Confronting Carbon Inequality

Despite significant reductions in carbon footprint due to the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, the climate situation has worsened. Extreme weather catastrophes have not abated, from the Cyclone Amphan in Bangladesh and India to the blazing wildfires in the United States, with the marginalised and vulnerable populations bearing the brunt of the damage.

The era of extreme carbon inequality is being fueled by the excessive consumption of a rich minority. Severe carbon disparity is pushing the globe to the verge of climate disaster, with temperatures on track to surpass the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C targets.

Consequences of Carbon Inequality

• Poverty alleviation rates are slowed by uneven economic growth.
• Unequal growth and climate justice have yet another repercussion: it implies that the entire carbon budget is fast depleting, not to elevate all of mankind to a fair level of lifestyle, but to a considerable measure to augment the intake of the world’s extremely richest individuals.
• Women frequently face the effects of climate change more than males, whether it is travelling longer to fetch water, often being the last one to eat amid shortages, or taking on the majority of home care obligations in the aftermath of catastrophic weather.

Reasons for Immediate Action Against Carbon Inequality

• Carbon emissions have risen dramatically over the years – 

• The era of extreme carbon inequality is caused by the buildup of emissions to the environment over the period. 
• Global yearly carbon emissions increased by about 60% between 1990 and 2015, while total emissions discharged into the environment ever since the mid-1800s nearly doubled.

• Carbon inequality is pushing us all to the edge of the abyss – 

• While some of us have the ‘carbon advantage,’ the vast majority do not. The globe’s impoverished 3.5 billion inhabitants contribute almost nothing to carbon pollution yet are disproportionately affected by climate-related disasters such as floods, cyclones, and droughts.
• Political decisions taken over the last 20-30 years have resulted in the era of extreme carbon inequality. It is a natural consequence of our administration’s decades-long quest for severely uneven and carbon-intensive development.

• There exists a cap on the overall quantity of carbon mankind may emit collectively – 

• The ‘carbon budget’ refers to the quantity of CO2 that may be released into the environment without raising the global average temperature beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius – the goal established by nations during the Paris Accord to avert the most severe effects of unmanaged climate change.
• It has been spent during the last 2-3 years decades in the favour of expanding the spending of the existing rich rather than pulling millions out of hardship. We are perilously close to exceeding the optimum quantity of carbon content we can jointly release if we, humans, want to avert disastrous global warming and this era of extreme carbon inequality.
• Due to pandemic-related restrictions, worldwide emissions fell this year. However, they are expected to return, and if they fail to plunge fast, the total carbon budget of 1.5C would be gone by 2030. Even if everybody else’s emissions were to decrease to zero immediately, the wealthiest 10% itself would exhaust it within a few years.

• The poorest communities and youths bear the brunt of the costs – 

• Poverty alleviation rates are slowed by inequitable economic development. However, it comes with a price: the world carbon budget is fast depleting, not to elevate all of mankind to a fair level of lifestyle, but to a considerable measure to boost the spending of a small group of the globe’s wealthiest individuals.
• It is an unfairness felt most brutally by two different groups who bear the least responsibility for this era of extreme carbon inequality: the world’s weakest and most marginalized people living today – who have already been dealing with the effects of climate change – and subsequent generations who would inherit a rapidly depleting carbon budget as well as a more unsafe climate.

Remedies to Overcome Carbon Inequality

Some of the steps that would help in tackling carbon inequality are as mentioned:

• The correct public policy initiatives, implemented today, may reduce emissions while also creating healthier, more integrated, and resilient communities.
• Governments must consider the following, in addition to important actions to swiftly transfer the supply of energy to clean renewable sources:
• To support the extension of basic social services, premium carbon taxes, wealth taxes, as well as broader progressive carbon prices are proposed.
• Tax benefits for business automobiles and the elimination of tax-free privilege for aviation fuel.
• Public spending to ensure reasonable job security.
• Updating corporate governance to reduce a company’s focus on the short term.
• Establishing science-based and equity-based global objectives to decrease carbon emissions
• Creating a broader range of gender-transformative metrics of economic growth outside GDP.
• Implementing social dialogue concepts throughout all stages to protect the well-being of employees in impacted sectors, women, low-income, as well as disadvantaged groups.

Conclusion

During the coronavirus epidemic, governments and companies demonstrated that amid an impending crisis, they could undertake previously inconceivable changes: aircraft were halted, new bike routes arose in towns, and home working reduced traffic congestion.

We can utilize this unprecedented opportunity to respond better in our very own lives and press our authorities to rebuild our economy and establish a brighter future for everyone if we band together and move quickly.

While we emerge from the corona pandemic, we must take far-reaching and aggressive measures to address the twin issues of unequal growth and climate justice. Governments now have a once-in-a-lifetime chance. They should act quickly to reduce the richest countries’ emissions while also increasing aid to the impoverished.