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Thesis advisor: Catherine Cornille / Thesis advisor: James F. Keenan / In the last decade, virtue ethics has steadily grown as a viable and useful framework for addressing the problems and challenges of climate change. Interest in broader concerns of environmental virtue ethics has intensified in the study of particularly “ecological” character traits that reveal how human flourishing is embedded in ecological relations, and that promote practices of restoration ecology. As an exercise in Muslim-Christian comparative theological ethics, cumulatively, this dissertation attempts to contribute to this ongoing discourse. More specifically, its principal task becomes clarified by the central methodological question of how virtue is acquired, cultivated, and may become developed. From a Catholic standpoint, the critical aim concerns developing the proper hermeneutic to both shape and inform virtue responses to climate change. In this regard, the ethical perspective continues to emphasize three crucial implications that must be kept at the forefront of any effective, systematic response to the urgent struggle of climate justice, namely, radical inequality that disproportionately affects the poor and most vulnerable, basic commitments to protect creation and care for non-human creatures, and solidarity with future generations. To this end, proposing practical means and key conditions for the pursuit of ecological conversion, this comparative theological approach is developed to cultivate a more suitable response. Building solidarity and practicing hospitality, this virtue-rooted approach proposes lessons in developing sobriety, attunement, and resilience in accord with hope.A core concern that I address is the lack of engagement with both concrete problems and shared challenges that transcend religious boundaries. In The Future of Ethics, Willis Jenkins contributes key focus toward “reform projects,” that is, actual cases of cultural change and religious creativity. In a pragmatic way, he suggests that these social movements offer vital lessons that demonstrate how to become better managers of humanity’s planetary powers. In a “prophetic” spirit, furthermore, he claims these lessons should enable and may inspire persons as moral agents to resist and overcome how conditions of “moral pluralism and cultural conflict” alienate ethical responses. From a comparative theological perspective, I critique his understanding of hospitality, how his strategy systematically ignores contributions of religious others and his relative lack of engagement with non-Christian sources. I argue that the discipline of comparative theology functions to make a particularly important contribution to this issue, pointing to the usefulness of virtue ethics that highlight the types of people we should become, the capabilities and distinct contributions of religious perspectives, and the methods of virtue cultivation that might serve climate ethics in understanding the complex goal of “reinhabitation.” I define this aspirational concept of reinhabitation as threefold, providing an altered sense of place, “spiritual landscape,” and practice of everyday life. In response to climate change, therefore, this dissertation attempts to forward a possible method of ethical reasoning as much as a discrete role for the discipline of comparative theology. As virtue ethics is supplemented dialectically with the use of case-based reasoning, the dialogical method allows a back-and-forth style of reasoning that enables judgments to be challenged and revised and even allows the possibility to listen and learn from others. The current literature of climate ethics tends to fall short of how theoretical work on virtue must be guided toward concretely affecting how flourishing becomes understood, implicating both the practice of everyday life and moral formation. While highlighting friendship as a possible basis for shaping ecological agency, I argue that the virtue ethics of Thomas Aquinas continues to provide important lessons in “broadening” justice to include those who are excluded from their “due” share, and encompasses the “community of the universe.” However, in Thomas’s understanding of ecological agency, Christian theology must confront, rehabilitate, and seek to reconcile limitations and inherited problems. In particular, I shall address habitual tendencies to either dominate or exclude other, non-human creatures in Christian visions of flourishing. In common, Islamic approaches seem to be developing the question of ecological agency with a more acute consciousness toward habits and virtues that integrate ecological concerns. In the virtue ethics of Abū Hamid al-Ghazālī, I turn to an alternative model of virtue cultivation that emphasizes bodily practices in its development perspective, with a more corporeal and therapeutic way to practice temperance, enact justice in accord with law, and perhaps fostering hope. In this dissertation, as a result of this dialogical engagement, I argue for the incorporation of both case-based reasoning and development of virtue ethics. Taken together, this method of reasoning can draw inquiry into cooperative habits of solidarity and may create conditions for practicing hospitality. In sum, what kind of justice is necessary? In the concluding chapter, based on the case of the Niger Delta, I begin to sketch the outlines for a model of restorative justice with the promising basis of Muslim-Christian dialogue, the key role of climate change witnesses, and building possible pathways toward building resilience in the name of the greater common good. