Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice

Running head: Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice
Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Climate change is a pertinent issue that needs to be addressed for the welfare of the planet
and humanity. Climate change threatens the basic values of humanity and the various actions
taken to address this problem are an act of moral responsibility and fairness. Climate change has
been defined as a “perfect moral storm” (Urry 2015) as it brings together three main challenges.
Firstly, it has been observed that many vulnerable countries like Ethiopia, Malawi, Poland and
France are those who have emitted toxic gases the least historically, countries whose levels of
emission continue to be low. Therefore, it seems rather unfair that such countries have to
withstand the worst of climate change. This is ethically and morally not right and unfair. The
second challenge is that toxic emission of greenhouse gases has an intergenerational effect.
Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide tend to endure in the atmosphere for a very long time,
which leads to climatic impacts that are negative in nature for centuries (Urry 2015). This is very
unfair especially to future generations if negative impacts are cumulative and severe. One does
not have any right to endanger the lives of children, who are the future of society. One also does
not have any right to pollute the earth and cause environmental pollution, degradation, and
climate change, which in the end will affect the future generations in a negative manner. The
third challenge is also ethical in nature because human beings have a moral duty and
responsibility to protect animals, places and nature as a whole. Human beings have a
responsibility towards the planet and it is the duty and responsibility of every human being to
preserve and nurture the environment and the planet that one lives in. The present generation has
a responsibility not to impose climate damages on the future generations. Climate changes have a
negative effect on animals and nature. One needs to protect animals as well as coral reefs in
order to conserve biodiversity, and to protect the beings living in those coral reefs.

2ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Globalized countries are more responsible for the emission of toxic gases that are leading
to change in climate than developing countries since time immemorial (Zehr 2016). Some people
argue that countries should not be held responsible for toxic emissions that took place before
1990 because of the lack of knowledge that was prevalent in regards to climate change in the
1990s about the harmful effects of these toxic emissions on the environment. Others feel that it is
extremely unfair to hold the present day inhabitants of developed countries responsible because
the damage that was made to the climate was made not by them but by their ancestors. While
still others argue that since the current lot of people in developed countries benefitted a lot from
the emissions of the previous generations, in terms of infrastructure etc, they should also be held
responsible for climate change and historic emissions (Zehr 2016). Colonization, economic
exploitation and slavery all led to climate change. Thus, the general consensus is that developed
countries should shoulder the maximum responsibility for addressing the problem of climate
change.
Climate change will unfortunately affect Ireland as it will lead to a rise in sea levels. It
will also lead to heavy storms and rainfall. It will further lead to river and coastal flooding, in the
east it will lead to water shortage in summer and it will have a detrimental effect on the quality
of water. Climate change will lead to changes in distribution of plant and animal species and it
will have a negative impact on fisheries that are sensitive to the environment.
The Irish Climate Policies include Ireland and Kyoto protocol wherein Ireland was
allowed to increase its emission but at a much lower rate of only 13% (Aldy & W.A. 2015). By
the year 2012, Ireland ensured that it stuck to its promise and commitment made under the Kyoto
Protocol. It was a direct result of the economic recession and economic outlook for the future.

3ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
However in future, Ireland cannot depend on a recession to take preventive measures to curtail
climate change. Instead it needs to develop as a low carbon economy to address climate change.
In Ireland, agriculture, energy and transport accounted for 73% of Ireland’s greenhouse
gas emissions in 2012. This led to the Climate Change Bill 2015, which was an essential first
step. The Climate Change Bill required a Statutory Requirement to produce a National
Mitigation Plan and to report annually on the measures that were taken. It was also stated that an
independent climate advisory council would be set up which will recognize the principle of
climate justice. The National Mitigation Plan followed this in 2017 wherein it was decided to
plant 8000 hectares of forest each year. Investment was made in energy efficiency upgrades for
homes; there were tighter building regulations on new buildings and efficiency of industrial
energy. The key measures that were taken under the National Mitigation Plan also included zero
emissions from cars from 2030, use of more bio fuels, support farm knowledge management
groups, beef data and genomics programme to improve carbon efficiency of cattle and carbon
footprint Audits of farms. Ireland also has Agri-Food Policies in place that focus on carbon
neutrality, i.e. sequestering carbon via land use change. Efforts have also been made to reduce
emissions per cattle.
The Paris Agreement recognizes that the impact of climate change will be felt by all
countries but the impacts would be uneven. As a party to the Paris Agreement, Ireland also
realizes the importance of responsibility of countries to address climate change. Ireland also
realizes the significance of countries pursuing low carbon, development that is climate resilient
in nature and also to support the developing countries to achieve these objectives.