ABSTRACT
Calls for climate justice based on a direct principle of historical responsibility, such as the Polluter Pays Principle, are ubiquitous. However, we need a justification of this principle that can circumvent its main objections. This chapter provides a justification for the PPP that can circumvent objections pressed against the PPP, based on the knowledge and alternative possibilities conditions. The justification for the PPP is provided by the Continuity Account. In a nutshell, the Continuity Account claims that polluters should bear the duties of addressing loss and damage because those duties stem from a previously unsatisfied duty of not infringing human rights. This chapter also explains how the Continuity Account improves existing accounts to distribute climate change-related duties based on a direct principle of historical responsibility.
