Climate policy under the Bentham-Rawls criterion

A Bentham–Rawls welfare function is the weighted sum of the net present welfare (Bentham) and the welfare of the worst-off generation (Rawls). If utility is non-decreasing over time, optimal climate policy is more stringent in the near-term under the Bentham criterion than under the Bentham–Rawls criterion. If utility is decreasing, Bentham–Rawls abatement is higher. If there is a chance of decreasing utility, Bentham–Rawls optimal climate policy is probably less stringent than Bentham policy.