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216 O.Serdeczny
compensation is not possible, leaving ends-displacing compensation as the only
option.Goodin argues for themoral superiority ofmeans replacing compensation
as it does not forcibly interfere with the “unity and coherence in a person´s life”
(Goodin 1989:68) and does not undermine a person´s autonomy. In contrast, in
ends-displacingcompensation,peopleare forced toshift theirgoalsandpursuenew
ends, as if their preferences and goals were “one undifferentiatedmass” (Goodin
1989:67).
For responses toNELD thismeans thatways should be sought that allow those
affected topursue the samegoals asprior to the loss.Whether andhowexactly this
canbeachievedwill dependon the loss inquestion as somebut not all incommen-
surable values are irreplaceable.Designing responses to unavoidedNELD impacts
will consequently requirea thoroughunderstandingof the function that a lostvalue
had for thoseaffectedby its loss.For example, if a community is forced to relocate
andisfacedwithlossof traditionalknowledgethenlocationsforrelocationcouldbe
soughtwhichallowasmuchoftheknowledgetostillbeappliedaspossible.Granting
migrants the rights needed to re-establish their livelihoods according to their own
preferenceswouldbeanotherwayofeffectivemeans-replacement inorder toenable
thepursuit of lost ends.
In caseswhere no substitute forwhat has been lost is conceivable, asmight for
examplebethecasewithlossoflivesorsacredplaces, it isimportanttoacknowledge
that ends-displacing compensation does not legitimise the policy that led to this
loss (Goodin 1989:73). This does not imply that ends-displacing compensation, as
for example monetary compensation for irreplaceable goods, should be avoided.
Indeed, claims for compensation for culture loss as quoted by (Kirsch 2001) show
that communitiesaffectedbysuch losses seek justice through the formofmonetary
recompensedespitetheperceivedincommensurabilityofculturewhichconceptually
prohibits its economicvaluation.Thismight appear as conceptual inconsistencyor
dishonesty by those affected.However, asO´Neill (2001) argues, forward-looking
economic valuations are distinct frombackward-looking ones in that the latter are
associatedwith notions of rectificatory justicewhereas the former are not. Along
these lines, monetary compensation for irreplaceable or incommensurable goods
does not imply that those goods are replaced or that their value can be expressed
onasingle scale.Rather, ends-displacingcompensation is anaspectof rectificatory
justice and “surely better than nothing” (Goodin 1989:73), but it does not right a
wrong. In the context of climate policy this translates into the clear preference that
needs to be given tomeasures that prevent the risk of losses and damages, even if
thedifferencebetweenavoidingandcompensatingwerecost-neutral.Finally,where
losses are irreplaceble and require that thoseaffectedare forced to shift their goals,
as will be the case with many of the non-economic values already observed and
projected, it needs tobeacknowledged that a residueofmoralwrongwill remain.
Loss and Damage from Climate Change
Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Title
- Loss and Damage from Climate Change
- Subtitle
- Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Authors
- Reinhard Mechler
- Laurens M. Bouwer
- Thomas Schinko
- Swenja Surminski
- JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer
- Publisher
- Springer Open
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-72026-5
- Size
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 580
- Keywords
- Environment, Climate change, Environmental law, Environmental policy, Risk management
- Categories
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima