Global Justice and Human Security in the Context of Climate Change

Abstract

The concept of global justice has inspired diverse reactions to market globalism. Although many of its challenges are still in force, they have acquired new meanings in the context of the economic, social and humanitarian crisis induced by the extreme phenomena associated with climate change. The constructs of democracy and justice, usually theorized in national contexts, may fail to function properly when applied to transnational contexts of problems, which can compromise the safety of individuals and communities (like those associated with climate change). A new frame, centred on the notion of human safety, is needed to consider crucial aspects in the relation between environmental crisis, unsustainable development and risk of authoritarian bias or violent conflict, with substantive implications for the concept of global justice and the democratic mechanisms of international governance.