We argue that the ethical principles of justice provide an essential foundation for policies to protect unborn generations and the poorest countries from climate change. Related issues arise in connection with current and persistently inadequate aid for these nations, in the face of growing threats to agriculture and water supply, and the rules of international trade that mainly benefit rich countries. Increasing aid for the world’s poorest peoples can be an essential part of effective mitigation. With 20 percent of carbon emissions from (mostly tropical) deforestation, carbon credits for forest preservation would combine aid to poorer countries with one of the most cost-effective forms of abatement. Perhaps the most cost-effective but politically complicated policy reform would be the removal of several hundred billions of dollars of direct annual subsidies from the two biggest recipients in the OECD ― destructive industrial agriculture and fossil fuels. Even a small amount of this money would accelerate the already rapid rate of technical progress and investment in renewable energy in many areas, as well as encourage the essential switch to conservation agriculture.

* mitigation: 완화 ** abatement: 감소 *** subsidy: 보조금