The global debate over who should take action to
address climate change is extremely precarious, as
diametrically opposed perceptions of climate justice
threaten the prospects for any long-term agreement. Poor
nations fear limits on their efforts to grow
economically and meet the needs of their own people,
while powerful industrial nations, including the United
States, refuse to curtail their own excesses unless
developing countries make similar sacrifices. Meanwhile,
although industrialized countries are responsible for 60
percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute
to climate change, developing countries suffer the
"worst and first" effects of climate-related disasters,
including droughts, floods, and storms, because of their
geographical locations. In A Climate of Injustice, J.
Timmons Roberts and Bradley Parks analyze the role that
inequality between rich and poor nations plays in the
negotiation of global climate agreements. Roberts and
Parks argue that global inequality dampens cooperative
efforts by reinforcing the "structuralist" worldviews
and causal beliefs of many poor nations, eroding
conditions of generalized trust, and promoting
particularistic notions of "fair" solutions. They
develop new measures of climate-related inequality,
analyzing fatality and homelessness rates from
hydrometeorological disasters, patterns of "emissions
inequality," and participation in international
environmental regimes. Until we recognize that reaching
a North-South global climate pact requires addressing
larger issues of inequality and striking a global
bargain on environment and development, Roberts and
Parks argue, the current policy gridlock will remain
unresolved.
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