy. does not seem to fit the climate change situation. NoRDHAus & BoYFR. 1 29 But-for causation arguments. 129. and many corporations today benefited from the slave economy in the nineteenth century. and it presents formidable empirical and conceptual problems. India have not much benefited from those advances. and to what degree? Further. many citizens in. or 20%. for example. again empirical and conceptual. 1 28 And if past generations of Americans have imposed costs on the rest of the world. the analogous points have led to interminable debates. the benefits should be as well. American industrial activity has produced products that were consumed in foreign countries. But what would the world. Proponents of slave reparations have sometimes appealed to principles of corporate liability. or 40%? For purposes of corrective justice. Corporations are 128. To be sure. and has driven technological advances from which citizens in other countries have gained. and even those who do would not necessarily have inherited less if their ancestors' generations had not engaged in the greenhouse-gas-emitting activities. say. We can meaningfully ask whether an accident would have occurred if the driver had operated the vehicle more carefully. Corporations can be immortal. look like if the United States had engaged in 10% of its level of greenhouse gas emissions. or India. In the context of slave reparations. We have noted that climate change is itself anticipated to produce benefits for many nations. for which Americans have not been fully compensated. Many of these benefits are positive externalities. The idea of corrective justice. See Posner & Vermeule.1594 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. See CiaNE. 104. As long as the costs are being toted up. but conceptual and empirical questions make it difficult to answer the question whether and to what extent white Americans today would have been worse off if there had been no slavery-and difficult too to ask whether Indians would be better off today if Americans of prior generations had not emitted greenhouse gases. at 76. both by increasing agricultural productivity and by reducing extremes of cold. not all Americans inherit the wealth of their ancestors. used in standard legal analysis and conventional for purposes of conventional justice. Suppose that these various obstacles could be overcome and that we could trace. and the rest of the world would be unrecognizably different as well. about historical causation and difficult counterfactuals. the extent to which current Americans have benefited from past emissions. at 67-71. they have also conferred substantial benefits. India would be an entirely different country. supra note 9.
130 A factor that distinguishes corporate liability is that purchasing shares is a voluntary activity and one does so with the knowledge that the share price will decline if a past legal violation comes to light. some philosophers have challenged traditional criticisms of collective responsibility. 71 (explaining that "certain collective entities.1 3 1 Thus. at 699. have moral responsibility for their actions"). corporate liability cannot be grounded in corrective justice. These arguments do not carry over to the greenhouse gas case. at 71. which means that shareholders today are "punished" (in the sense of losing share value) as a result of actions taken by managers and employees long before the shareholders obtained their ownership interest.. it provides no analogy on behalf of corrective justice for the climate change debate. CRrms AND AccouTrrAalrrv 50 (1993) (explaining why collective responsibility is appropriate in terms of corporate wrongdoing). but these philosophers tend to ground collective responsibility in individual failures to act when action was possible and likely to be effective. 131. why can't citizens be made to pay for the wrongful actions of citizens who lived in the past? The best answer is that corporate liability is most easily justified on grounds other than corrective justice. Soc. C.. . and when the person in question knew or should have known that she could have prevented the harm. not individuals.g. deriving from the wrongdoer's presumed knowledge that by harming the victim she also harms the victim's dependents. Thus. and this is reflected in the share price at the time of purchase. See Posner & Vermeule. J. See id.1 32 In limited circumstances. See. corrective justice requires an identity between the victim and the claimant: the person who is injured by the wrongdoer must be the same as the person who has a claim against the wrongdoer. (One also benefits if an unknown past action enhances the value of the company. COMROAnONS. If innocent shareholders can be made to pay for the wrongdoing of employees who are long gone. yet they can be held liable for their actions. LARRY MAY. Shareholder liability can be defended on the basis of consent or (in our view most plausibly) on the welfarist ground that corporate liability deters employees from engaging in wrongdoing on behalf of the corporate entity. a child or other dependent might inherit that claim. To be sure.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1595 collectivities. SHARING REsPONSmIrY 1 (1992).. is not the same as saying that Americans today have a duty to help Indians today. 132. their claims have not matured. Who are the victims of climate change? Most of them live in the future.) But because the corporate form itself is a fiction. Fall 1991. at 703-08. or Americans of the past. PnIL. some 130. e.. To say that future Indians might have a valid claim against Americans today. Responsibilityfor Collective Inaction. cf BRErr FiSSE & JoHN BRArHWArE. In recent years. CHRISTOPHER Ktrz. David Copp. CoMpLicrrY: ETHIcs AND LAW FOR ACouEcTIVE AGE 166-253 (2000) (explaining why individuals should be held accountable for certain collective harms). supra note 127. and the shareholders today are different from the wrongdoers yesterday. but usually one thinks of the dependent as having a separate claim. THE VICTIM/CLAIMANT IDENTITY PROBLEM As usually understood.
