Common concern for the global ecological commons: solidarity with future generations?

Abstract

This article elaborates on ideas concerning future generations and whether they are useful in understanding some aspects of the concern for the global ecological commons. The article’s main scholarly contribution is to develop analytical tools for examining what a concern for future generations would require of current generations. It combines the scholarly literature on future generations with that of solidarity. The ideas concerning future generations are interpreted in terms of an ideal typical concept of solidarity with future generations. This concept is divided into four dimensions: the foundation of solidarity, the objective of solidarity, the boundaries of solidarity and the collective orientation. By applying these four dimensions in the context of the political process leading to Agenda 2030, the potentials and limitations of the concept are evident. The article concludes that the absence of reciprocity between current and future generations and uncertainty about the future are both crucial issues, which cut across the four dimensions. We cannot expect anything from people who have not yet been born, and we do not know what preferences they will have. This shows the vulnerability of forward-looking appeals to solidarity with future generations. Nevertheless, such appeals to solidarity may give global political processes a normative content and direction and can thereby contribute to understanding common concerns for the global ecological commons.

Amplified Solidarity with Future Generations

“…12 This is an idea developed by Ulrick Beck in the direction that when solidarity becomes security, a partitive and dual society is established [retrieved from Blais [27] (p. 22)]. 13 See, in this regard, the excellent work of Jon Elster, Local Justice: How Institutions Allocate Scarce Goods and Necessary Burdens [38]. 14 I have addressed the problem of imagination and future generations in the article 'Imagining future ecologies: Kantian imagination across generations' [41].…”

“…Secondly, the problem of solidarity cannot be only a local problem, especially when it comes to dealing with the effects on the health of the population linked to climate change. There are some distributional issues, such as the allocation of kidneys, that demand a local response 13 . However, climate change is responsible for the increase in "weather and climate hazards [that] affect health both directly and indirectly, increasing the risk of deaths, noncommunicable diseases, the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, and health emergencies" [39], which calls for a global solidarity response with an intergenerational justice perspective.…”

“…There is currently far from a homogeneous definition and position on the nature and status of solidarity in the field of global health among contemporaries. Furthermore, studies that aim to extend analyses to the intergenerational terrain by applying and reconceptualising the principle of solidarity appear to be scarce and in need of revision and discussion [13]. A notable exception is the 2013 Report of the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, which is worth highlighting for its clarity and relevance, and which states that the need for intergenerational solidarity must be implemented and promoted through the analysis of sustainable development, and respect for the actions and treaties already in force [14].…”