Injustices in Climate Policy: Assessing Responses to Climate Change in Democratic States

This paper examines how many policies promoted in democracies to tackle climate change place additional burdens on particularly vulnerable individuals and communities. Drawing from the requirements of relational egalitarianism, I argue that when a climate policy unjustifiably exposes specific individuals and communities to weightier burdens by impacting relations of equality, it constitutes an injustice. I then argue that, if drafted appropriately, climate policies can promote aims of social justice and contribute to offsetting existing inequalities. I outline some normative guidelines for the implementation of fairer climate policies that would address social cleavages rather than enhance them.