000 Fatalities. it is necessary to ask whether current activities create benefits that are equivalent to. Climate Shift Tied to 150. as we have been arguing. of course. whether welfarist or nonwelfarist. it runs into a complication. Impact of Regional Climate Change on Human Health. costs for those generations. as we agree.design of the greenhouse gas abatement program. One could also make an argument that people living today have a nonwelfarist obligation to refrain from engaging in actions today that harm people in the future. Juliet Eilpern. it is possible that greenhouse gas abatement programs-as opposed to. at A20. the corrective justice argument is that the United States should contribute the most to abatement efforts because it has caused the most damage 134 to the carbon-absorbing capacity of the atmosphere. .WASH. We might also think that Americans of. One might justify the abatement approach on welfarist grounds: perhaps the welfare benefits for people living in the future exceed the welfare losses to people living today. The World Health Organization estimates that climate change produces 150. say. 438 NATURE 310. or higher than.com/wp-dynlcontentlarticle/2005/ '11/16/AR2005111602197. Of course. 2005. albeit by preventing them from becoming victims in the first place or reducing the' magnitude of their injury. because most of them are alive today. 17.13 3 In addition. on welfarist or other grounds. say. but also (b) benefit people in the future by amassing capital on which they can draw to reduce poverty and illness and to protect against a range of social ills. seems right. Suppose that activities in the United States that produce greenhouse gases (a) do harm people in the future by contributing to climate change. See Jonathan Patz et al.000 annual deaths and 5 million annual illnesses. This point is simply the intertemporal version' of the argument against redistribution by greenhouse gas abatement that we made above. is not based on past actions. that present generations are obliged not to render future generations miserable. they might be considered obliged to provide a remedy. this group presents its own difficulties (a point to which we will return shortly). 313 (2005). As our discussion of distributive justice suggests. 96:1565 people are now harmed by climate change. The argument that we owe duties to the future. people living in low-lying islands or coastal regions can plausibly contend that a particular flood or storm has some probabilistic relationship with climate change-but from the standpoint of corrective justice. it remains empirically possible that abatement programs would produce significant benefits for future generations without imposing 133. A successful abatement program would. POST. Supposing. By contrast. the last decade or two can be held responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions. benefit many people living in the future. What remains plausible is the claim that future Indians would have corrective justice claims against current and past Americans. but as a basis for current abatement efforts. Nov.washingtonpost.1596 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. The point for present purposes is that both arguments are forward-looking: the obligation.html. research and development or promoting economic growth in poor countries--are not the best way to ensure that the appropriate level of intergenerational equity is achieved. rather than compensating them for harm. and thus a nation's relative contribution to the current greenhouse gas stock in the atmosphere would not be a relevant consideration in the . 134. available at http:lwww.
on those grounds. And it would be plausible to understand corrective justice. with sufficient accuracy. But this is not a point about corrective or distributive justice. See R. Causation problems are not fatal to corrective justice claims. See generally Michael Saks & Peter Blanck. much of the contribution was probably due to people who died years ago. 1574 (2005) (discussing the uncertain connection between increased hurricane intensity and climate change). 815 (1992). causation poses formidable challenges. this requirement is straightforward. L.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1597 equally significant burdens-in which case they would be justified on welfarist grounds. For more on the causation problem. courts are occasionally willing to assign liability according to market share when multiple firms contribute to a harm-for example. To see why. Rev.A. 44 STAN. And to the extent that the United States was involved. Pery. but they significantly weaken them. In tort law. consider a village in India that is wiped out by a monsoon. THE CAUSATION PROBLEM Corrective justice requires that the wrongdoing cause the harm. Justice Improved: The Unrecognized Benefits of Aggregationand Sampling in the Trial of Mass Torts. or negligent action is usually thought to be required for a 135. And we have agreed that. some kind of greenhouse gas abatement program. pollution or dangerous products whose provenance cannot be traced. 136. aggregate national losses (as suggested in Table 3 above). supra note 121. with the thought that victims should receive "probabilistic recoveries. THE CULPABILITY PROBLEM 38 Philosophers disagree about whether corrective justice requires culpability.." understood as the fraction of their injury that is probabilistically connected with climate change. in probabilistic terms. 138. reckless. . in the sense that they were a necessary and sufficient condition. would be justified. AM. MEEOROLOGICAL Soc. But in the context of climate change. Hurricanesand Global Warming. 1571. See generally Stephen R. in TORT THEORY 24.24-26 (Ken Cooper-Stephenson & Elaine Gibson eds. including all the leading contributors. and difficult even to show that they even contributed to it.' 3 6 Perhaps scientific and economic studies could find. as a result of rising sea levels caused by climate change. One might make a plausible argument that the flooding was more likely than it would otherwise have been. 135 If the flooding was in a probabilistic sense the result of greenhouse gas activities around the world. D.. It is unclear. 1993). see generally Posner. especially when we are trying to attribute particular losses to a warmer climate. In ordinary person-to-person encounters. that statistical relationships can be established with sufficient clarity to support a claim sounding in 137 corrective justice. 1 Intentional. its likelihood was also increased by complex natural phenomena that are poorly understood. But it might well be impossible to show that greenhouse gas emissions in the United States "caused" the flooding. Loss. E. Agency. 137. Pielke et al. in this domain. 86 BuLL. however. and Responsibilityfor Outcomes: Three Conceptions of Corrective Justice.
