Geoengineering as Defensive War: Why Climate Change Troubles the Waters of Just War Theory

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change will, in the coming decades, threaten some nations with complete annihilation. Even if their citizens survive the storms, droughts, or rising seas, they may become refugees elsewhere, leaving their homelands effectively erased. I argue that this loss of sovereignty can be understood as the result of an unjust war. Framing climate change in this way, however, complicates how we judge right action in war, both before and during conflict.If climate change constitutes an unjust war, then vulnerable states have a right to defend themselves against its aggression. Geoengineering may represent one such form of defensive action—perhaps the only one capable of slowing or stopping the harm in time. Yet understanding geoengineering as defensive war exposes deep tensions within just war theory, particularly regarding conflicting claims of self-defense and the limits of proportionality. This project argues for viewing climate change as unjust war and geoengineering as defensive war, examines the challenges this poses for just war theory, and considers possible paths forward for resolving these theoretical tensions.