The climate change debate is often focused on blaming and justifying. Who has caused climate change, who is guilty? Western culture? Americans? Chinese? Bankers? Politicians? Businesses? All of us? However, there is no one single guilty party, but rather all humankind is to some degree responsible for climate change.

Thousands of years ago hunter-gatherers lived as a part of nature and at the mercy of it. The ability to control fire, farming and later the Industrial Revolution have gradually made it possible for humans to become more and more independent of nature, living longer and in some ways healthier lives than our ancient ancestors.

Food production has become incredibly efficient. Energy production provides electricity for work, leisure and the comfort of our homes. Engines used in transportation enable us to move around without much muscle power, regardless of our physical limitations.

Caden Crawford

Philosophical discussions on the topic of global justice are surprisingly recent. However, they are very much needed in the modern world, where large amounts of information, goods and people travel constantly and rapidly around the globe.

Examining global justice in relation to international justice may help to understand the concept. International justice puts an emphasis on an agreed and legal cooperation between nations. Although governments are powerful participants in global justice issues, global justice is a much wider concept than international justice. What sort of responsibilities concerning justice, if any, exist among human beings who don’t reside in the same country? And if there are such responsibilities, what are they based on? These are some of the questions the concept of global justice seeks to address.

There is no simple all-encompassing definition of global justice, but most of the existing definitions put an emphasis on the following questions: What are the central issues of global justice? What kind of solutions are there? Who is responsible for finding solutions? What are the roles of different agents in tackling the problem? How should the problem be solved?

The most prominent global justice issues debated are the ones related to global economics, gender equality, immigration, environment and global health.

Everyday life looks different in different countries. People around the world have caused and are causing varying amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore the impact of climate change deviates greatly from place to place. Who has caused climate change and who suffers most from it are the central questions of climate justice.

Historically, industrial countries have produced most of the greenhouse gas emissions, and currently they cause annually more than half of the global emissions even though they contain only one fifth of the world population. For the sake of comparison, the least developed countries contain a tenth of the world population and even so they cause less than one percentage of global emissions. Because of rapid population growth and industrialization of the developing countries, their share of emissions is increasing, and it is estimated that by 2025 they will produce almost half of the global emissions. At the same time, emissions are on the rise in many industrial countries.

Climate change has various impacts around the world. Although industrial countries have caused most of the emissions, the developing countries are hit hardest because they are less equipped to cope with the effects of climate change. For instance, it is likely that climate change makes fighting poverty harder. Small island nations are among the most vulnerable to climate change impacts, but also India and many African countries are at risk. In these countries, sea level rise, crop and water shortage due to droughts and the spreading of infectious diseases are causing major challenges.

Climate change related to food and water shortage could lead to conflicts and even wars. Also, many people are forced to flee their normal habitats, for example, when their home island has been engulfed by rising sea levels. This means they have to find new places to live and essentially, they become climate change refugees. Climate justice relates to questions of global responsibility linked to the wellbeing of affected populations and individuals.

These ethical dilemmas are challenging, but learning to understand other realities could help to expand an empathetic reach from our own lives to those of the entire world. This gives a new perspective to the essential questions of global justice and climate justice.

Asian Development Bank

The international community has adopted a series of fundamental human rights, which aim to guarantee a dignified existence for all human beings. People die because of increasing storms, droughts and heatwaves due to climate change. In addition, various diseases are likely to spread and food production is at risk due to water shortages and pests. Because these phenomena will become more and more common for so many people, climate change is closely linked to human rights.

Achieving climate justice requires that human rights become a reality in a world changed by global warming. However, according to the United Nations, at least the following human rights are at risk due to climate change: self-determination, right to life, development, food, water, sanitation, health, housing, education and culture.

The negative impacts of climate change are disproportionately borne by persons and communities already in disadvantageous situations owing to social, economic or political reasons, among others. In practice, this concerns particularly people in developing countries who can’t afford to adapt to a changing climate.

In addition, indigenous people are vulnerable to climate change due to their dependence upon, and close relationship with, the environment and its resources. Some mitigation measures may have undesirable consequences for the rights of indigenous communities; for example, if they become forced to relocate due to the building of renewable energy power stations.

It’s also important to bear in mind the human rights of the next generations which will be at risk without prompt mitigation efforts, should the circumstances of climate change shift radically. In other words, in order to achieve global human rights, large scale mitigation efforts are necessary at all levels of society.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an expression of the fundamental values shared by all members of the international community, such as, minority rights, gender equality, tolerance and freedom of speech. The concept of justice lies at the heart of these values.

Discussing climate mitigation on a deeper level requires taking a fresh and honest look at your personal values and asking frank and difficult questions. What is the value of human life? Are human lives in faraway places as valuable as our lives? Are the future generations as important as our generation? Answers to these questions are closely tied to the way we respond to emissions and our efforts to combat climate change. If we believe and are concerned about the threat to having children or the declining well-being of future generations, we most likely see the need to take prompt action. If, however, we believe instead that the wellbeing of the today’s generation is more important than that of future generations, we probably will not consider prompt action necessary.

Climate change can cause moral dilemmas and conflicts in our daily life. For instance, we know driving, flying and consuming certain foods contribute to climate change, so engaging in these activities that are considered ordinary may trouble our conscience. To make things even more complicated, driving and other lifestyle choices are typically considered as a part of individual freedom, which is a valued highly by many. Therefore, restricting people’s lifestyle choices can cause defensive reactions.

Evaluating and reflecting on your own values may help to deal with complex and contrary perspectives, thoughts and emotions. However, it is good to keep in mind that purposeful climate mitigation efforts can have many positive impacts alongside slowing down climate change, including an increase in energy self-sufficiency, employment and improved air quality. We can adopt a healthier diet and attain many benefits. Environments will become more welcoming when drought resilience is built with green infrastructure as a part of a severe weather response plan. In addition, with the possible reduction in automobiles, less space would be invested for car parking. For instance, in the late 19th century there was a rapid rate of railway investment in Finland and even until the mid-20th century, the smallest towns had stations. In those days cars were not an essential part of daily life. In 2050, everyday life might look much different than it does now.

In consumer society we play a dual role as consumers and citizens. Often consumers are seen as private individuals with their lives of domesticity and leisure, whereas citizens are considered representatives of the public, making a difference either locally or globally. In regard to climate change, issues related to consumerism and citizenship are strongly and organically linked to each other. However, trying to tackle climate change by consumer choices is complex, due to the fact that the difference citizens collectively can make can seem non-existent, complicated or difficult to attain.

Consumer choices and other lifestyle choices have their role in climate mitigation, but active involvement in society is the key to make climate-friendly choices available to all and increase their efficiency against climate change. Making sustainable choices more appealing and sensible to consumers requires climate-friendly laws, taxation and meticulous planning.

Consumerism plays an important role in the identity formation of the individual. What we decide to buy describes how we see ourselves and how others see us. However, our self-identity can also be shaped by being largely excluded from the consumer culture due to lack of money. Although we don’t consciously think about identity construction while consuming, it still has an impact on how we see ourselves. Our lifestyle choices and dilemmas related to climate change, as stated above, are directly linked to our identity and its potential need for change.

It is likely that in the future social change will encourage consumers to adopt sharing and circular economy principles and to prefer sustainability practices and moderation. Consumerism is not the only foundation of our identity; there are many other factors through which we define our identities. In addition to your core values, defining your identity can be helpful in coping with the huge pressure for change we are facing.

Steve Oliver Too