Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice

Skillington, Tracey

doi:10.4324/9781315406343

Cited by 38 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…In the case of the climate crisis, the link between intergenerational injustice and climate change has already been made decades ago ( Page, 1999 ). The notion of intergenerational injustice addresses questions regarding the distribution of social, economic, and cultural resources amongst present and future generations as climate change will impact the life of future generations adversely ( Page, 1999 ; Skillington, 2019 ; IPCC, 2022a ). Increasing air traffic and its impact on the climate contribute to the (possible) inability to keep the global temperature increase below 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels ( Scott et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Give Up Flights? Psychological Predictors of Intentions and Policy Support to Reduce Air Travel

2022

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Concerted, timely action for mitigating climate change is of uttermost importance to keep global warming as close to 1.5°C as possible. Air traffic already plays a strong role in driving climate change and is projected to grow—with only limited technical potential for decarbonizing this means of transport. Therefore, it is desirable to minimize the expansion of air traffic or even facilitate a reduction in affluent countries. Effective policies and behavioral change, especially among frequent flyers, can help to lower greenhouse gas emissions. For both, a positive evaluation and public support is indispensable. This study contributes to understanding air travel behavior and the perception of regulative policies. We examined the role of attitudes, perceived behavioral control, efficacy, global identity, and justice concerns for intentions to avoid flights and aviation-related environmental policy support. We conducted an online survey study with a quota sample of N = 2,530 participants in Germany. The strongest positive predictors of intentions to refrain from flying and policy support were perceived behavioral control to travel without flying, efficacy beliefs that avoiding air travel contributes to climate change mitigation, and intergenerational justice concerns; pro-travel attitude was a negative predictor. Moreover, we tested whether the provision of additional information on climate impact, global and intranational inequalities as well as subsidies (implying intranational inequality) affected the intention to avoid air travel and policy support. We found no effects of the different types of information. Nor did we find an interaction between the type of information provided and global or national identity. Our results highlight the need for a shift within the mobility sector that facilitates attractive and accessible transport alternatives in order to strengthen people’s behavioral control to choose other means than planes and their efficacy perceptions. Moreover, raising awareness of the impacts of climate change on future generations and developing strategies to promote people’s concern for intergenerational justice might motivate people to reduce air travel and thereby contribute to a livable future for new generations.

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Give Up Flights? Psychological Predictors of Intentions and Policy Support to Reduce Air Travel

2022

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“…In a similar vein, the discussion about the fair and reasonable allocation of scarce healthcare resources in aging societies sparked prominent and controversial proposals of age-based rationing like the ‘natural lifespan account’ (Callahan 1987 ) or the ‘fair innings argument’ (Harris 1985 ) that echoed throughout healthcare reform debates ever since (Callahan et al 1996 ; Hackler 1994 ; Winslow and Walters 1993 ; Holmer and Holstein 1990 ; for an overview on ageism and healthcare Wyman et al 2018 ). Finally, controversies about environmental issues and especially climate change gave rise to divisive rhetoric including mutual ageism and polarized confrontations between younger and older generations about sustainable development and responsibility for the future of the planet (e.g., Morrison and Wilsker 2020 ; Karpf 2020 ; Diprose et al 2019 ; Skilington 2019 ).…”

Section: Background: Mapping the Discoursementioning

confidence: 99%

Young for old—old for young? Ethical perspectives on intergenerational solidarity and responsibility in public discourses on COVID-19

2021

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In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, intergenerational solidarity and responsibility have become central points of reference in public discourses. However, the use of these concepts is often unclear and ambivalent: On one hand, older people are described as a vulnerable group whose protection requires sacrifices on the part of younger generations, e.g., regarding individual freedom and economic welfare. On the other, they appear as dispensable individuals that should relinquish their claims for the sake of the young and their future prospects. Our contribution offers an analysis of intergenerational solidarity and responsibility in public discourses on COVID-19. The leading question is how both concepts are used and how the corresponding claims can be justified or criticized. We first give an overview of notions of intergenerational solidarity and responsibility in current debates. In the next step, we provide a moral philosophical clarification of both concepts and their normative presuppositions. We then conduct a descriptive ethical discourse analysis of pertinent cases from three areas of European discourse: politics, civil society, and mass media. The analysis focuses on politico-moral claims and their normative premises, ambiguities, and biases. We argue that the discourse involves assumptions about old age and generational relations that need further clarification and justification. An analysis of intergenerational solidarity and responsibility in times of COVID-19 can help understand the dynamics of social cohesion in late-modern societies.

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“…This new generation of climate activists managed to not only drive the crisis frame further, but also to add new elements to it. While highlighting the message of science ("born at 375 ppm", Thunberg's Twitter-bio declares; see Thunberg, n.d.), the youth actors have drawn exceptional moral authority from the fact that they speak in the name of the future, thereby connecting to issues of intergenerational climate injustice (Skillington, 2019). With their emphasis on the existential and moral crisis of climate change, they have, of course, challenged the denialists and sceptics of climate science.…”

Section: Commentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Media and the Climate Crisis

Kunelius

Roosvall

2021

Nordic Journal of Media Studies

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Recent years have seen another peak in global media attention to climate change. Driven by increasingly dire news about extreme weather, growing demands of systemic adaption and a new wave political activism, the current situation has increasingly been framed as a climate crisis. This introductory essay maps these recent developments and elaborates the conceptual potentials and limitations of the “crisis” frame. It also briefly reviews the state of the art of media research and situates the contributions of the issue into this landscape.

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Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice

Cited by 38 publications

References 0 publications

Give Up Flights? Psychological Predictors of Intentions and Policy Support to Reduce Air Travel

Give Up Flights? Psychological Predictors of Intentions and Policy Support to Reduce Air Travel

Young for old—old for young? Ethical perspectives on intergenerational solidarity and responsibility in public discourses on COVID-19

Media and the Climate Crisis

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