What Climate Justice Means and Why We Should Care - by Elizabeth Cripps (Paperback)

About the Book

What is climate justice? Why does it matter? And what should we do about it? This book provides the answers.

Book Synopsis

We owe it to our fellow humans - and other species - to save them from the catastrophic harm caused by climate change.

Philosopher Elizabeth Cripps approaches climate justice not just as an abstract idea but as something that should motivate us all. Using clear reasoning and poignant examples, starting from irrefutable science and uncontroversial moral rules, she explores our obligations to each other and to the non-human world, unravels the legacy of colonialism and entrenched racism, and makes the case for immediate action.

The second half of the book looks at solutions. Who should pay the bill for climate action? Who must have a say? How can we hold multinational companies, organisations - even nations - to account? Cripps argues powerfully that climate justice goes beyond political polarization. Climate activism is a moral duty, not a political choice.

Review Quotes

"Insightful and timely...'climate justice' is essential if we are to deal with climate change. Compelling." --Professor Mark Maslin, author of How to Save Our Planet

"The iron law of global warming is: the less you did to cause it, the sooner and harder you suffer its effects. As this book makes clear, that raises very deep questions about justice, which we will be grappling with for the forseeable future. If you read this, you'll have a good headstart on a crucial debate." --Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

"An essential primer. Elizabeth Cripps deftly explains the complexity of wicked problems without ever losing sight of the fundamental truth that, before it is a technical or political issue, climate injustice is a moral one." --Professor David Farrier, Chair in Literature and the Environment, University of Edinburgh

"This book is a short and direct conversation with a philosopher carefully thinking through our duties now toward other people given the scary changes we all may face. While it may be painful reading at times, you will gain insights not available in any other book about climate change. The subtle analysis does not stifle the passion, and the deep feeling does not cloud the arguments. A moving philosophical plea for immediate radical action with the reasons distilled to their essence. If you wonder where to begin to tackle the worsening climate, start here." --Professor Henry Shue, Merton College, Oxford. Senior Research Fellow, Centre for International Studies, DPIR

"We live in a world increasingly impacted not only by climate change, but also its unjust impacts on both human and nonhuman communities. Elizabeth Cripps offers a lucid, comprehensive, and pertinent overview of a range of ideas and realities of climate justice in all its complexity. She offers the crucial argument that, in everyday political and personal practice, climate change is a choice to violate the rights of the most vulnerable. As inequitable as climate change can be, Cripps insists that it is possible, and straightforward, to choose climate justice instead." --David Schlosberg, Professor of Environmental Politics and Director, Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney

"The concept of climate justice is increasingly being invoked. But what is climate justice? In her brilliant book, Elizabeth Cripps gives us a definitive answer. What Climate Justice Means shows why climate change is a matter of justice, who bears responsibility for this and what citizens and governments ought to do. It vividly conveys the realities of climate injustices and makes a compelling moral case for action." --Simon Caney, Professor of Political Theory, University of Warwick

"... impassioned treatise from philosopher Cripps ... Sincere and substantial, this offers bountiful insight into the movement for climate justice." --Publishers Weekly

"There are complex moral quandaries in What Climate Justice Means, but it's written for everybody. And this is not philosophy as some kind of intellectual luxury. It's a matter of life and death, of how we live with integrity in the face of a global catastrophe which we did not create, but in which we are complicit." --Jeremy Williams, The Earthbound Report

"... serves to stiffen the moral sinew." --Big Issue in the North

"[Cripps] presents clear and compelling evidence of the burden borne by disadvantaged populations, maintaining that climate change is, above all, "about privilege."" --Science Magazine

"[Cripps] makes you care about climate change's most vulnerable victims and in the process offers advice on how we all can help ... Cripps argues powerfully that climate justice goes beyond political polarization. Climate activism is a moral duty, not a political choice." --The Revelator

"Cripps successfully argues her central point: Climate policies won't succeed if climate justice isn't at their forefront ... Cripps' argument, a timely update to former President of Ireland Mary Robinson's earlier linking together of climate justice and human rights ... makes fine, inspirational reading." --NPR.com

"In this short, accessible book, Elizabeth Cripps makes the moral case for action on climate change ...Cripps demonstrates that climate justice goes beyond politics-climate change is a moral duty, not a political choice." --Porchlight Books

"Cripps seemingly endeavors to compose a compelling moral philosophy, examining core issues concerning climate change. Her effort...yields engaging contemplation of the topic." --Hattiesburg America

"Cripps is pragmatic enough to recognize this will probably not happen until "inclusive activism" puts pressure on the system. The book is an interesting read in that it looks at climate change and responses to it from a philosophical and moral approach backed up with concrete examples from a global viewpoint." --Bowling Green Daily News

About the Author

Elizabeth Cripps is a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and the author of Climate Change and the Moral Agent. A moral philosopher with a focus on climate ethics and justice, she has written for Scotland's The Herald and been interviewed on Radio 4. As a former journalist, she worked for the Financial Times group and freelanced for the Guardian.