Global equity versus public interest? : the case of climate change policy in Germany

Abstract

The paper attempts to shed some light on the kind of role equity norms play\nin German sustainable development policy and the related discourse, focusing\non the issue of global climate change. Especially the tensions between the\npublic discussion of equity among and within nations are investigated. Attitudes\nand commitments of the general public and the main actor groups\ntowards global climate change policies and related equity issues are analyzed.\nOne of the central findings of the analysis is that the norm of global\nfairness enjoys broad (rhetorical) support by all actor groups and the public.\nHowever, the support by the public must be characterized as uninformed\nconsent because the effects of the various global climate policies within\nGermany are either not discussed or played down by the proponents of a\nprogressive climate change policy. The debates are framed by two different\nbut overlapping discourses informed by the concepts of sustainable development\nor ecological modernization. While with respect to global climate change\npolicy the sustainable development discourse dominates at the programmatic\nlevel (concerned with norms, values and fairness principles), it is clearly the\nconcept of ecological modernization that underlies the concrete policies.