Towards the Ethics of a Green Future

What are our obligations towards future generations who stand to be harmed by the impact of today's environmental crises? This book explores ecological sustainability as a human rights issue and examines what our long-term responsibilities might be. This interdisciplinary collection of chapters provides a basis for understanding the debates on the provision of sustainability for future generations from a diverse set of theoretical standpoints. Covering a broad range of perspectives such as risk and uncertainty, legal implementation, representation, motivation and economics, Towards the Ethics of a Green Future sets out the key questions involved in this complex ethical issue. The contributors bring theoretical discussions to life through the use of case studies and real-world examples. The book also includes clear and tangible recommendations for policymakers on how to put the suggestions proposed within the book into practice. This book will be of great interest to all researchers and students concerned with issues of sustainability and human rights, as well as scholars of environmental politics, law and ethics more generally.

Marcus Düwell holds a chair in philosophical ethics at Utrecht University, and is the Director of the university's Ethics Institute. His research focuses on ethics of human rights, ethics of future generations and bioethics. Gerhard Bos's research is directed towards the conceptual underpinnings of human rights and the implications for long-term responsibilities. He worked at the Ethics Institute at Utrecht University as a postdoctoral researcher, and coordinated the ESF Research Networking Programme 'Rights to a Green Future' (2011-2015). Naomi van Steenbergen divides her research time between moral psychology, ethics and climate justice. She is currently co-editing a book on practical self-understanding. Besides her research and teaching in philosophy, she works as a literary and academic translator.

List of Contributors 1. Introduction Gerhard Bos, Marcus Düwell and Naomi van Steenbergen 2. Why 'Rights' of Future People? Marcus Düwell and Gerhard Bos 3. Risk and Rights: How do Deal with Risks from a Rights-Based Perspective Lukas H. Meyer, Fabian Schuppert, Harald Stelzer and Adriana Placani 4. Looking to the Future: Finding Suitable Models and Scenarios Joachim H. Spangenberg 5. Pathways for Future Generations in Existing Legal Human Rights Provisions Elina Pirjatanniemi 6. Political Representation of Future Generations Danielle Zwarthoed 7. Intergenerational Justice in the Context of Developing Countries Adrian-Paul Iliescu, Ileana Dascalu, Thierry Ngosso and Naomi van Steenbergen 8. Climate Economics and Future Generations Klaus Steigleder 9. Motivational Aspects of a Politics of Sustainability Dieter Birnbacher 10. Governance Towards a Green Future May Thorseth and Fabian Schuppert 11. Ethics of a Green Future: A Research Agenda Marcus Düwell and Karsten Klint Jensen Index Political bodies, agreements and legal documents