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Thesis advisor: M Cathleen Kaveny / This dissertation examines the question of whether a politics of the common good remains possible within contemporary democratic societies, characterized by deep pluralism, division, and contention. To engage this question, it draws on the moral and theological framework of the Catholic common good tradition, and employs that framework to identify, analyze, and theorize a real, practical exemplar of common good politics: the democratic tradition of community organizing founded by Saul Alinsky. By placing these two traditions of practice and theory in sustained dialogue for the first time, this study contributes toward a new understanding of each, while developing an original constructive account of the “politics of the common good.” Chapter 1 introduces Catholic common good theory as a framework of ethical analysis and assesses its current state of development. It argues that while contemporary Catholic thinkers have articulated a rich moral vision of the common good, and reconceived it in democratic terms, they have struggled to adequately account for the role of power conflict in political life. Chapter 2 places the Catholic common good tradition in dialogue with the Alinsky tradition. Analyzing the life, work, and methodology of its controversial founder, Saul Alinsky, it traces his deep relationship to the Catholic church and shows how he sought to embody the Catholic tradition’s vision of the common good in democratic practice, while imbuing it with a greater degree of political realism and attentiveness to power. Chapter 3 offers a historical and ethical analysis of Alinsky-style community organizing as a practice and dynamically developing tradition of democratic politics. Drawing on Alasdair MacIntyre’s practice theory, it shows how organizing forms the moral virtues, practical skills, and political institutions needed to promote the common good in a democratic society. It also further articulates the Alinsky tradition’s historical and intellectual relationship to the Catholic tradition. Chapter 4 examines how community organizing exemplifies a democratic form of political prudence. Reconstructing Thomas Aquinas’s theory of prudence, and employing it to analyze two real case studies of organizing campaigns, it develops a constructive account of political prudence as the virtue that enables morally principled and pragmatically effective collective action for the common good in the public realm. Chapter 5 synthesizes the results of the preceding chapters. It argues that prudent political action, and not merely public deliberation, is the social process by which to promote the common good, social justice, and social solidarity in a democratic society. Integrating key insights from both the Catholic tradition and the Alinsky tradition, it clarifies the role of power conflict in the pursuit of the common good, and identifies further areas for theoretical development. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

With the rise of religious plurality and the global public resurgence of religion, deep social unrest and even fatal violence have resulted in a compelling need for plural societies to construct a framework of ‘public civility’. Recently, secularist frameworks such as multiculturalism and legal pluralism have been put forward. Yet, insofar as these approaches are considered non-moral, they are relativistic, and thereby lack the resources needed to ground a universal public civility. Also, approaches to building a ‘just society’ within both Catholic social thought and Islamic jurisprudence have been made specifically on the basis of ‘the common good’. The problem with these approaches is that the so-called ‘common good’ is internally defined such that the ‘good’ is ineluctably uncommon. A more promising basis on which to construct a universal framework of public civility is found in the classical notion of ‘the human good’. The argument proceeds in three main stages: (1) a critical assessment of ideological and sociological forces which have resulted in the fragmentation of modern society and the decline of public life; (2) a delineation of ‘the human good’ on the basis of which I construct a framework of public civility between Catholic and Islamic traditions; and (3) an illustration of the proposed framework in Mindanao, Philippines which represents one of the longest standing internal conflicts in history. The main contention is that Catholic and Islamic political theologies enhance the construction of public civility when reframed in terms of ‘the human good’ in contrast to ‘the common good’. In support of this thesis, I explore the Catholic doctrine of the imago dei and the Islamic notion of fiṭra as prospective conceptual counterparts to the idea of ‘the human good’. I conclude by analyzing the cosmopolitan scope of a framework of public civility as based on ‘the human good’.

