The Cost Of Climate Change

The global philosopher: Who should pay for climate change?

Michael Sandel, 28 July 2016 (BBC News)

“…Some countries in the developed world are, of course, [more responsible for the bulk greenhouse gases in the atmosphere…Since 1850 the US and the nations which are now the EU have been responsible for more than 50% of the world's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions…[Some say countries with historical responsibility for emissions should compensate those now suffering…[Older nations] might respond that for much of the period since the 1850s nobody knew about man-made global warming...[so the current generation should not be punished]…China belts out more CO2 than the United States, and the gap between the two is expected to grow as China continues to develop…[so maybe China, not the United States, should] bear the greatest burden…[Maybe] the fairest solution would be a per capita arrangement…[These and questions about emissions trading and the morality of polluting] have dogged global climate change summits…[They are] questions which are essentially philosophical in nature. But they're also questions we need to address…if we're to deal with climate change and its consequences…” click here for more

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