ABSTRACT
The idea that justice in the allocation to countries of caps on emissions is to be understood through equal per-capita shares has also become enshrined in policy documents. The greenhouse effect is a classic version of the tragedy of the commons, which is made worse by its intergenerational features. Each country and individual has a reason for using energy, and often this will create greenhouse emissions. In order for an emissions trading scheme to work, the allocation of rights needs to be internationally agreed on and the rules for emissions trading to be settled under international law. So far, philosophers who have dealt with the issue of allocating emissions rights have seen it as a problem of distributive justice involving humans. Allocating rights to emit greenhouse gasses on the basis of geography simply extends such principles to the international realm.
