Individual Duties to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in China

摘要

Christian Baatz (2014) argues that individuals have an imperfect duty to take reasonable steps to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and that governments should be working to implement structural changes that enable people to do this. He notes that 'individuals both responsible for high GHG emissions and well endowed with other goods (money in particular) very likely exceed their fair share of overall goods and [emissions rights] respectively'. Baatz argues that this is not justified and, because government regulation is lacking, affluent individuals are therefore 'morally obligated to reduce emissions because they are exceeding their overall fair share'. Baatz's argument should apply globally, including in China.