Climate justice for the next generation - Glossary
Intergenerational inequalitiesIntergenerational inequality refers to the concept of unfairness or injustice between generations. National debt for instance, is often cited as an example of intergenerational inequity, as today’s young people as well, as the generations to come, will shoulder the consequences of the borrowing of those older than them. In the UK, it has been argued that the economic gap between the old and the young has widened considerably so that the baby boomer generation (those born between 1945 and 1965) have collectively done much better than the generations that came after them. They will have drawn more out of the welfare state than they put in, they have benefited from rising house prices, free tertiary education and can look forward to generous pensions in retirement. In contrast the young have to struggle harder to get on the property ladder, experience higher unemployment and job insecurity while simultaneously being expected to prop up both the welfare state and these pensions financially. |
Paris AgreementThe Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. |