The Climate Justice Impasse and Ways Forward:Considerations across the Disciplines of Philosophy of Law and Economics

　　Abstract: Climate justice involves complex issues of both international and domestic law. While traditional international law emphasizes sovereignty, independence and mutual non-intervention, to combat climate change it is increasingly imperative that the international community cooperate in reducing emissions. International cooperation on reducing emissions is predicated upon each country giving up some of its rights with respect to emissions, and actively committing to reductions. Climate change is a tremendous threat to the international community as a whole, however as states occupy different geographical positions on the globe, they also experience the negative impacts of climate change differently. Climate justice cannot be seen as just a simple problem of defining and transferring the right to emit, it instead requires application of the principles of distributive justice and corrective justice to balance trends towards inequitable responsibilities for reduction of emissions.Undoubtedly, China should positively participate in international cooperation to reduce emissions, but it should also maintain its view of the priority of the right to develop, and engage in reasonable negotiations with developed industrial states while fighting to ensure that the principle of corrective justice is applied to the greatest extent possible.

　　Author: Wang Jianting is an Associate Professor in the Research Center for Marine Economy and Management at Guangdong Ocean University