[pt] Esta tese tem como objetivo recuperar um enfoque ético sobre o bem (comum), porém dentro dos contextos sociais e eclesiais contemporâneos. David Hollenbach é o autor estudado neste trabalho, especialmente porque ele tenta responder a questões importantes como o papel da religião na vida pública, o conceito tradicional de tolerância e individualismo em uma sociedade pluralista e outros problemas contemporâneos sobre relacionamento em comunidade. Este estudo é estruturado em três capítulos. O primeiro capítulo é uma análise da situação atual, caracterizada pelo pluralismo, o individualismo e a tolerância, cuja abordagem é ineficaz para lidar com a pobreza urbana nos Estados Unidos. O segundo capítulo estabelece um quadro teórico para o bem comum, com base em bens sociais, o papel público da religião, as contribuições teológicas de Agostinho e Tomás de Aquino, e da solidariedade intelectual. O último capítulo é uma leitura de questões práticas à luz da teoria do bem comum. A reafirmação da antiga tradição do bem comum, um valioso conceito para o pensamento social cristão, de tal forma que contribua para lidar com as divisões sociais da vida urbana contemporânea e da sociedade global é o principal objetivo. Hollenbach baseia-se em análise social, filosofia moral e ética teológica para traçar rnovos rumos que possibilitem a consecução do bem comum para todos os americanos. Os problemas de divisão entre a classe média e os pobres nas grandes cidades e outros desafios exigem um novo compromisso com o bem comum. A tolerância não é parâmetro para pautar este tipo de relacionamento. Ademais, o individualismo, profundamente arraigado na cultura americana, dificulta a consecução do bem comum. Para tanto, a leitura de Tomás de Aquino e Agostinho, na ética cristã de Hollenbach, convoca crentes e não crentes para se moverem em direção a novas formas de solidariedade, caso queiram viver juntos uma vida boa. Uma ressignificação teórica do bem comum permite fazer contribuições práticas às mais variadas abordagens de ordem política, social, cultural, religiosa em sua dinâmica de desenvolvimento. / [en] This thesis aims to retrieve an ethical focus on the (common) good, but within the contemporary social and ecclesial contexts. David Hollenbach is a leading author in this field, especially because he attempts to answer important questions like the role of religion in public life, the traditional concept of tolerance and individualism in a pluralistic society, and other contemporary problems with relationships in a community. This study is structured into three chapters. The first one is an examination of the current situation characterized by pluralism, individualism, and tolerance, of which approach have not effectively addressed urban poverty in the United States. The second chapter establishes a theoretical framework for the common good based on social goods, public role of religion, theological contributions from Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, and intellectual solidarity. The final chapter is a reading of practical issues based on the common good theory. A restatement of the ancient tradition of the common good, a valuable concept to the Catholic social teaching, in a way that addresses contemporary social divisions in urban life and global society is the main objective of this thesis. Hollenbach draws on social analysis, moral philosophy, and theological ethics to chart new directions to bring the common good closer to all Americans. The problems of division between the middle class and the poor in major cities and other contemporary challenges require a new commitment to the common good. Tolerance is not the best reason to base this type of relationship. Moreover, individualism, deeply rooted in American culture, hinders the achievement of the common good. In order to achieve this, a reading of Thomas Aquinas and Augustine, in Hollenbach’s Christian ethics, calls both, believers and secular people, to move toward new forms of solidarity, if they wish to live a good life together. A theoretical reframing of the common good allows someone to make practical contributions to the various approaches of politics, society, culture, and religion in its developmental momentum.

En este trabajo, buscamos conocer los diferentes puntos de vista en torno al dilema que surge entre la ética y las finanzas, y partimos definiendo a las finanzas desde su raíz etimológica, la misma que determina que las finanzas son la ciencia para alcanzar fines u objetivos humanos; así también, abordamos diversas teorías éticas, que, si bien es cierto, se desarrollaron en un contexto diferente al de nuestros días, son necesarias para lograr un correcto entendimiento del dilema planteado. Bajo ese mismo enfoque, estudiamos a la ética empresarial, que se define como las reglas, normas, códigos o principios morales que proporcionan directrices para un comportamiento correcto y veraz en situaciones específicas; y el comportamiento ético individual, que es afectado por características individuales, como el desarrollo moral, y por factores situacionales, como la cultura organizacional .Además, como parte del desarrollo de esta investigación bibliográfica, se presentan diversos ejemplos que demuestran como el comportamiento ético afecta de manera positiva y en muchas ocasiones de manera negativa a las actividades financieras, y por ende a la economía, no solo local, sino también global; estos ejemplos apoyan y