The Politics of Humanity

For Stephen M. Gardiner, in climate change, we have created a “perfect
moral storm” for ourselves.^33 For him, the problem of climate change is
characterised by a dispersion of causes and effects, a fragmentation of agency, and
institutional inadequacy. Moreover, these daunting characteristics play out across
spatial, temporal/intergenerational and theoretical dimensions. Not only does the
idea of a “perfect moral storm” indicate just how profound the “crisis of humanity”
might be here, it should also sound a note of caution when it comes to setting out
the normative contours of the problem. It is here that my approach to
humanitarianism presents the potential for serious value-added over dominant
ways of conceptualising the normative challenges ahead.
I already alluded, in Chapter 5, to the limitations of conceptualising every
problem as a human rights problem, taking climate change as an example. The
other prominent and understandable concern, present in contemporary climate
change international political theory, is to formulate a theory of climate justice.^34
This intersects with prominent NGO calls for “climate justice”.^35 Such work generally
wishes to provide an account of past, present and future responsibilities for
greenhouse gas emissions that can both be fair and just, and generate a collective
emissions trajectory compatible with the extremely demanding global reduction
requirements associated with less-than-catastrophic climate change. What I wish to
question here, is not so much the proposals that come out of such work and such
calls, but the starting assumption that a transcendental ideal of justice that can
encompass past and present responsibilities for greenhouse gas emissions is at all
33
Stephen M. Gardiner, "A Perfect Moral Storm: Climate Change, Intergenerational Ethics
and the Problem of Moral Corruption", 34 Environmental Values 15 (2006).
For representative examples of this rapidly expanding literature, see Simon Caney,
"Cosmopolitan Justice, Responsibility, and Global Climate Change", Leiden Journal of
International Law 18, no. 04 (2005). Edward A. Page, Climate Change, Justice and Future
Generations 35 (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2006).
A brief search yielded a plethora of examples, including Climate Justice Action. Available
at http://www.climate-justice-action.org/; accessed on 03 August 2010. The Climate Justice
Project. Available at http://www.climatejustice.org.uk/; accessed on 03 August 2010.
Climate Justice: Enforcing Climate Change Law. Available at http://www.climatelaw.org/;
accessed on 03 August 2010. Timeforclimatejustice.Org. Available at
http://www.timeforclimatejustice.org/; accessed on 03 August 2010. Christian Aid, Time for
Climate Justice. Available at http://www.christianaid.org.uk/ActNow/Countdown-to-
Copenhagen-climate-change/Index.aspx; accessed on 03 August 2010.