ABSTRACT
The idea of global citizenship suggests a norm of global goodwill or disposition to promote the well-being of others everywhere, present and future, at least to the extent of respecting the requirements of global justice or fair terms of global cooperation. Although the requirements of global justice have not been institutionalized and are still unclear in theory, the global reach and impact of individual actions through economic relations, pollution that damages health and food sources (Connor 2007; Shrader-Frechette 2007, 15ff.; Dodds 2008, 3, 48-62), and climate disruption that already causes an estimated 150,000 deaths each year (WHO 2007), makes the institutionalization of these requirements a moral and practical necessity.1 Morally, we owe it to each other to discuss the ways our actions impair each other’s interests, and to settle what will and will not be recognized as wrongful violations of those interests. Practically, there are no unilateral or regional solutions to global problems of climate disruption and unsustainable aggregate burdens on resources and ecosystems. Globally coordinated action to address these problems is urgently needed, and it is inconceivable that such action will occur except on the basis of global agreements that are mutually advantageous, if not ideally just.
