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Differentiating (historic) responsibilities for climate change

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  • BENITO M�LLER
  • NIKLAS HÖHNE
  • CHRISTIAN ELLERMANN

Abstract

Following the conclusion of the official work of the Ad Hoc Group for the Modelling and Assessment of Contributions to Climate Change (MATCH), this article considers the politically more sensitive aspect of the Brazilian proposal, namely the issue of differentiating (historic) responsibility for, and not merely (causal) contribution to climate change. Its aim is (1) to highlight the fact that, while related, the two issues ('contribution to' and 'responsibility for') are fundamentally different and should not be confused, and (2) to propose a methodology for calculating shares of responsibility as opposed to the shares in causal contribution arrived at through the MATCH results. Two conceptions of responsibility ('strict' or 'limited') are applied in order to operationalize the notion of 'respective capabilities' given in Article 3.1 of the UNFCCC. The key message resulting from the calculations is that causal contribution-while an important indicator of (environmental) relevance to the problem-must not be confused with the moral responsibility for it. The rather large difference between the responsibilities at the two extremes of the scale under both conceptions gives pause for thought as to what sorts of burdens can justly be demanded in any application of the UNFCCC principle of common but differentiated responsibilities , whether in the context of the Brazilian proposal or beyond.

Suggested Citation

  • Benito M�Ller & Niklas Höhne & Christian Ellermann, 2009. "Differentiating (historic) responsibilities for climate change," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(6), pages 593-611, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:tcpoxx:v:9:y:2009:i:6:p:593-611
    DOI: 10.3763/cpol.2008.0570
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    Cited by:

    1. Olga Alcaraz & Bàrbara Sureda & Albert Turon & Cindy Ramírez & Marta Gebellí, 2021. "Equitable mitigation to achieve the 1.5 °C goal in the Mediterranean Basin," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 1-20, April.
    2. Alessandro Del Ponte & Aidas Masiliūnas & Noah Lim, 2023. "Information about historical emissions drives the division of climate change mitigation costs," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    3. Fan, Jin & Wang, Shanyong & Wu, Yanrui & Li, Jun & Zhao, Dingtao, 2015. "Buffer effect and price effect of a personal carbon trading scheme," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 601-610.
    4. Greg Lusk, 2017. "The social utility of event attribution: liability, adaptation, and justice-based loss and damage," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 201-212, July.
    5. Olivier Godard, 2011. "Climate justice, between global and international justice -Insights from justification theory," RSCAS Working Papers 2011/56, European University Institute.
    6. Lining Wang & Wenying Chen & Hongjun Zhang & Ding Ma, 2017. "Dynamic equity carbon permit allocation scheme to limit global warming to two degrees," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 609-628, April.
    7. Jobst Heitzig & Sarah Hiller, 2020. "Degrees of individual and groupwise backward and forward responsibility in extensive-form games with ambiguity, and their application to social choice problems," Papers 2007.07352, arXiv.org.
    8. Allen Thompson & Friederike Otto, 2015. "Ethical and normative implications of weather event attribution for policy discussions concerning loss and damage," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 439-451, December.
    9. Olga Alcaraz & Pablo Buenestado & Beatriz Escribano & Bàrbara Sureda & Albert Turon & Josep Xercavins, 2018. "Distributing the Global Carbon Budget with climate justice criteria," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 131-145, July.
    10. Harmke Immink & Robbie Louw & Amy Garlick & Samuel Vosper & Alan Brent, 2022. "Country specific low carbon commitments versus equitable and practical company specific decarbonisation targets," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(8), pages 10005-10025, August.
    11. Olivier Godard, 2012. "Ecological debt and historical responsibility revisited - The case of climate change," RSCAS Working Papers 2012/46, European University Institute.
    12. Henry Shue, 2017. "Responsible for what? Carbon producer CO2 contributions and the energy transition," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 144(4), pages 591-596, October.
    13. Robert Van Buskirk & Lawrence Kachione & Gilbert Robert & Rachel Kanyerere & Christina Gilbert & James Majoni, 2021. "How to Make Off-Grid Solar Electric Cooking Cheaper Than Wood-Based Cooking," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-21, July.
    14. van Ruijven, Bas J. & Weitzel, Matthias & den Elzen, Michel G.J. & Hof, Andries F. & van Vuuren, Detlef P. & Peterson, Sonja & Narita, Daiju, 2012. "Emission allowances and mitigation costs of China and India resulting from different effort-sharing approaches," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 116-134.

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