See A. 1998). supra note 20.g. Nordhaus. Adler.. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF LAW 179-83 (5th ed. e. GEOPHYsICAL UNION. at 4. at 363-64. at 43-49. Jan. 146. 1859. supra note 4. 139 At a minimum. REv. See HOUGHTON. supra note 1. Cosmic Rays. Can Negligence Be Culpable?. 155 U. PA.. supra note 1. 11 3 But this consensus took a long time to form. a degree of culpability is required to make the analysis tractable. Cosmic Rays. 4. it is not clear when and whether engaging in greenhouse-gasemitting activities is properly characterized as negligent. 1859-61 (2007). PosNER. However. While some people do support strict liability on corrective justice grounds. See. see Stefan Rahmstorf et al. STERN. The scientific consen- 139. Negligence in General The weakest standard of culpability is negligence: if one negligently injures someone."4° 1. and Ice Age Epochs on Earth.. Nir J. Simester. Nir J. See PAN. until a scientific consensus formed and it 14 6 became widely known among the public-a fairly recent occurrence. See generally IPCC. Shaviv. and so it is worthwhile to inquire whether the United States or Americans can be blamed for contributing to climate change. under existing legal standards. Celestial Driverof PhanerozoicClimate?. July 2003. 145. 96:1565 corrective justice claim. at 3-7. 142. See RIcHARD A. one owes her a remedy. 145 Greenhouse-gas-emitting activities could not have become negli- gent.g. a scientific consensus holds that the planet is warming and that this warming trend is a result of human activity. L. at 17. We refer to a scientific consensus. the case for a remedy is stronger when a person acts culpably rather than innocently. 2000). 38. at 4-15. supra note 120. 41 (2003) (arguing that cosmic rays are responsible for most recent variations in global temperatures). For simplicity. supra note 1. 8 NEw ASTRONOMY 39.' Lawyers tend to appeal to community standards. require culpability. the damages would be massive? How should negligence be analyzed if there were (say) a 30% chance of enormous harm? In principle.1598 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. the legal standard does not. Corrective Justiceand Liabilityfor Global Warming. the benefit-cost test might find negligence in such circumstances (if the discounted harm exceeded the cost of precautions). For a response.P. One commentator suggests 1990 as a date for when emitting activities could have become negligent. supra note 53. Eos TRANSACrIONS Am. we will rely on the legal view."44 and the modem consensus is a product of the 1990s. e. 2004. in OXFORo ESSAYS iN JURISPRuDENCE 85. See. 87 (Jeremy Horder ed. 1 42 Today. the notion that Americans have acted in a blameworthy fashion by contributing excessively to climate change is an important theme in popular debates. Because multiple persons and actions (including those of the victim) are necessary for harm to have occurred. at 10-11. the earliest work on global warming and greenhouse gases occurred in 1957. 144. The Spiral Structure of the Milky Way. 27. Shaviv & Jdn Veizer. See Matthew D. We put to one side the following questions: What if a consensus did not exist. Indeed. 143. Even today. 140. .. Carbon Dioxide and Climate. at 38. but there are dissenting voices. 141. In the modem era. See SINGER. identification of the person who has "caused" the harm requires some kind of assignment of blame. strictly speaking. Economists define negligence as the failure to take cost-justified precautions. GSA TODAY. See BARRETT. but many experts believed that climate change was likely and that if it occurred.
gov/oms/climate/420fO5001. for the purpose-of determining negligence. negligence has been pervasive. Heating a house. Indeed. (Even very large emitters produce. and the harm it causes to people living in India. Many people do seem to be reducing their emissions on the basis of an assessment of roughly this kind. 148. whereas a case could be made today that a reasonable reduction of greenhouse gas 147. See Nordhaus. they think that they should cut back on activities that generate unreasonable emissions of greenhouse gases in light of whatever benefits they produce. supra note 9. http://epa. is doubtful in light of the fact that the global warming cost of driving a car is trivial and the benefits. Nordhaus calculates that. as long as they are not zero. to the driver and others. at 88. The argument could be extended to the choice of driving rather than using convenient forms of public transportation and to other activities as well. For example. the optimal carbon tax as of 2010 would be about $34 per ton. in terms of diminished warming. Some people go farther and purchase carbon offsets. it is also easily imaginable that the benefits of emissions abatement. The figures in the text are very rough and are used for illustration only: what we say would be true even if the numbers are higher or lower. a lively controversy exists about the overall costs and benefits of climate change in particular regions. for example. See LOMBORG. little in the way of warming. at 30. but the claim that driving a (non-hybrid?) car carefully is in fact negligent because of its impact on global warming. EMISSION FACTS: AvERAGE CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIoNS RESuLTING FROM GASOLINE AND DISEL FuL.' 47 Suppose. instead. supererogatory. in fact. we could conclude that a person is negligent when she drives rather than walks when the benefit she obtains from driving is less than ten cents per gallon consumed. the cost of precaution is also often low. of how much any particular activity actually contributes to climate change. Although the harm caused by each of these activities in isolation is small. supra note 1. We calculate that this 49 $34-per-ton figure translates to about an extra ten cents per gallon of gas. See Nordhaus.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1599 sus does not answer the critical question. that a large company in New York emits a large volume of greenhouse gases-is it negligent? It is easily imaginable that the costs of emissions abatement would be significant. 149. 14 1 The calculation is based on the external cost of burning a ton of carbon as a consequence of greenhouse gas emissions. Those concerned about climate change rarely believe that they should altogether stop engaging in activities that produce greenhouse gases (a difficult task!). but this type of activity seems. . EPA. at present. running a freezer. may be significant.1 Using the economic theory of negligence as the failure to take cost-justified precautions. taking an airplane-are all of these activities negligent? Even though the warming effects of the relevant emissions are essentially nil? It would be possible to respond that.htm. driving a car. supra note 1. at 32-38. in any particular period of time. under certain assumptions.) We all understand what it means to drive a car negligently so as to put other drivers and pedestrians at risk. would be close to zero.
