Implementation of the Principle of Responsibility in Climate Policy
Implementation of the Principle of Responsibility in Climate Policy

Summary/Abstract: Increased energy consumption which commenced in the late twentieth century as well as its impact on the climate change highlighted important ethical issues revolving around responsibility for the inflicted damage, obligations towards both future generations and millions of species living on the planet, or the costs of mitigation and adaptation.Natural sciences provide more and more detailed information on the currently observed climate change. Climate models allow us to forecast changes and predict their consequences. However, it is yet impossible to answer the question what should be done about the knowledge about climate change, whether and in what way we should react to it. What seems of particular importance is the necessity to take a closer look at the alarming phenomenon through the prism of values and, especially, our responsibility for the present and future generations. Climate change is a global problem and it is very difficult to find a political solution to it due to the fact that its effects have a diverse character and are not immediately discernible. They constitute a matter of considerable concern which is mostly related to the fact that the consequences of climate change can significantly affect the entire international community, irrespective of the place of living or financial status. Proper assessment of climate change effects and undertaking political action to counteract them constitute nowadays one of the major world’s development challenges.

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