ABSTRACT
We are under an obligation to adopt environmentally sustainable policies. This chapter argues that the Choice and the Interest theories of rights lack the conceptual resources to accommodate this as an obligation correlative to rights of remote future generations. Current inhabitants of the planet could have environmental rights but these are likely to require only policies with short-term impact. Mitigating the effects that climate change has on people around the world today is a question of global justice. The conclusion is that a rights-based approach is not the most suitable framework for addressing the ethical issues raised by climate change.
