Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

Tóth FL. (ed.). 1999. Fair weather? Earthscan. pp xii + 212. ISBN 1 85383 557 9. £16.95.

It is entirely possible that the greatest share trading in a few years will be in carbon futures where nations cope with pollution by trading with others with spare capacity. Already this is seen as a minefield after Kyoto's attempts to reduce greenhouse emissions. This book examines some of the issues likely to be involved e.g. who takes responsibility, who pays and who benefits. Ultimately it is about the equity of climate change. From reading the text one is left with the impression that "fairness" is the key word. Most chapters allude to it in one way or another. The emphasis is on the study of intragenerational equity as one element in the equity debate. After an opening chapter which overviews the text, the second chapter is concerned with notions of efficiency and equity the basic argument being that it is a deep and profoundly complex issue. The next four chapters examine the relationship between economics and equity. This is followed by a study of justice and social psychology, the first of three chapters taking fairness from the social science perspective. The second of these chapters examines the issue of global warming from a local viewpoint followed by a chapter from a developing nation perspective. Both of these are under-addressed in most texts on climate change. A further three chapters look at the issue from a legal/political context.

This text is one of the few dealing with the more theoretical issues of equity and environmental issues. Although an advanced text it contains much that could of use to teachers, especially in terms of the arguments it uses and questions it raises. As such it deserves a wide readership.