What is grandfathering?

Emissions grandfathering maintains that prior emissions increase future emission entitlements. The view forms a large part of actual emission control frameworks, but is routinely dismissed by political theorists and applied philosophers as evidently unjust. A sympathetic theoretical reconsideration...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironmental politics Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 410 - 427
Main Author Knight, Carl
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 01.05.2013
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Carbon emissions
Climate change
emission rights
Emissions control
Environmental law
Environmental Policy
grandfathering
History
Law
Philosophers
Political theory
Utilitarianism
Welfare
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Summary:Emissions grandfathering maintains that prior emissions increase future emission entitlements. The view forms a large part of actual emission control frameworks, but is routinely dismissed by political theorists and applied philosophers as evidently unjust. A sympathetic theoretical reconsideration of grandfathering suggests that the most plausible version is moderate, allowing that other considerations should influence emission entitlements, and be justified on instrumental grounds. The most promising instrumental justification defends moderate grandfathering on the basis that one extra unit of emission entitlements from a baseline of zero emissions increases welfare to a greater extent where it is assigned to a high emitter than where it is assigned to a low emitter. Moderate grandfathering can be combined with basic needs and ability to pay considerations to provide an attractive approach to allocating emission entitlements.
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ISSN:0964-4016
1743-8934
DOI:10.1080/09644016.2012.740937