Abstract
This chapter discusses the sectoral responsibility for climate change by trying to answer the question of whether aviation exceptionalism is defensible. International aviation is consuming an increasing portion of the global carbon budget; already it consumes a disproportionate share, especially on a per capita basis, since most human beings do not participate in the international air transport regime. The present and near-future state of relations among global economic sectors with regard to climate justice thus reflects a fundamental imbalance: most sectors are embarking on the transition to a low-carbon economy, while aviation plans to continue to emit increasing amounts of greenhouse gas. The literature on climate justice offers a number of contending principles for answering questions about responsibility for climate change, including some that are directly relevant to flying behaviour. Conventional democratic theory would at this point offer representative government and political parties as the best available means to subject sectoral allocation decisions to the popular judgment about climate justice.