contradicen las posiciones adoptadas por diferentes autores respecto al tema controvertido. Finalmente, se explica como el modelo de la Economía del Bien Común busca hacer frente al modelo económico Capitalista, apoyándose en los valores que profesa, como la dignidad humana, la solidaridad y justicia social, la sostenibilidad ecológica y la transparencia y la participación democrática. / In this work, we seek to know the different points of view around the dilemma that arises between ethics and finance, and we start by defining finance from its etymological root, the same one that determines that finance is science to reach human ends or objectives; likewise, we approach diverse ethical theories, that although it is true, were developed in a different context to the one of our days, they are necessary to achieve a correct understanding of the dilemma raised. Under the same approach, we study business ethics, which is defined as the rules, norms, codes or moral principles that provide guidelines for correct and truthful behavior in specific situations; and individual ethical behavior, which is affected by individual characteristics, such as moral development, and by situational factors, such as organizational culture.In addition, as part of the development of this bibliographic research, several examples are presented that demonstrate how ethical behavior affects in a positive way and in many occasions in a negative way financial activities, and therefore the economy, not only local, but also global; these examples support and contradict the positions adopted by different authors regarding the controversial topic. Finally, it is explained how the model of the Economy of the Common Good seeks to confront the Capitalist economic model, relying on the values it professes, such as human dignity, solidarity and social justice, ecological sustainability and transparency and democratic participation. / Trabajo de Suficiencia Profesional

The retail landscape has changed significantly since the mid 20th century, evolving from a city centre focus through strip malls, shopping centres, shopping malls, mega-malls, big box stores, and to the newest form of retailing - the lifestyle commercial centres. One constant through this evolution has been the permissive role of land use regulations in shaping the form and location of retailing. At issue is whether local governments, and in particular land use planners, have abandoned a holistic approach to evaluating the public good and instead focused solely on the economic benefits gained from new development. This study offers a new approach to understanding the "boxed in" relationship between the retail landscape and the public good: that is, boxed in by the form of available retailing, by the paradoxical lack of choice brought on by an obsessive belief in "larger is better", and by permissive decision-making that focuses too strongly on the economic benefits of more and larger retail stores. A case study of the retail landscape of Nanaimo, British Columbia is included to illustrate a practical example of this relationship. Drawing on primary research on the impact of shopping locations on individuals combined with in-depth interviews and archival research, the retail landscape is examined. The intended outcome of this research is to challenge local governments, and in particular land use planners, to more fully consider the question of the public good when evaluating land use proposals.

La thèse pose le problème des modifications de gestion des ressources naturelles provoquées par la transition énergétique, à partir de l'exemple du bois-énergie. Deux cas d'études, les régions Auvergne et Rhône-Alpes, permettent un suivi de ces configurations de l'échelle locale à l'échelle nationale. Les rapports de pouvoir induits par les asymétries d'information sur la ressource disponible et l'élaboration d'une action commune sur plusieurs niveaux d'échelles constituent les deux fils conducteurs de ce travail. La première partie du travail analyse, au chapitre 1, les relations entre politiques forestières et énergétiques, mais aussi territoriales, environnementales et climatiques. La contrainte spatiale pesant sur la ressource forestière est mise en avant. En effet, la ressource en bois-énergie se différencie des autres énergies renouvelables par sa difficulté d'accès et la lenteur de son renouvellement quand les énergies solaires ou éoliennes sont infinies. Ces barrières bio-physiques créent des tensions entre acteurs de la forêt et de l'énergie pour ce qui concerne les modèles d'approvisionnement à privilégier: d'un côté, les acteurs forestiers prônent de petites chaufferies consommant la ressource locale en quantités modérées, quand les acteurs issus de l'énergie préfèrent de grandes chaufferies, nécessitant un plus long transport de la ressource pour réaliser des économies d'échelle. À cette opposition s'ajoutent de fortes tensions internes dans la filière bois, qui est le deuxième poste de déficit commercial en France après les hydrocarbures et qui peine à valoriser industriellement son propre bois. Nous exposons donc un contexte de fortes incertitudes, tant politiques que scientifiques. Le deuxième chapitre présente une typologie statistique de l'Europe du bois-énergie afin de caractériser la place de la France. Puis, nous proposons une analyse des séquences de l'essor du bois-énergie en France, depuis les années 1970, pour montrer comment l'utilisation du bois-énergie