Climate change has impacted the world as we know it and will continue to do so unless radical steps are taken. These steps involve complex ethical decisions that will need to be made by leaders worldwide. This systematic literature review on the ethics of climate change from 1992 to 2020 reveals three key areas of research: the ethics of who bears the cost of climate change, market solutions, and geoengineering and non‐market solutions. Emerging research areas relate to the ethics of population, displacement and resettlement, and leadership. This paper reveals an intrinsic relationship between ethics and climate change that extends beyond a purely economic and emissions‐based perspective. An ethical perspective must be utilised to ensure that any amelioration efforts are equitable and consider those at the margins, including those in developing nations.

PurposeThis paper builds on the findings of Bridge (2021) and attempts to understand the major ethical, equity, and leadership issues that may arise when governments plan massive infrastructure and amelioration programs such as the United States’ Green New Deal (GND). The methodology developed here could be applied to the plans being created in other developed countries such as Canada and Korea.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was used to analyse the ethical issues associated with the Green New Deal via semi-structured interviews with 34 published authors of academic articles dealing with the ethics of climate change. Two industry experts were also consulted for reference.FindingsThis paper identifies three key themes arising from the proposed implementation of the Green New Deal. Firstly, the GND has the potential to present equity, justice, and ethical issues that must be considered as part of any intended adoption. Secondly, the GND will present opportunities for economic and climate success, but some groups may suffer due to its implementation. Thirdly, those that have the capacity, wealth, leadership, and ability should lead climate change initiatives. This may require market solutions in the short-term to reach 2050 net zero targets.Originality/valueThis paper is the first qualitative study undertaken on the Green New Deal, contributing to the development of the scant literature on this topic and also informing the practical implementation of wholesale infrastructure plans.