1862-63 (2007). L. one problem is that. 153. supra note 5. . 96:1565 emitting activities is morally required-that it represents an emerging community standard or norm.1 50 This is a "moral collective action problem. under prevailing legal standards.S. emissions exceeded. at 1862.S. the global benefits. there is a problem with this argument.S. is far-fetched. we disagree with Adler's argument that corrective justice can justify government-to-government claims. And if this is the case. In the context of ozone-depleting chemicals. does not seem to constitute negligence. the claim that American policy has been negligent. are also cutting back on greenhouse-gasproducing activities. it cannot be considered negligent for Americans to fail to reduce their greenhouse-gas-emitting activities. PA. which is that the calculation given above assumes that everyone around the world. or at least hundreds of millions of people. climate change policy-which is to say not much in the way of policy 1 52 -has been culpably negligent. for reasons given below. Rav. and placed heavy burdens on the United States. supra note 64. and zero or very close to it if industry simply migrated to foreign countries. Put differently. at 1866. 152. now the biggest emitter. Nothing that we have said is inconsistent with the view that American policy has been wrong or misdirected--especially insofar as the United States has not sought to 150. the failure to act when other people are not acting. 2. see generally SusmTEnw. see Farber. The argument would be that. by failing to take precautions that would have cost the U. See NoRDiAus & BoYER. so that the public good would not be created even if one did contribute. For an overview. Corrective Justice and Liability for Global Warming. See id. The Kyoto Protocol imposed no obligations on China. Adler. Matthew Adler makes this point in criticizing Farber's corrective justice argument. it is far from clear that the United States could have taken unilateral action that would have created benefits for the rest of the world greater than the cost to the United States. as we noted above. so that positive action would generate no benefit. 154. Unilateral reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would have little effect on overall climate change-not so far from zero even if aggressive and effective. by a large measure. 155 U. government engaged in culpable behavior. 151. See id." 15 1 and however it should be assessed in moral terms. this argument is plausible. see id. 1859. a lot but benefited the rest of the world much more. However.S.1600 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. If many or most people fail to pay a carbon tax or (as we argue) fail to act as if they pay it by cutting back on less important activities that produce greenhouse gases. the U. government? Perhaps one could argue that U. Even if this is so. at 162. Negligent Government? What about the U. then the contribution of Americans who do this is quite small.1 53 Inthe context of climate change. the global cost of U. it is not negligent to fail to contribute to a public good if not enough others are doing similarly.S. supra note 24."4 In this light. See Matthew D.
Germans resented this clause. which held Germany formally responsible for World War I and required Germany to pay massive reparations to France and other countries. Recall in this connection that even if Americans had demanded that their government act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. the Public Even if one could conclude that the U. rather than holding "Germany" responsible for World War II. It is certainly plausible to think that voting for politicians who adopt bad policies. is not morally wrong except in extreme or unusual cases. the strategy shifted. 155. and conventional wisdom holds that their resentment fed the rise of Nazism. supra note 10. it may not follow that the American people should be held responsible for their government's failures. no one is accusing the American government or its citizens of committing crimes. supra note 13. There is a strong impulse to blame members of the public for the failures of their political system. 156. it is quite another to blame Americans for the failure of their government to adopt strict greenhouse gas reduction policies. at 3. A vigorous argument in favor of such engagement can be found in STmWART & WIENER. To be sure. in corrective justice terms. the impulse is warranted. The Government vs. it can only tax Americans. After World War II. where defendants were given a chance to defend themselves. 3. But the question remains whether Americans should be blamed. . the impulse should be resisted. In some cases. See Sunstein. not nations. for allowing their government to do so little about greenhouse gas emissions. To justify such a tax. It is one thing to blame individual Americans for excessive greenhouse gas emissions. one would need to conclude that Americans behaved culpably by electing or tolerating a government that failed to take actions that might have conferred benefits on the rest of the world of greater value than their costs. the effect of unilateral reductions on climate change would be very small.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1601 persuade the world to address the problem. 155 But it is not easy to say that the benefits i5 6 of significant unilateral reductions would clearly exceed the costs. government behaved negligently.S. the allies sought to hold the individuals responsible for German policy responsible-these individuals were tried at Nuremberg and elsewhere. The government itself does not have its own money to pay the remedy. or failing to vote for politicians who adopt good policies. The last example of such a policy was the war guilt clause of the Versailles Treaty. but in others. The shift from collective to individual responsibility was a major legacy of World War II. reflected today in the proliferation of international criminal tribunals that try individuals.
