The welfare of future generations

In Chapter 7 we examine one of the many possible links between sustainability and distributive justice (B. Barry, 1999). For instance, we could look at issues of international justice, i.e. between developed and developing worlds, or we could explore the extent to which the concept of justice is applicable to the non-human world. However, despite the relevance of those debates, the issues of sustainability and justice are thrown into sharper relief by addressing the following question: what does it mean to act with justice towards future generations and what might this imply for social policy? The debate concerning future generations has generated a considerable literature in recent years, but by no means everyone is convinced that justice towards future generations makes sense. Of the sceptics, the most cogent recent defence has been provided by Beckerman and Pasek (2001: 14) who reduce their argument to a syllogism: