2025
Bourban, Michel
Rethinking Climate Justice: Toward Ecological Limitarianism Journal Article
In: Ethics, Policy & Environment, 2025.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Climate justice, Ecological citizenship, Limitarianism, Planetary justice, sufficientarianism
@article{nokey,
title = {Rethinking Climate Justice: Toward Ecological Limitarianism},
author = {Michel Bourban},
url = {https://www.esdit.nl/wp-content/uploads/Rethinking-Climate-Justice-Toward-Ecological-Limitarianism-1.pdf},
doi = {10.1080/21550085.2025.2574219},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-11-10},
urldate = {2025-11-10},
journal = {Ethics, Policy & Environment},
abstract = {This article argues that climate justice should be discussed from a limitarian perspective and that limitarianism should be extended from wealth limitarianism to ecological limitarianism. It shows how egalitarian and sufficientarian considerations on climate change mitigation can be combined with an ecological limitarian approach to climate justice. This approach is built on a distinction between an institutional level composed of carbon markets and sufficiency policies and an individual level composed of ecological citizenship and a sustainable carbon footprint. To develop individual limitarianism, the article draws on virtue ethics and frames carbon sobriety as a key green virtue of ecological citizens.},
keywords = {Climate justice, Ecological citizenship, Limitarianism, Planetary justice, sufficientarianism},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article argues that climate justice should be discussed from a limitarian perspective and that limitarianism should be extended from wealth limitarianism to ecological limitarianism. It shows how egalitarian and sufficientarian considerations on climate change mitigation can be combined with an ecological limitarian approach to climate justice. This approach is built on a distinction between an institutional level composed of carbon markets and sufficiency policies and an individual level composed of ecological citizenship and a sustainable carbon footprint. To develop individual limitarianism, the article draws on virtue ethics and frames carbon sobriety as a key green virtue of ecological citizens.
Lenzi, Dominic
Sufficientarianism and the Economics of Climate Change Journal Article
In: Politics, Philosophy & Economics , 2025.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Climate justice, sufficientarianism
@article{nokey,
title = {Sufficientarianism and the Economics of Climate Change},
author = {Dominic Lenzi},
url = {https://www.esdit.nl/wp-content/uploads/lenzi-2025-sufficientarianism-and-the-economics-of-climate-change.pdf},
doi = {10.1177/1470594X251340973},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-05-20},
urldate = {2025-05-20},
journal = {Politics, Philosophy & Economics },
abstract = {Can economics reflect climate justice? Although the scenario forecasts of climate economists are key inputs to IPCC assessments, their ethical assumptions fail to reflect important considerations of justice. This is clearest regarding sufficientarian justice, which requires that no person falls below a minimum level of well-being. This view is reflected in an important strand of climate diplomacy and activism that highlights the plight of those most vulnerable to climate harms. However, I show that sufficientarian justice is largely incompatible with predominant approaches to climate economic modelling. I then examine the prospects for a sufficientarian climate economics, considering dual discounting approaches, well-being ‘guardrails’ approaches and basic needs modelling. I find that the latter two are closest to sufficientarianism, although they reflect different interpretations of its core claims. Finally, I consider whether climate sufficientarianism requires economic ‘degrowth’, as some have claimed. I argue that sufficientarianism is compatible with periods of economic growth, but is likely to be incompatible with the indefinite pursuit of growth due to the ecological impacts this would entail. Since growth is a standard assumption in climate economics, this reiterates the need for new economic approaches in the pursuit of a just and sustainable future.},
keywords = {Climate justice, sufficientarianism},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Can economics reflect climate justice? Although the scenario forecasts of climate economists are key inputs to IPCC assessments, their ethical assumptions fail to reflect important considerations of justice. This is clearest regarding sufficientarian justice, which requires that no person falls below a minimum level of well-being. This view is reflected in an important strand of climate diplomacy and activism that highlights the plight of those most vulnerable to climate harms. However, I show that sufficientarian justice is largely incompatible with predominant approaches to climate economic modelling. I then examine the prospects for a sufficientarian climate economics, considering dual discounting approaches, well-being ‘guardrails’ approaches and basic needs modelling. I find that the latter two are closest to sufficientarianism, although they reflect different interpretations of its core claims. Finally, I consider whether climate sufficientarianism requires economic ‘degrowth’, as some have claimed. I argue that sufficientarianism is compatible with periods of economic growth, but is likely to be incompatible with the indefinite pursuit of growth due to the ecological impacts this would entail. Since growth is a standard assumption in climate economics, this reiterates the need for new economic approaches in the pursuit of a just and sustainable future.