Fairness, free-riding and rainforest protection
Fairness, free-riding and rainforest protection
If dangerous climate change is to be avoided, it is vital that carbon sinks such as tropical rainforests are protected. But protecting them has costs. These include opportunity costs: the potential economic benefits which those who currently control rainforests have to give up when they are protected. But who should bear those costs? Should countries which happen to have rainforests within their territories sacrifice their own economic development, because of our broader global interests in protecting key carbon sinks? This paper develops an argument from the ‘principle of fairness,’ which seeks to establish that outsiders should pay states with rainforests so as to share the costs of protection. If they do not, they can be condemned for free-riding on forest states. The argument is, I suggest, compelling and also capable of enjoying support from adherents of a wide variety of positions on global justice.
106-130
Armstrong, Chris
2fbfa0a3-9183-4562-9370-0f6441df90d2
1 February 2016
Armstrong, Chris
2fbfa0a3-9183-4562-9370-0f6441df90d2
Abstract
If dangerous climate change is to be avoided, it is vital that carbon sinks such as tropical rainforests are protected. But protecting them has costs. These include opportunity costs: the potential economic benefits which those who currently control rainforests have to give up when they are protected. But who should bear those costs? Should countries which happen to have rainforests within their territories sacrifice their own economic development, because of our broader global interests in protecting key carbon sinks? This paper develops an argument from the ‘principle of fairness,’ which seeks to establish that outsiders should pay states with rainforests so as to share the costs of protection. If they do not, they can be condemned for free-riding on forest states. The argument is, I suggest, compelling and also capable of enjoying support from adherents of a wide variety of positions on global justice.
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Final - Fairness, Free-Riding and Rainforest Protection.pdf
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Accepted/In Press date: April 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 July 2015
Published date: 1 February 2016
Organisations:
Politics & International Relations
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 376349
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/376349
ISSN: 0090-5917
PURE UUID: ce79edbf-4564-408c-a288-7895ade604b5
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Date deposited: 27 Apr 2015 09:57
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:24
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