Module Four Short Paper

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Project Proposal: Climate Justice and Global Responsibility

Tomika Thomas

Southern New Hampshire University

PHL 218: Ethics in Global Society

Lainie Erwin

September 8, 2026

Project Proposal: Climate Justice and Global Responsibility

Global Ethical Issue

The selected focus is the environment, the theme is climate change, and the specific global ethical issue is climate justice. This is a matter of the imbalanced sharing of climate-related damage and whether those with fewer resources should be held responsible for preventing harm and helping those with fewer resources. Climate change tends to impose greater burdens on the communities that have made smaller contributions to cumulative greenhouse gas emissions and have lower adaptive capacity. Broad acceptance that poorer individuals are more affected by climate change and that frontline communities should be more involved in climate-related decision-making (Ogunbode et al., 2024). Climate justice links environmental security to justice, accountability, engagement, and the safeguarding of vulnerable groups.

Prominent Ethical Dilemma

The key ethical issue is how countries must share the burden and responsibility of climate action. More developed countries with higher historical emissions and greater financial capacity should bear a larger share of mitigation, adaptation, and loss costs. Socioeconomic status, citizenship status, and resource constraints can exacerbate climate-related damage among already vulnerable groups (Thomas & Benjamin, 2023). On the other hand, some views argue that every nation must take significant responsibility, since the present and future emissions from emerging economies also affect global outcomes. This dilemma thus demands a compromise between the history of responsibility and payment capacity and the necessity of acting collectively on climate.

Using an Ethical Framework from a Global Perspective

An international ethics system is advantageous in climate decision-making since the causes and effects of climate transcend national boundaries. This kind of framework can lay down common principles of fairness, harm reduction, accountability, human rights, and responsibility while still acknowledging national differences in circumstances. Beliefs about climate justice have been positively correlated with climate action and the endorsement of mitigation policies across various countries (Ogunbode et al., 2024). As a result, a global framework will enable decision-makers to consider potential consequences based on uniform ethical standards, rather than relying on national self-interest. Such a strategy also enhances collaboration, as the societies involved can recognize shared responsibilities by taking into account imbalanced contributions to the issue and disparities in ability to act.

Diverse Ethical Perspectives

The variety of ethical positions enhances climate discourse, as communities face different environmental risks and responsibilities. By incorporating the voices of rich and poor countries, indigenous people, migrants, women, and the poor, one can identify the adverse effects or priorities that decision-makers in high places might not recognize. Thomas and Benjamin (2023) demonstrate that climate effects may include distributional, procedural, and recognition injustices, implying that fair evaluation should take both results and involvement into account. Besides, various traditions of morality may focus on responsibilities, outcomes, human rights, the welfare of the community, or future generations. The combination of these views can create a more comprehensive ethical analysis. It may help minimize the risk of climate choices favoring influential groups and shifting the burden onto less influential populations.

References

Ogunbode, C. A., Doran, R., Ayanian, A. H., Park, J., Utsugi, A., van den Broek, K. L., ... & Clayton, S. (2024). Climate justice beliefs related to climate action and policy support around the world.  Nature Climate Change,  14(11), 1144-1150. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02168-y

Thomas, A., & Benjamin, L. (2023). Climate justice and loss and damage: Hurricane Dorian, Haitians and human rights.  The Geographical Journal,  189(4), 584-592. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12484