Intergenerational Justice, International Relations and Sustainability

Abstract

During the next thirty to fifty years, the populous, poor countries of China and India will, one hopes, approach the current per capita income of countries in the highly developed world today. In purchasing-power-parity terms, China’s per capita in 2003 was $4,990, while Britain’s was $27,650.¹ At an annual rate of real growth of 7% per annum — considerably less than China’s growth rate over the past twenty years — China’s per capita income will overtake Britain’s current income in twenty-five years’ time. One can expect that Chinese and Indian citizens will desire at least the standard of living that Britons enjoyed in 2003. The pressure on the natural resource base of the earth, in particular the biosphere, will in all likelihood be immense.

We are indebted to Marc Fleurbaey, Toshihiro Ihori, Marco Mariotti, Ngo Van Long, and participants in seminars at the Catholic University of Milan, Queen Mary, the State University of Milan, and to the IEA conference on intergenerational equity, for comments and suggestions. The usual disclaimer applies.