s'est progressivement rationalisée. La deuxième partie explore comment les politiques nationales sont assimilées par les acteurs régionaux, en Auvergne au chapitre 3, puis en Rhône-Alpes au chapitre 4. Cette partie souligne notamment l'effet des dissymétries d'information dans les réseaux d'acteurs et le besoin d'outils fiables, ainsi que le rôle différent joué par les filières bois et énergie au niveau régional. La troisième partie développe au chapitre 5 en quoi le bois-énergie peut être traité sous l'angle du bien commun, et le besoin de polycentricité, c'est-à-dire de niveaux de contrôles multiples. Enfin, le chapitre 6 aborde comment l'attribution d'une valeur politique et morale au bois-énergie, et plus largement, à la transition énergétique et environnementale, modifie les rapports entre niveaux d'échelle, du local au national. / The thesis uses the case of fuelwood to study how energy transition causes changes in natural resources management. Our work is based upon two case studies, French regions Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes, and we follow configurations from local to national levels. Balance of powers induced by asymetries of information on the available resource and the development of a common action along different levels of scale are our two main threads. In the first part, the chapter 1 focuses on relationships between forest and energy but also territorial, environmental and climatic policies. Our work highlights the spatial constraints wheighing upon forest resource. Fuelwood resource is different from other renewable energies because of its difficulties of access and its slow renewal, whereas solar or wind energies are infinite. Those bio-physical barriers are the reason for struggles between forest and energy stakeholders regarding which supply models to prefer: on the one hand, forest stakeholders advocate small boilers using local resource in small quantities, whereas, on the other hand, energy stakeholders prefer important boilers requiring long road transportation (hence more CO$_{2}$ emissions) but enabling economies of scale. Moreover, there is important internal problems in the forest sector, which represents the second most important source of trade deficit in France (after hydrocarbons) and experiences difficulties to sell national timber. Therefore, we present a context with strong uncertainties, both political and scientific. In the second chapter we conduct a statistical typology on fuelwood in Europe, in order to characterise more objectively the French situation. Then, the thesis analyses the sequences of the development of fuelwood in France, since the 1970s, to show how its use became progressively more rational. In the second part, our work investigates how national policies are dealt with by regional stakeholders, in Auvergne in chapter 3, then in Rhône-Alpes in chapter 4. This part underlines in particular the importance of asymetries of information among actors networks, the need for reliable tools and the different roles of forest and energy sector at regional level. Third part emphasizes, in chapter 5, that fuelwood can be analyzed as a common good and the need for polycentricity, i.e. multiple control levels. Finally, chapter 6 demonstrates how the assignation of a political value to fuelwood, and more generally to the energy and environmental transition, change balance between levels, from local to national.

O patrimônio ecológico, assim como outros bens de titularidade coletiva correspondentes a direitos humanos, tornou-se passível de mercantilização no contexto neoliberal. O meio ambiente, bem integrante do rol de direitos e deveres fundamentais previstos pela Constituição de 1988, é de uso comum de todos, voltado à satisfação das necessidades mais elementares relacionadas à vida e à dignidade. Nessa perspectiva, a temática dos créditos de carbono remete à temática geopolítica de fundo, que é o conflito entre a via da privatização dos recursos naturais e a via da proteção do meio ambiente enquanto patrimônio comum. Dessa forma, mediante o direcionamento teórico analítico baseado no método dialético e na metodologia denominada análise de conteúdo procurou-se responder às questões de pesquisa: os mecanismos de desenvolvimento limpo e o comércio de créditos de carbono se constituem como um arranjo estrutural do Estado? E, ainda, tais mecanismos ofereceram, desde a sua criação, uma contribuição importante ou imprescindível para o controle das mudanças climáticas, a ponto de serem tomados como medida suficiente de preservação ambiental nessa vertente? Em poucas palavras, quais as vantagens e as limitações destes mecanismos desde o ponto de vista jurídico, considerando sua potencial eficácia? Através da análise dos documentos provenientes das reuniões de Cúpula das Américas, aliada à apropriação do aparato teórico e conceitual de David Harvey, pretende-se realizar a leitura e interpretação da conjuntura em que foram criados os mecanismos de desenvolvimento limpo e os créditos de carbono, a fim de oferecer elementos para uma análise academicamente crítica do problema jurídico-político das mudanças climáticas. