Evaluating climate justice – attitudes and opinions of individual stakeholders in the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention Conference of the Parties

摘要

Both conferences of the parties (COP) at Copenhagen (termed “Hopenhagen”) and Cancun were a disappointment as they failed to deliver a legally binding agreement that will ensure global temperature rise remains well below agreed on targets. Achieving this agreement would be the ultimate expression of climate justice. Arriving at this agreement may be facilitated by exploring a deeper definition of climate justice including attitudes and opinions surrounding the components of climate justice. The objective of this research article is to explore aspects of the author's construction of climate justice with climate stakeholders and provide insight into how climate justice might ultimately be achieved within the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) context. This article reports results of a survey of attitudes and opinions respecting climate justice at Copenhagen and surrounding climate negotiations of the UNFCCC. Utilizing a definition of climate justice based on legal justice, distributive justice, participatory justice, and an ethical practice, respondents were surveyed in respect of their own attitudes and opinions surrounding the UNFCCC COP at Copenhagen and that of their country. Questions were posed surrounding the desired limits to global temperature, the optimal distribution of obligations for emission reduction targets amongst the global community, and the respondent's opinion of participation in negotiations. This research article concludes with recommendations for improving climate justice through UNFCCC negotiations into the future.