Chi. to set aright what other Americans have done wrong. Law Sch. they should also take responsibility for its failures. Levy argues that such people should feel shame about national failures.uchicago. This argument. Tim MULTICULTURALISM OF FEAR 242-43 (2000). Public Law and Legal Theory Working Paper No. This is not to deny that a corrective justice argument can be cobbled together and presented as the basis of a kind of rough justice in an imperfect world. Univ. PER CAPITA EmISSIONS We turn now to an especially pressing issue of climate change justice. LEvy.edu/law-pdf/law-econ/260.. But especially when long periods of time have passed since the initial wrongdoing. John M. Many people are proud that they are attractive or intelligent. or can trace their ancestry to the Mayflower. 158. Law Sch. Cf JACOB T. but nothing about these psychological facts implies moral obligations of any sort. is good enough to provide a factor in allocating the burdens of emissions reductions. however.pdf (explaining that rough justice might be the best justification for reparations). one that is likely to play an increasing role in the next decade and beyond. However. A person who is proud to be American. even that conclusion would rely on notions of collective responsibility that are not easy to defend. and in this way derives welfare from her association with other Americans who have accomplished great things. perhaps should be (and is) less proud than she would be if she were not also associated with Americans who have done bad things. deriving from her patriotic pride. IV. Olin Law and Economics Working Paper No. corrective justice intuitions turn out to be a poor fit with the climate change problem-where the dispute is between nations. ROUGH JUSTICE However appealing. 260. and not exactly that they have any moral obligations. ReparationsAs Rough Justice 15 (Univ. and it is probably better to think in terms of redistribution or welfare.1602 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. is especially weak. 105). . the argument has general implications. 96:1565 F. Chi. It is sometimes argued that because people take pride in the accomplish15 8 ments of their nation. the corrective justice argument runs into serious problems. It is often tempting to invoke principles of corrective justice to ask one nation to compensate another.law. from suppressed redistributive and welfarist assumptions. while crude. available at http://www. Here too. Unfortunately. Along 157. the latter view seems to reflect many people's intuitions. Cf Adrian Vermeule. Most of the attractiveness of the corrective justice argument derives. and where an extremely long period of time must elapse before the activity in question generates a harm. Americans who take pride in their country's contributions to prosperity and freedom should also take responsibility for its contributions to global warming. we suspect. She does not have any moral obligation.15 7 Perhaps the argument. or live in a city with a winning baseball team. or from collectivist habits of thinking that do not survive scrutiny..
Res. 41/128 (Dec. See York. supra note 68.5 1. FACTS With respect to China. and notwithstanding its explosive emissions growth.52 8. supra note 24.42 6. Tons of CO 2 Emitted Per Capita in 2004161 United States Russia Germany Japan United Kingdom EU-25 Ukraine France China India 19. This argument might even be connected with a general "right to development. The issues discussed in this section are elaborated in more detail in Posner & Sunstein. at 2. supra note 4. .46 6.org/documents/ga/res/41/a4lrl28." on the theory that a worldwide carbon tax. at 187. China has made just this argument.un. China has urged that the analysis ought 159 to focus on a nation's per capita emissions. supra note 113.73 10. at 1." A. for example. Many economists and policy makers from the developing world have made similar arguments. 160. The UN General Assembly declared the existence of a right to development in 1986.63 10.A.1 60 Perhaps an imaginable climate change agreement. Energy-related CO 2 emissions only.02 159. supra note 93. See CHINA'S NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE PRoGRAMME.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1603 with other developing nations. See Neumayer. would violate the "right to development. consider the following: Table 6. 58. would forbid poor nations from achieving the levels of development already attained by wealthy nations. one that would actually be effective and efficient.66 1.htm. 1986). See Int'l Energy Agency.98 8. not its aggregate emissions. available at http://www. G.22 3. 161. its per capita emissions remain well below those of many nations. the factual predicate for this argument is that China's population is the largest on the planet.49-1.29 9. 4. For a general overview. See Declaration on the Right to Development.
wri.5 17. Climate Analysis Indicators Tool.2 16. .3 12. consider the following: Table 7.3 12. 96:1565 For a more detailed ranking.1 18.8 15.5 11.5 10.4 10.7 162.6 12.2 11.9 20. GHG Emissions-Tons CO 2 Per Person in 2004 (Excludes Land Use 16 2 Change) Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Qatar Kuwait Luxembourg Brunei United Arab Emirates Bahrain United States E4uatorial Guinea Australia Canada Trinidad & Tobago Saudi Arabia Finland Estonia Oman Czech Republic Taiwan Palau Kazakhstan Singapore Netherlands Belgium Nauru Russian Federation Ireland Korea (South) Germany Japan Cyprus Denmark Tons CO 2 Per Person 50. Tables generated by World Resources Institute.8 13.8 9.8 24.2 13.0 17.6 25.4 24.3 28.0 10.9 11.4 11.2 9.7 10.1 22.9 11.2 11.8 11.1604 Ti GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol.org/cait. available at http://cait.php?page= yearly.
