Global Warming Ethical Framework - PDF

Running head: POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political Science
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Author Note

POLITICAL SCIENCE 1
Question: What is the most appropriate ethical framework for responding to the distribution
of burdens arising from addressing Global Warming?
Answer:
In the contemporary world, global warming is one of the most significant threats that
has overshadowed all the development and wellbeing of the living creatures in the world. It is
the gradual rise in the temperature of the globe’s atmosphere credited to the greenhouse
impact that are the result of the increased level of CFCs, carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
It is the global climate crisis that defines the moral issues of the current century. The change
in the climate is expressed by the issues of global warming like rise in rate of average
temperature, long-term alteration on rain, levels of high tide, salinity and acidity of the ocean,
patterns of the wind, and extreme events of the weather that includes heat waves, heavy rains,
and intense tropical cyclones. In this paper, I will discuss the possible ethical framework
which is appropriate to address the burdens arising from the issues of global warming. The
paper has highlighted two of the most relevant theories for addressing the issues of global
warming, namely the green theory and the cosmopolitan theory, from which I will summarize
the effective one among the two in the context of development and wellbeing of living
creatures in the world.
According to the American Meteorological Society, there exists a probability of 90
percent increase in the global temperature in the coming years. These shifts in the
temperature tend to trigger major disasters that results in an increase in the level of the sea,
volatile and violent patterns of the weather, chances of famine, shortages of water and other
tertiary impacts like conflict (Feldman et al. 2014,pp. 602).

POLITICAL SCIENCE 2
The health and the environmental consequences related to the change in the climate
tend to affect the low-income nations and the poor people in the high-income nations
disproportionately. It furthermore affects the social justice and human rights by threatening
and challenging the political, civil as well as the social, economic and cultural rights of the
people of the globe. Some of these rights include right to live, safe water, and food, health,
shelter, security, and culture (Paterson 2016, pp. 181). Environmental impacts caused due to
global warming include an excessive rate of precipitation, weather events, and higher sea
levels that tend to adversely impact the agricultural production, productivity level of the
workers, access towards safe drinking and sanitation water sources and formation of various
environmental refugees (Page and Heyward 2017, pp. 364). Some of the adverse effects that
are caused by global warming and climate changes include allergic issues and disorder,
disorders related to heat, waterborne and food borne diseases, respiratory issues, mental
health issues and the problem of malnutrition among the people in the globe (Liu, Wu and
Huang 2017,pp. 157). People who are most vulnerable towards the consequences related to
health and the environment changes include minority group members, poor resident, an
individual with chronic disabilities and diseases (Huggel et al. 2016, pp. 901). The
consequences of global warming threaten the rights that are embodied in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (Hansen et al. 2016, pp. 3790). These rights include right to
security, right to an adequate standard of living, and right to food, right to clothing, right to
medical care, housing and essential social services (Page 2016, pp.91). Thus it can be
concluded that addressing the issues related to human rights and facilities that are the result
of global warming are essential to promote an equal, rational and perfectly governed mankind
in the globe.
According to the global perspective, much inequality exists within the low-income
countries that produce least greenhouse gases and are more adversely affected by climate

POLITICAL SCIENCE 3
changes induced by global warming (Feldman et al. 2014, pp. 602). Thus, Global Warming is
an ethical issue which need to be address ethically to stop it progression in nature (Kolk
2016, pp. 29).Two of the most discussed ethical framework inmodern era is the green theory
and the cosmopolitan theory. These theories provide some better way of understanding this
phenomenon and how to approach or find solution.
The emergence of green theory is generally caused by the environmental degradation
by the complex activities of the human beings. The green theory emerged at 1980 as a result
of social movements related to environmental protection (Brambilla et al. 2018, pp. 211).
This theory deal with issues such as, social justice, grass-roots democracy and ecological
responsibility of the environment (Pascual et al. 2017, pp. 075001). The theory consist of
normative branch that questions the rights, democracy, environment and justice and the
political economy branch that deals with the relation among economy, state and the
environment. In the context of the above question, green theory rejects the idea that human
beings are the centre of value and evaluation and have criticized humanity for the burden
arising from their actions that result in global warming (Liu, Wu and Huang 2017,pp. 157).
On the other hand, the theory of cosmopolitanism explains the principle of global
distributive justice and which deliver a critique of the current global system and the one-sided
position of human in dealing with the climate change (Paterson 2016, pp. 181). Political
cosmopolitanism suggests the formation of democratic governance in the global levels as the
necessity to address the issues raised due to global warming. In this theory three main
objection are addressed for mitigating the threat of the global warming. These are (i) impact
of use of emission allowance marketplace of the values of the environment, (ii) The injustice
by the policy instruments that commodify atmosphere and (iii) the relation among the
emission market and the norms of procedural justice (Lewandowsky, Risbey and Oreskes
2015, pp. 16784).