Locating “Climate Justice” within a National Context

Abstract

Many explorations of climate justice have focused on the international sphere, centring attention on the historical responsibilities of industrialised nations for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the financing of climate change policies, the imbalance in geopolitical power that has influenced and stalled decisions at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the structural changes needed as the world re-thinks development. This article presents a discussion of articulations of climate justice in a national context, exploring the case of Thailand, a middle-income country with a fast growing economy and a high trajectory of increasing emissions, but not listed in Annex 1 of the UNFCCC. These articulations are grouped and discussed within a framework of justice amongst people, justice to a place, and justice through time. A more comprehensive consideration of climate justice at the national level could point Thailand towards substantially different approaches in the short, medium and long term, than those currently being implemented to address the climate crisis.