Climate Change, Adaptation, and Climate-Ready Development Assistance. (April 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Light, Andrew; Taraska, Gwynne
• Is Part Of: Environmental values. Volume 23:Number 2(2014:Apr.)
• Page Start: 129
• Page End: 147
• Publication Date: 2014-04
• Subjects: Climate change adaptation -- development assistance -- Millennium Development Goals -- Sustainable Development Goals -- methodological pragmatism; Environmental ethics -- Periodicals; Environmental policy -- Periodicals; 179.105
• DOI: 10.3197/096327114X13894344179086
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0963-2719

Abstract

Traditional justifications for state-to-state development assistance include charity, basic rights and self-interest. Except in unusual cases such as war-reparations agreements, development assistance has typically been justified for reasons such as the above, without reference to any history of injury that holds between the states. We argue that climate change creates relationships of harm that can be cited to supplement and strengthen the traditional claims for development assistance. Finally, to demonstrate the utility of this analysis, we offer a brief application of our reasoning to the emerging conflict in the United Nations over the future post-2015 development agenda.