2 6.2 8.1 8.8 8.2 6.8 5.3 8.2 9.2 8.4 9.4 7.2 9.3 8. GHG Emissions-Tons CO 2 Per Person in 2004 (Excludes Land Use Change) (Continued) Country 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 Austria Israel South Africa Norway United Kingdom Greece European Union (25) Libya Spain Italy Turkmenistan Slovenia New Zealand Poland Iceland Slovakia Serbia & Montenegro Ukraine Belarus France Seychelles Bahamas Malta Sweden Portugal Bulgaria Iran Switzerland Malaysia Hungary Venezuela Tons CO2 Per Person 9.3 6.0 6.7 6.4 9.3 6.1 6.9 6.5 6.1 6.4 .0 7.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1605 Table 7.0 6.6 6.7 8.9 8.0 5.9 7.3 8.
its per capita contributions remain fairly modest. Id. and about one-fifteenth of those 163 of the United States.3 5.0 3. ranking it near the bottom of the list of the seventy-five highest contributors. FYR Jamaica Mexico 5. Germany. making it natural to question whether the two nations should be treated similarly in a climate change agreement. GHG Emissions-Tons CO 2 Per Person in 2004 (Excludes Land Use Change) (Continued) Country Tons CO 2 Per Person 62 63 64 Barbados Suriname Uzbekistan 5.0 4. Suppose that the two nations have the same aggregate 163.1606 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. ranking it 122nd in the world.8 4. Russia. one with two billion people and one with one million people. . about a sixth of those of France.1 5. The case of India may be even more pertinent.8 The most striking point here is that while China has become the world'sleading national emitter of greenhouse gases. 96:1565 Table 7. and Ukraine as well-should be taken into account in deciding on appropriate policy. India.4 4. but its per capita emissions are less than a third of those of China.2 5. assume that the world consists of only two nations.1 4. China might well urge that its low per capita emissions rate-not only below that of the United States. To clarify the claim.1 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 Antigua & Barbuda Croatia Lebanon Romania Macedonia.1 72 73 74 75 Bosnia & Herzegovina China Chile Lithuania 4. India's rapidly growing contributions rank it among the world's leaders on an absolute basis.3 4.9 3.0 4. but also below such nations as Japan. the United Kingdom. China's per capita emissions are merely one-fifth those of the United States.
in the context of sustainable development." set forth in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. at 60-61.. supra note 4. supra note 4. Id. China therefore argues that all citizens should have a right to the same level of opportunity. 169. at 2. Keynote Speech at the Round Table Meeting of Energy and Environment Ministers from Twenty Nations: The Challenge of Climate Change and China's Response Strategy (2005) (transcript available at http://www. Would it make sense to say that the two should be allocated the same level of emissions rights. and Reform Comm'n of China." China further argues that developed countries have an obligation to assist the developing world with the challenges of climate change. 1 (2005). 165. supra note 4. China has emphasized that any actions it takes in regard to ' 170 climate change will be "within its capability based on its actual situation. AGREEMENTS: POL. See Bali Action Plan.. financing and capacity building. financing and capacity building." which distinguishes clearly between developed and developing countries. reportable.ccchina. .gov. CHINA's NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAMME. reportable and verifiable manner. 167." For developing nations. See Jiahua Pan. and verifiable nationally appropriate mitigation commitments or actions. 170. 165 On the surface.' 67 Invoking this principle. supported and enabled by technology. arises because the developed world bears the greatest share of responsibility for climate change.cn/ en/Newslnfo. A LrITLE DOUBLESPEAK? OF "COMMON BUT DIFFERENTIATED RESPONSIBILITIES" China's argument for taking account of per capita emissions is connected with its support for and understanding of the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities. which means that emissions rights should be allocated on a per capita basis. 171. supra note 23. 172. See CHINA'S NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAMME." Id. the principle means that the developed nations have to spend a great deal to reduce their emissions. the assistance might include finaicial assistance or technology transfer to allow sustainable development.1 68 Chinese officials insist that raising the standard of living for their citizens is their first priority. Stone. 3 INT'L ENvrL. 1" B. Id. supranote 38. See CHINA's NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAMME. this principle means that a nation's obligations on climate issues are to be determined by two factors: its responsibility for climate change and its capacity to cut emissions. Vice-Chairman. at 3-4. See PAN.1 66 Beneath the surface. Note here the "Bali Roadmap. at 289-90. the plan asks for "consideration of measurable. See id.. at 58.2008] CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1607 emissions rate. For developed nations. Chinese officials have called on developed countries to take the lead in cutting their emissions and have argued that developing countries such as China are bound only to take account of environmental issues as they continue to ensure that their economies grow. Emissions Rights and Their Transferability: Equity Concerns over Climate Change Migration. Nat'l Dev.asp?NewsId=5348). 169 With this point in mind. for purposes of a system of cap-and-trade? Intuition suggests not. while the developing nations do not. An important point here is the idea that "mitigation actions" by developing nations will be "supported and enabled by technology. & ECoN. China argues. in a measurable.1 72 Since 164." 168. the plan asks for "consideration of nationally appropriate mitigation actions. L. Liu Jiang. supra note 120. 7 ' This moral obligation. including quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives. 166.
