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Chapter 8 Climate Change and Future Prospects

ously developing renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power to
gradually reduce dependence on traditional fossil fuels, thereby decreasing greenhouse gas
emissions from energy production sources. Simultaneously, actively driving improvements
in energy efficiency across industries through technological innovation and management op-
timization, enabling industrial production, transportation, and construction sectors to achieve
higher output with less energy input, thus effectively reducing total carbon emissions. On
the other hand, regarding climate change adaptation, increased investment should be made
in technological research and infrastructure development. For instance, strengthening coast-
al defenses such as seawalls and breakwaters in coastal areas to enhance resilience against
sea-level rise and storm surges; in agriculture, allocating resources to develop climate-re-
silient crop varieties and improve agricultural adaptability to extreme climate events like
droughts and floods. In policy formulation, the principle of intergenerational equity should
permeate all aspects. Establishing long-term stable energy policies that define renewable en-
ergy targets in the energy mix, while directing social capital toward clean energy industries
through policy instruments like subsidies and tax incentives, thereby building a sustainable
energy system for future generations. In urban planning and infrastructure development pol-
icies, fully anticipating future climate change trends to ensure new constructions incorporate
energy-efficient designs and extreme climate resilience, while upgrading urban drainage and
power supply systems to withstand potential increases in extreme weather challenges, ulti-
mately creating climate-adaptive living environments for posterity.

Ethical Foundations and Principles of Justice in Global Climate
Governance

Global climate governance is a complex and vast systematic project, with its ethical
foundation providing indispensable value grounding and moral guidance for the entire gov-
ernance system. At the ethical level, it emphasizes humanity as a community with shared
destiny bearing common and inescapable protection responsibilities for Earth’s ecosystems.
In the long journey of addressing climate change, nations need to follow a series of moral
norms to ensure governance actions align with humanity’s collective interests and long-term
development needs. The principle of justice plays a central role in the formulation and imple-
mentation of international climate policies. Given the significant disparities among countries
in historical carbon emissions, economic development stages, and climate change response
capabilities, the justice principle demands fair and reasonable distribution of responsibilities
and obligations in the planning and execution of climate governance measures. The “Common
but Differentiated Responsibilities” principle serves as a typical manifestation of the justice
principle in global climate governance. From the perspective of historical emissions, devel-
oped countries achieved rapid economic development through massive fossil fuel consump-
tion over an extended historical period, accumulating substantial carbon debts, and therefore
should bear primary responsibility in current emission reduction actions by taking the lead in

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