Definition
Carbon inequality concerns the disproportional distribution of carbon emissions across countries, populations, and time. Historically, high-income countries and individuals have been responsible for much higher carbon emissions (and the associated greenhouse gases responsible for climate change) than low-income countries and individuals. Despite contributing less to the problem, low-income countries and communities are more vulnerable to the destructive effects of climate change, such as extreme weather events, and have fewer resources to adapt and mitigate those effects (see Climate Justice). Carbon inequality also manifests itself across time, as past and present generations are exclusively responsible for the carbon emissions driving climate change, jeopardizing the well-being of future generations. Carbon inequality is a multifaceted concept that highlights the complexities of carbon footprint accounting, its intricate implications, and the need to address it in tandem with socio-economic inequality.
History
Although the exact origin of the concept of carbon inequality is impossible to pinpoint, it has been evolving and increasingly used since the beginning of the 21st century. The origin of the concept is linked to the rising awareness of the complexity of causes and effects of broader environmental degradation, which started in the later decades of the 20th century with the environmental justice movement. As with environmental justice, carbon inequality is concerned with equity, and any approach to tackle it needs to take into account related aspects of socio-economic inequality. Scientific research and policy discussions, at both the national and international levels, have become progressively cognizant of this interrelatedness, and, in consequence, carbon inequality has become a frequently used concept in those contexts.
In the first stage, scientific research and policy discussions around carbon inequality focused more on disparities between countries. Industrialized countries have, for years, relied on fossil fuels to meet their energetic demands, drive their development, and achieve high-income status. As a result, these countries have been responsible for extremely high carbon emissions that have been driving global warming and exacerbating climate change. Most Global South countries, in contrast, display much lower total and per capita emissions (a metric that divides a country’s total carbon emissions by its population).
However, focusing solely on these metrics presents a distorted reality, since not everyone is contributing to carbon emissions at the same level within the same country. Because of this, scientific research and policy discussions concerning carbon inequality have started to consider, at a second stage, how different income groups, within and across countries, were disproportionately responsible for carbon emissions (see Household Income Versus Carbon Footprint). Estimates show that the top 10% wealthiest individuals globally are responsible for approximately 48% of carbon emissions in recent years.
In addition to these two aspects – inequality between countries and income groups – carbon inequality as a concept has been progressively incorporating an intergenerational perspective. Given that past and older living generations are responsible for the bulk of carbon emissions driving climate change, it becomes a matter of equity to include the input of younger generations and consider the impact on future generations’ welfare in policy discussions.
Different Perspectives
Carbon inequality is increasingly debated. As a result, the concept keeps expanding in complexity. Concerning the debate around carbon inequality between countries, critics have noted that focusing on per capita emissions is simplistic and might misguide policy by putting too much emphasis on individual behavior and not enough on infrastructural change (see Consumer Scapegoatism). In addition, focusing too much on per capita emissions might evade the impacts of globalization and ignore yet another facet of carbon inequality: offshoring or outsourcing production chains. Driven by environmental and labor regulations, as well as reduced costs, corporations in the Global North have moved all or parts of their production chains and associated carbon emissions to the Global South. Most of the resulting products and services are, however, ultimately consumed in the Global North.
To address this drawback, researchers have proposed consumption-based emissions accounting, which shifts the focus from production to consumption, attributing carbon emissions to end-users rather than producers (see Consumption-Based Accounting). It suggests that wealthier nations should take responsibility for the emissions embedded in the products they import and consume. Consumption-based emissions accounting also highlights carbon inequality through the lens of income disparities within and between countries. High-income individuals tend to have larger carbon footprints due to their carbon-intensive lifestyles, including frequent air travel and large homes, and also due to their investment choices.
Finally, some critics of carbon inequality as a working concept believe that it should not be considered at all and that policy efforts to address it might even be counterproductive. These critics are not concerned with reducing carbon emissions but with carbon capture and storage technology, arguing that governmental intervention might hinder entrepreneurship and the technological development needed to achieve carbon removal at a scale that might slow global warming.
Application
Carbon inequality illustrates how socio-economic disparities and the impacts of environmental degradation are intertwined. It can inform discussions at various levels and be applied to different sets of approaches aiming to address those disparities. Carbon inequality-based approaches can, for example, be used to identify high-emissions sectors and regions within and across countries. In understanding the distribution of carbon emissions, governments can design targeted interventions, such as progressive carbon taxes that impose a higher tax on those responsible for larger carbon emissions – often wealthier individuals and corporations – while protecting low-income households from disproportionate financial impacts.
In addition, carbon inequality may inform redistribution mechanisms. Revenue from carbon taxes or cap-and-trade systems can be redistributed to lower-income groups through rebates or direct payments, helping to mitigate the economic inequality exacerbated by climate change. It is important to raise awareness and develop strategies to communicate the effects of carbon inequality to all levels of society, from policymakers to organizations and individual consumers. This can potentially help harness support for the application of carbon taxes and associated measures to counteract carbon inequality and contribute to influencing consumers’ behaviors (see Behavior Change).
From a sustainable supply chain perspective, focusing on carbon inequality can foster transparency and help identify instances of carbon outsourcing. Governments should establish carbon border adjustment mechanisms to prevent carbon outsourcing and push businesses to reduce carbon emissions across their supply chains and ensure that products are sustainable from production to consumption. Furthermore, transparency in corporate carbon emissions enables stakeholders to hold companies accountable for their environmental impacts (see e.g., EU taxonomy for sustainable activities), which may encourage further sustainability efforts and reduce greenwashing practices.
In discussions about allocating international climate finance, carbon inequality has proven a crucial concept. Countries with lower emissions but higher vulnerability to climate change should be prioritized for funding to support their mitigation and adaptation efforts. Wealthier nations with higher historical emissions should be responsible for higher climate financial assistance and should also contribute with technological support to developing countries, facilitating their transition to low-carbon economies.
In sum, carbon inequality is a crucial aspect of addressing climate change and should be used to inform decision-making on future policies and investments, ensuring that efforts to reduce emissions are aligned with social and economic equity goals.
Further Reading
Caney, S. (2014). Climate change, intergenerational equity and the social discount rate. Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 13(4), 320–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X14542566.
Chancel, L. (2022). Global carbon inequality over 1990–2019. Nature Sustainability, 5, 931–938. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00955-z.
Jones, M.W., Peters, G.P., Gasser, T., Andrew, R.M., Schwingshackl, C., Gütschow, J., Houghton, R.A., Friedlingstein, P., Pongratz, J., & Le Quéré, C. (2023). National contributions to climate change due to historical emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide since 1850. Scientific Data, 10(155). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02041-1.
Kenner, D. (2019). Carbon inequality: The role of the richest in climate change. New York: Routledge.
Khalfan, A., Nilsson Lewis, A., Aguilar, C., Persson, J., Lawson, M., Dabi, N., Jayoussi, S., & Acharya, S. (2023). Climate equality: A planet for the 99%. Oxfam International. https://doi.org/10.21201/2023.000001.