Abstract

In his article “A Global Resources Dividend” Thomas Pogge argues that all inhabitants of the world have an equal claim to use the world’s natural resources. Pogge suggests a Global Resource Dividend (GRD) which is tobe used for raising the minimum living standard of the world’s poorest people. Pogge’s proposal has been criticized on three different levels. First, it has been objected that from a normative point of view the moral justification of the GRD is not convincing. Second, he has been criticized for the empirical assumptions that underlie his analysis of worldwide poverty. And third, the proposal has been rejected, because of problems involved in the realization of the GRD. In this article all three objections are answered and it is argued for a democratic legitimation of the GRD.