Intergenerational Equity & Social Justice Concepts RD September 2001

Intergenerational Equity n Concept deals with the fairness of imposing risks and costs (e.g. reduced natural resources) on future generations. n Issues such as climate change and nuclear waste disposal.

n Within the literature there is general agreement that present generations have obligations to future generations. n However, there is considerable debate about the basis or specifics of such obligations. n Should we be talking about intergenerational ‘rights’ rather than ‘obligations? n Do rights convey greater moral authority? Legal rights?

n Do we have a duty of justice to future generations? n Barry’s (1978) equates justice with equal opportunity. He contends that the overall range of opportunities open to successor generations should not be narrowed. n Page (1983) argues that …if the present generation provides a resource base essentially the same as it inherited (e.g. same level of contamination), it has satisfied intergenerational justice.

n Are people willing to accept additional costs/burdens for themselves instead of shifting them to future generations? n If people are not internally motivated to accept these costs, should coercive public policies be adopted? n Intergeneration equity is linked to the issue of uncertainty: –Can we predict the impact of our actions? –What will future generations value? –Do we impose our generation’s values on a future society by the choices we make?

Discounting n Discounting - technique used by economists to make trade-offs between the present and the future. n Comparisons across time are standardized by calculating the present value of future benefits. n Discounting can be problematic for intergenerational comparisons.

Discounting n Tend to significantly discount benefits to future generations. Results are typically biased in favor of the present generation. n Perhaps use a lower social discount rate? n Can we put dollar values on these benefits and costs? n Should we discount the future at all?

Suggested Intergenerational Equity Principles 1 Every generation is the trustee for generations that follow.  There is an obligation to protect future generations, provided the interests of the present generation and its immediate offspring are not unduly jeopardized. 3 Near-term concrete hazards have priority over long-term hypothetical hazards.

4 This preference for the present and the near future is reduced where questions of irreversible harm exist. 5 When an action poses a plausible threat of catastrophic effects, then that action should not be pursued, absent some significant countervailing need. (Precautionary Principle) 6 The reduction of resource stocks entails a duty to develop substitutes. (Compensation)

Concepts of Justice n Justice can be thought of in more than one way. n Distributive justice - focuses on the distribution of outcomes from a decision. Is the distribution fair or just? n Procedural justice - concerned with the fairness of the process used to arrive at a decision.

Distributive Justice n Equity - outcomes based on productivity. n Equality - all members receive the same outcomes. n Need - distribution of resources to ensure that all essential needs are met.

Procedural justice - concerned with the fairness of the process used to arrive at a decision.

Procedural Justice n Can: increase job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and regulatory compliance. n Procedural justice judgements lead to enhanced satisfaction with outcomes. Example: the outcome of an environmental conflict. n Procedures are viewed as fairer when they vest process control or voice in those affected. The opportunity to express one’s own point of view, in itself, enhances procedural justice judgements.

n Procedural justice enhances the evaluation of authorities and institutions. n Procedural justice affects behavior (e.g. dispute behavior, decision compliance, task performance). n People can usually agree on the criteria to determine procedural fairness.

n A person may shift back and forth, using first one and then another way of framing concerns about justice or fairness. n Each frame of reference or context evokes its own standards of fairness. Potential for conflicts over difference concepts of justice. n Justice is in the eye of the beholder.

Some characteristics of a process that is procedural just n Unbiased n Accurate n Consistent n Level playing field n Standing - representative n Concerned with well-being and needs n Trust building n Flexible n Ethical

Resolving environmental conflicts typically requires addressing both “distributive” and “procedural” justice issues.