Adaptation, mitigation, and justice

In this chapter I claim that climate change poses important questions of global justice, both about mitigating the change that is now under way and about adapting to its consequences.¹1In discussions of climate change "mitigation" refers to policies or actions directed toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions; "adaptation" refers to how plants, animals, and humans respond to climate change (excluding, of course, their mitigation responses). The meaning of these terms is further elaborated later. I argue for a mixed policy of mitigation and adaptation, and defend one particular approach to mitigation. I also claim that those of us who are rich by global standards and benefit from excess emissions have strenuous duties in our roles as citizens, consumers, producers, and so on to reduce our emissions and to finance adaptation.