Confronting Carbon Inequality

Subject: Reports

Context:

A rich person contributes more to the climate crisis than a poor person: Between 1990 and 2015, the richest 1 per cent of humanity accounted for 15 per cent of cumulative emissions, while the poorest 50 per cent accounted for only 7 per cent, a new report by Oxfam International and the Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI) has found.

Concept:

• The global carbon budget is being rapidly depleted — not to afford communities around the world dignity and a decent standard of living — but to expand the consumption of the rich.
• Of this, the largest share of emissions by the rich was from flights and cars, including private jets, luxury SUVs and sports cars, the report said.
• The report underlined the need to focus on clipping emissions of the richest 10 per cent:Reduction of the per capita footprint to the 1.5°C-consistent level by 2030 would cut annual carbon emissions by over a third.
• About half of the emissions of the richest 10 per cent are associated with North America and the European Union (EU).
• India’s per capita emissions were a fraction of not just the EU (6.78 tCO2 / person), but also China (7.95 tCO2 / person), making it the lowest per capita emitter amongst the world’s large economies.
• The report briefly acknowledged the intersectionality of income inequality and the climate crisis with factors such as race, class, gender, caste and age. For example, gender pay inequity meant that men earned higher wages than women.