Sustainability and intergenerational justice

Abstract

Fundamental equality serves as the foundational axiom for extending distributive justice to future generations. Under the principle of responsibility, individuals should not be disadvantaged by circumstances for which they are not accountable; consequently, it is unjust to bequeath a planet that offers fewer opportunities than those currently enjoyed. Sustainability functions as a necessary condition of intergenerational justice, defined as the preservation of the capacity to lead a good life across an indefinite timeline. This obligation is centered on providing equal opportunity rather than the mere satisfaction of subjective preferences, which are themselves adaptable to environmental degradation. Crucially, the demands of sustainability are calculated on a per capita basis, necessitating that population size be treated as a matter of human responsibility rather than an exogenous variable. While justice focuses on the distribution of vital interests among human beings, ethical conduct also encompasses the treatment of the non-human world. A strictly utilitarian or fungible view of natural capital fails to account for the moral impropriety of treating nature solely as a resource for exploitation. Therefore, achieving a sustainable balance of resources and population is not a matter of optional benevolence but an essential requirement of justice. – AI-generated abstract.