96:1565 developed countries appropriated more than their share of "climate resources" in the past. supra note 13. would be unpopular to say the least. And if the United States does decide to give hundreds of billions of dollars to poor nations. 10% from 1995. at 11-14. 174. we need to distinguish between greenhouse gas taxes and cap-and-trade programs.g. why should the gift take the form of emissions rights? One answer is that the gift would represent a side-payment. Many people favor the latter. say. would require American companies to purchase hundreds of billions of dollars in emissions rights from other nations. any proposal that it should do so. e.' 75 A large challenge for such programs is to decide on the initial allocation of entitlements. Under this approach. maintaining 2005 emissions levels. and that emissions rights were allocated on a per capita basis. We have said that there are strong arguments for redistribution from wealthy people in wealthy nations to poor people in poor nations.1608 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. including China. above all the United States. to the developing nations. supra note 113. To see the point. Analytically. for example. the transfer would be worth hundreds of billions of dollars and perhaps more. The key point is that such an approach would represent a significant transfer of resources from the United States to other nations-indeed. designed to ensure that 173... and it is most puzzling to suggest that the redistribution should occur in the context of climate change policy. 1 7 4 But to the extent that China's claim is that emissions rights should be allocated on a per capita basis. the United States (with 300 million people) would have less than 30% of the emissions rights of either India or China (each of which has over 1 billion people). . domestic political constraints would probably doom any such proposal. For the United States. An obvious possibility would be to require that all of the major emitters reduce their emissions by a stated amount from a specified date-by. would be to give each nation a right to emit a specified amount per person. such as China and India. at 5-6. A (MILDLY) DISGUISED CLAIM FOR CROSS-NATIONAL REDISTRIBUTION Some of these arguments have considerable intuitive appeal. c. this approach would be similar to a tax in terms of its distributional consequences: both take existing emissions rates as the starting point. 175. in general or in the context of climate change. For a detailed treatment. they should now use their wealth to help 1poor countries develop in a 73 world in which warmer climates are a serious threat. Suppose. Indeed. see Posner & Sunstein. or anything like that. See. that total global emissions were capped at their 2005 level. See PAN. which would be attractive to China. it is asking for massive redistribution from the developed nations. supra note 120. But there is no sign that the United States wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars to China or India. STEWART & Wmrw'R. The alternative possibility.
had the United States agreed to the emissions reductions requirements. Thus.' 80 If China's proposal were in place. especially for Russia. At the same time. including China. http:lwww. and China may well demand such payments in the context of climate change.178) That particular side-payment was understandable. were given a set of side-payments in connection with the Montreal Protocol. at 162. It would also be necessary to obtain a commitment from the payees that they not further develop greenhouse-gas-emitting industries just to increase their bargaining power for future renegotiations-and this could be 176.census. As we have seen. 177.20081 CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1609 developing nations-above all China--participate in the deal. then probably most of the developing world will also have to be paid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. the increase in entitlements would be enjoyed by China's relatively wealthy urban population. supra note 23. which has comparatively less to lose from climate change. Note that payments are contemplated by the agreement at Bali. 181. 9. NoRDHAus & BOYER. supra note 5. 17 7 (By the way.S. is willing to give poor countries large sums of money as part of a climate change agreement. 179. See Bali Action Plan. This step would significantly increase the effective carbon tax that would be paid by developed countries. See Bali Action Plan. developing nations. at91. where Russia and Eastern Europe were given side-payments. in the form of emissions rights worth over 100 billion dollars. It is far more likely that the United States would say: We would not like to be punished for our willingness to enter into an agreement that does not appear to be in our interest. recall that on prominent projections. 2008). See id. the United States' population grew by about three million that same year. 179 The question is whether the United States. If China demands or deserves a side-payment.govlipclwwwlidb (last visited Jan. Id. . supra note 23.5 0 C climate change. then presumably China's entitlement would increase relative to America's (at least if per capita rights were not frozen as of a particular date). Perhaps it would be better if governments took account of greenhouse gas effects when determining population policy. China's population grew by about eight million people in 2006. Census Bureau International Data Base. There are other problems with the proposal for per capita emissions rights. Russia would be a net gainer from 2. (specifying cost to United States of $325 billion in the event of cost-reducing emissions trading). U. at 3 (proposing consideration of "[i]nnovative means of funding to assist developing country Parties that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change in meeting the costs of adaptation"). countries would be given an incentive-or at least no disincentive-to increase their populations. If China must be paid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.' 8 ' Let us add a few final points about practicalities and politics. 180. 178. that is a separate question. 176 Such an approach would be very similar to what happened in connection with the Kyoto Protocol. not to be confounded by reference to per capita emissions rights. that amount is about one-third the total cost of the Kyoto Protocol to the United States. Many if not most of China's new inhabitants would produce very little in the way of greenhouse gas.
