Climate tipping points and intergenerational justice

This thesis discusses the implications of climate tipping points for intergenerational justice and for the sustainability component of intergenerational justice. Climate tipping points further amplify initial anthropogenic warming by starting irreversible natural feedback loops. The demands of intergenerational justice are contested. I argue that a baseline requirement is that future generations are granted the opportunity to meet their basic needs. This implies that climate tipping points should not be crossed. Sustainability, a necessary condition for intergenerational justice, requires system resilience. This implies that fostering the stability of the systems on which mankind depends should be a priority for intergenerational justice.