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Introduction

On the Significance of Historical Emissions for Climate Ethics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2017

Lukas H. Meyer
Affiliation:
Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria
Pranay Sanklecha
Affiliation:
Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria
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Summary

We discuss the main underlying issues of the significance of historical emissions and their consequences: according to which principle current agents are responsible for them and whether past emitters' supposed ignorance of the long-term global consequences matters for the attribution of such responsibilities. We also discuss how taking into account historical emissions should inform policy choices.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

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