Pope John Paul II Journal of Philosophy

Nigeria is presently plagued by record-breaking environmental challenges such as flooding, desertification, and population displacement. The above precarious condition partly occasioned by climatic change (CC) endangers not only the environment itself but also the lives, livelihood and general well-being of millions of people. In search of an adequate theoretical framework for addressing the above predicament, the present work sets out to examine the Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach in order to determine its suitability in providing an effective theoretical tool that can ameliorate the above ugly situation. The work adopts the philosophical method of analysis. Nussbaum’s capability approach anchors on the human capability-and-dignity versus deprivation calculus. Accordingly, it interprets the impacts of climatic change primarily from the perspective of concerns for human capability and dignity. It further draws normative thresholds. This equally extends to non-human entities around us nay, the natural environment including plants and animals. Baring the constraints of difficulties in measurability of the abstract concepts in Nussbaum’s capabilities theory, it can serve to provide a more humane reconceptualization and approach to addressing the ravaging environmental disasters. The paper submits.

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