Intergenerational justice

DEFINITION: The sense of obligation or fair play that one generation of humanity holds toward the generations that follow and precede it

The laws and policies that are created in relation to environmental issues are, in part, influenced by legislators’ and policymakers’ views about the necessity of pursuing intergenerational justice.

In addition to societal issues such as how the young should treat older adults or whether one generation should pay for the education of the next, the concept of intergenerational justice encompasses numerous questions regarding the environment. Is it fair or just for the current generation to exploit natural resources to the point where those resources may become exhausted? Is it fair or just for today’s society to fill landfills with garbage or the atmosphere with pollutants that tomorrow’s citizens will have to clean up? Although the answers to such questions regarding an implicit social contract reaching across generations may seem self-evident, not everyone agrees that the members of each generation have a moral obligation to leave the world a better place than they found it.

Some economists and policy analysts have argued in favor of what might appear to be shortsighted selfishness on the part of the current generation of humanity. They point to past ecologically unsound practices, such as overreliance on fossil fuels, and assert that the technological progress that humans have made can be attributed to their need to respond to problems created by the selfish behavior of past generations. Using this line of reasoning, they claim that it is unnecessary for current generations to preserve natural resources, curb population growth, or reduce industrial pollution. Frequently coupled with this argument is the statement that past generations showed no restraint or consideration for intergenerational justice, and current generations should be equally free to engage in selfish behavior. This latter argument is sometimes referred to as “mutual unconcern” between generations.

The flaw in pursuing a policy of mutual unconcern is that it is based on an assumption of continual technological and scientific progress. While it may be historically true that technological advances allowed past generations to substitute new resources for depleted ones, such as the substitution of coal for fuel when deforestation rendered charcoal scarce in Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution, humans cannot presume that science will always provide technical solutions to environmental problems. The historical record is rife with examples of technical solutions that, in the long run, generated more problems than they solved.

Further, engaging in unsound or damaging practices while arguing that the next generation will find a way to clean up the resulting mess fails on moral grounds. People should recognize that current actions do have significant impacts on the future. The fact that current generations may not live to see the consequences of their actions should not release them from the moral obligations implicit in the social contract. The idea of distributive justice within a generation suggests, for example, that it is immoral for the wealthy to exploit the poor; that same concept of distributive justice suggests that, rather than pursuing a policy of mutual unconcern, intergenerational justice mandates mutual concern, particularly regarding the environment.

In the twenty-first century and across the globe, an increasing number of courts are stepping in to pressure public and private entities to ensure a more sustainable future. This trend in the narrative concerning intergenerational justice and environmental issues attaches legal repercussions to those who fail to recognize their accountability for reducing climate change's effects.

Bibliography

Gosseries, Axel, and Lukas H. Meyer, editors. Intergenerational Justice. Oxford UP, 2009.

Hiskes, Richard P. The Human Right to a Green Future: Environmental Rights and Intergenerational Justice. Cambridge UP, 2009.

Meyer, Kristin. "Courts Step Up On Intergenerational Climate Justice." International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 4 Aug. 2021, www.iucn.org/news/environmental-law/202108/courts-step-intergenerational-climate-justice. Accessed 15 Sept. 2025.

Strazzante, Erika. "Intergenerational Justice, or How to Be a Good Ancestor." Generation Climate Europe, 29 July 2022, gceurope.org/intergenerational-justice-or-how-to-be-a-good-ancestor/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2025.

Wang, Jodi-Ann, and Tiffanie Chan. “What Is Meant by Intergenerational Climate Justice?” London School of Economics and Political Science, 7 Dec. 2023, www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-meant-by-intergenerational-climate-justice/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2025.