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Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science

ISSN Online: 2576-0548 ISSN Print: 2576-0556 CODEN: JHASAY
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ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2025.09.022

Shared Obligations, Shared Future: Intergenerational Justice in the Climate Crisis

Ziying Lin

Santa Margarita Catholic High School, Rancho Santa Margarita, Rancho Santa Margarita, California, CA 92688, USA.

*Corresponding author: Ziying Lin

Published: October 22, 2025

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of intergenerational justice in the context of a global crisis, arguing that the moral obligations of the present generation cannot be separated from those owed to future generations. Featuring the different arguments of Xunzi and Mengzi, the essay argues that human nature is self-interested. Therefore, governance and policy are necessary to ensure that the present generation is only taking what is necessary from shared resources. By studying case studies such as Netherland’s resilience towards floods and Juliana v. United States, the paper demonstrates the inequality between the power of the present and future generations, and how the power of policy can alleviate these intergenerational concerns in terms of climate issues. This paper dives into legal frameworks like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, economic strate-gies such as climate bonds, and psychological perspectives, including empathy towards the future generation. Finally, the paper concludes with the argument that intergenerational justice is inseparable between generations.

Keyword

Intergenerational Justice; Moral Obligation; Intergenerational Climate Bonds

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Copyright

© 2025 by the author(s).
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not modified or adapted.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

How to cite this paper

Shared Obligations, Shared Future: Intergenerational Justice in the Climate Crisis

How to cite this paper: Ziying Lin. (2025) Shared Obligations, Shared Future: Intergenerational Justice in the Climate Crisis. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science9(9), 1827-1830.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2025.09.022