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-07-05T12:43:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Karen Arieli Mello dos Santos.pdf: 1325531 bytes, checksum: e3671488870dda35003dd5c17aa1aa2c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-05T12:43:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Karen Arieli Mello dos Santos.pdf: 1325531 bytes, checksum: e3671488870dda35003dd5c17aa1aa2c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-05 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES. / The ecological heritage, as well as other goods of collective ownership corresponding to human rights, became liable of commercialization in the neoliberal context. The environment, integrant good of the list of fundamental rights and duties provided by the Constitution of 1988, is a common use of everyone, directed to the satisfaction of the most elementary needs related to life and dignity. In this perspective, the theme of carbon credits refers to the geopolitis theme of funds, which is the conflict between the via of privatization of natural resources and the via of protection of the environment as a common heritage. This way, upon the analytical theoretical directing based on the dialectical method and on the methodology denominated analysis of content, it was searched to answer the research questions: Do the mechanisms of clean development and the carbon credit commerce constitute a structural arrangement of the State? And, still, such mechanisms offer, since their creation, an important or indispensable contribution for the control of climate changes, about to be taken as a sufficient measure of environmental preservation on this slope? In a few words, what are the advantages and limitations of these mechanisms since the juridical point of view, considering its efficacy potential? Through the analysis of documents provenient from the meeting of the Cupola of Americas, allied to the appropriation of the theoretical and conceitual display of David Harvey, is intended to do the reading and interpretation of the conjuncture in which were created the mechanisms of clean development and the carbon credits, in order to offer elements to a critical academic analysis of the political-juridic problem of climate changes.

O patrimônio ecológico, assim como outros bens de titularidade coletiva correspondentes a direitos humanos, tornou-se passível de mercantilização no contexto neoliberal. O meio ambiente, bem integrante do rol de direitos e deveres fundamentais previstos pela Constituição de 1988, é de uso comum de todos, voltado à satisfação das necessidades mais elementares relacionadas à vida e à dignidade. Nessa perspectiva, a temática dos créditos de carbono remete à temática geopolítica de fundo, que é o conflito entre a via da privatização dos recursos naturais e a via da proteção do meio ambiente enquanto patrimônio comum. Dessa forma, mediante o direcionamento teórico analítico baseado no método dialético e na metodologia denominada análise de conteúdo procurou-se responder às questões de pesquisa: os mecanismos de desenvolvimento limpo e o comércio de créditos de carbono se constituem como um arranjo estrutural do Estado? E, ainda, tais mecanismos ofereceram, desde a sua criação, uma contribuição importante ou imprescindível para o controle das mudanças climáticas, a ponto de serem tomados como medida suficiente de preservação ambiental nessa vertente? Em poucas palavras, quais as vantagens e as limitações destes mecanismos desde o ponto de vista jurídico, considerando sua potencial eficácia? Através da análise dos documentos provenientes das reuniões de Cúpula das Américas, aliada à apropriação do aparato teórico e conceitual de David Harvey, pretende-se realizar a leitura e interpretação da conjuntura em que foram criados os mecanismos de desenvolvimento limpo e os créditos de carbono, a fim de oferecer elementos para uma análise academicamente crítica do problema jurídico-político das mudanças climáticas. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES. / The ecological heritage, as well as other goods of collective ownership corresponding to human rights, became liable of commercialization in the neoliberal context. The environment, integrant good of the list of fundamental rights and duties provided by the Constitution of 1988, is a common use of everyone, directed to the satisfaction of the most elementary needs related to life and dignity. In this perspective, the theme of carbon credits refers to the geopolitis theme of funds, which is the conflict between the via of privatization of natural resources and the via of protection of the environment as a common heritage. This way, upon the analytical theoretical directing based on the dialectical method and on the methodology denominated analysis of content, it was searched to answer the research questions: Do the mechanisms of clean development and the carbon credit commerce constitute a structural arrangement of the State? And, still, such mechanisms offer, since their creation, an important or indispensable contribution for the control of climate changes, about to be taken as a sufficient measure of environmental preservation on this slope? In a few words, what are the advantages and limitations of these mechanisms since the juridical point of view, considering its efficacy potential? Through the analysis of documents provenient from the meeting of the Cupola of Americas, allied to the appropriation of the theoretical and conceitual display of David Harvey, is intended to do the reading and interpretation of the conjuncture in which were created the mechanisms of clean development and the carbon credits, in order to offer elements to a critical academic analysis of the political-juridic problem of climate changes.