the first group of states should make a side payment to the second group. We define fairness narrowly to mean equal division of benefits. one needs to take a position on whether states count equally for purposes of determining fairness. And this argument differs from the redistributive justice argument because a state's wealth is not relevant to determining its fair share. 183 If the argument is plausible. 140(2). states have agreed that the gain should be divided "equitably. Is the fairness argument. 96:1565 extremely difficult. If it turns out that some states receive a large benefit (because they benefit more from a given level of abatement or can reduce their greenhouse gases to an agreed-upon level at low cost) and other states receive very little. the treaty does not define this term and it is too soon to say whether it will have meaningful effect. one might argue that states that gain a great deal from greenhouse gas abatement should have stricter obligations than those that gain very little. Dec. Convention on the Law of the Sea art. and thus underpays relative to the global optimum. we should explain its relationship to our arguments so far. The United States has not ratified this treaty. Equivalently. or whether states with larger populations are entitled to larger shares (China's position and India's as well). the point for present purposes is that corrective justice and distributive justice concerns remain irrelevant. Fairness is. These other ideas. In the analogous situation where valuable mineral deposits are discovered in the deep sea. However. Finally." United Nations. an offer that would be politically delicate. This fairness argument differs from the corrective justice argument because a state's earlier contribution to the stock of greenhouse gases is not relevant for determining its fair share. Although this point has not yet featured prominently in public debate. however. it often includes notions of desert and need. are similar or identical to the corrective and distributive justice concerns that we discussed above. What has perhaps been overlooked is that if the fairness argument is 182. C should pay $10 to A. U. . most other states have. and C each incur a $10 cost in the course of producing a benefit worth $90. A FINAL NOTE ON FAIRNESS The argument for per capita emissions rights is rooted in some intuitions about fairness. for example. Similarly. but it might well seem reasonable to others. 183. other rich nations (and not inconceivably even poor nations) could offer to pay the United States to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions-at the least. but C enjoys the benefit to the same 2 extent as A. outside the jurisdiction of any state. Fairness might seem to require that the $90 be divided evenly among the three. 10. then. more plausible? Welfarists will have little use for the argument. of course. Suppose that persons A. B. one might think that all states should receive the same net benefit from greenhouse gas abatement. used more broadly. so that each nets $20. 1982. It follows that if A contributes $20 and C contributes18$0.N. D.1610 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. And if the United States refuses to pay more than the carbon tax that is optimal for it. A related but distinct claim is that if states cooperate to reduce global warming. the costs should be distributed fairly.
After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming 24 (Jan. It is plausible that protecting other countries from genocide or poverty or famine is such a way.20081 CLIMATE CHANGE JUSTICE 1611 accepted. It is far from clear that greenhouse gas restrictions on the part of the United States are the best way to help the most disadvantaged citizens of the world. 4. There are also important questions about how to distribute the costs of global emissions reductions. see generally Nordhaus. Many people believe that because the United States is wealthy. Many of the relevant actors are long dead. 186. If the United States wants to use its wealth to help to protect India or Africa or impoverished people generally. STEwART & WINER. and a highly imperfect one. and a general transfer from the United States to those in places especially threatened by climate change is not an apt way of restoring some imagined status quo. which puts a large burden on the United States and no burden at all on developing countries that would benefit greatly and probably most from greenhouse gas abatement. But we have seen that principles of corrective justice have an awkward relationship to the problem of climate change. For the best discussion of this. Our narrow goal has been to investigate considerations of distributive justice and corrective justice. at 181-82. supra note 13. As we have seen. it should bear a large share of the global cost. If the United States agrees to participate in a climate change agreement on 184. See William Nordhaus. 2001) (paper prepared for a joint session of the American Economic Association and the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists). 184 Either a worldwide carbon tax1 85 or some kind of cap-and-trade program 186 would be suitable for the purpose. Id. the United States would have borne the lion's share of the expense of the Kyoto Protocol. at 65-80. But the agreement that is optimal for the world may not be optimal for the United States. it is a decisive objection to the Kyoto Protocol. Nordhaus vigorously defends a carbon tax. See id. In this context. there can be no reason for complaint. It is tempting to treat climate change as a kind of tort. available at http://www. committed by the United States against those who are most vulnerable. however.econ. . 187. 185. the idea of corrective justice is a metaphor.yale. the cost to the United States might have been as high as 187 80% of the total.pdf. Nordhaus estimates that the United States would have borne about two-thirds of the cost. The question remains. Stewart and Wiener vigorously defend a cap-and-trade program. which would probably have to bear a large burden for significant domestic emissions reductions and which is not among the nations most gravely threatened by climate change. and because it has contributed a great deal to the existing stock of emissions.edu/ nordhaus/homepage/PostKyotov4. at 10. what is the best way to help disadvantaged people around the world. CONCLUSION It is increasingly clear that an international agreement to control climate change would be in the world's interest. supra note 1. if it had agreed to the relevant emissions restrictions: indeed.
but that help the world as a whole. we have made no effort to sketch a positive approach to climate change. but we do not attempt to defend that judgment here. 96:1565 terms that are not in the nation's interest. for which considerations of corrective justice are irrelevant. Our argument here has been narrowly focused on those arguments. certainly if such participation is more helpful to poor nations than conventional foreign-aid alternatives. but also on a wide range of other questions raised when some nations make claims on others. But the commendation should not be muddied by resort to crude arguments from distributive and corrective justice. Our goal here has been to clarify the uses and limits of two influential arguments in a way that might bear not only on climate change.1612 THE GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. there would be no reason to object. Compared to continued inaction. participation on those terms would be entirely commendable. . We are inclined to believe the proper approach to climate change should depend on welfarist considerations.
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