Development Ethics and the 'Climate Migrants'

摘要

Many of the ethical problems that are posed by development can be illuminated by clarifying some of the differences between development that is worthwhile and ethically undesirable 'maldevelopment'. So it is with development projects that displace communities that physically stand in their way: typically the 'oustees' are victimized and disempowered, in some cases by projects that are also indefensible in other ways. Can this help us to clarify what is owed to people who are displaced by climate change, the 'climate migrants' or 'climate refugees' ? These people, I will show, have a distinctive set of moral entitlements, which may include compensation and aid for resilience or resettlement; in addition, they are entitled to be included in decision-making in ways that are empowering.