Social impacts of climate change mitigation policies and their implications for inequality

Markkanen, Sanna; Anger-Kraavi, Annela

doi:10.17863/cam.39022

Cited by 3 publications

References 90 publications

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The Failure of Lifestyle Environmentalism and the Promise of the Green New Deal for Working-Class People

Bell¹,

Bevan²

2021

JWCS

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There is an urgent need to address a range of environmental issues, including climate change, but the policies enacted to date have usually done nothing to address class inequities and have often led to increased working-class disadvantage. The causes of the climate and other environmental crises have often been located in problematic individual lifestyles, with little recognition of the time, economic and health constraints that make it difficult for working-class people to adopt green lifestyles. The Green New Deal (GND) presented an alternative policy paradigm that argued for environmental policies that, rather than increasing the pressure on disadvantaged groups, would have co-benefits for working-class people, low-income groups and communities of colour. However, the policy did not lead to electoral success for the political leaders that proposed it, in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), due to opposition representations of it as costly and threatening to working-class jobs. We interviewed 40 working-class people in the UK to find out how much they knew about the Green New Deal, what they thought about it as an environmental policy and how they felt about environmentalism, more generally. Our research indicates that there was a general lack of knowledge about GND, but great enthusiasm about it once explained, albeit with reservations about its implementation and limitations. The GND has huge potential to benefit the lives of working-class people but, we conclude, more, and better, outreach is needed for people to understand its potential to improve their lives.

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The Failure of Lifestyle Environmentalism and the Promise of the Green New Deal for Working-Class People

Bell¹,

Bevan²

2021

JWCS

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Stranded human and produced capital in a net-zero transition

Mercure

Chester

Lynch

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The pace of the net-zero transition required to meet the Paris Agreement objectives puts the value of existing carbon-dependent capital at risk of premature depreciation.1–3 A policy debate has emerged over whether such substantial financial loss affects market valuation and stability.4–6 Here, we quantify the current value of existing global human and produced capital, sector by sector, and compare the rate at which it naturally depreciates with that at which it would be required to depreciate to achieve climate targets. Comparison allows us to determine the human and produced capital value at risk across the economy by sector. We find that stopping the production of carbon intensive capital and the training of carbon intensive occupations in 2020 allows a better than 50 percent chance to achieve a 2°C target. However, achieving net-zero in 2050 implies capital value at risk approaching 50 T$, three quarters of which is human capital. We conclude that intervention in both the financial and educational systems may be warranted in order to reduce these risks, where training a workforce for occupations that may soon cease to exist could be avoided.

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Achieving Social Equity in Climate Action: Untapped Opportunities and Building Blocks for Leaving No One Behind

Bouyé¹,

O’Connor²,

Tankou³

et al. 2021

WRIPUB

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Lower-income and disadvantaged people, who suffer the most from climate change and pollution, can benefit most from protection and clean solutions but face the greatest barriers to access the gains of climate policies and are disproportionately affected by their cost. Like any other policy, climate actions are designed in the context of socioeconomic and power structures that produce inequality. A just transition and the promise to “leave no one behind” require moving beyond a mere focus on social co-benefits to empower and prioritize underserved groups proactively. Experience shows that the systemic changes needed for a carbon-neutral and resilient society can be used to provide fairer opportunities for all and reduce social injustice. Enhancing ambition and equity in climate plans are two imperatives of social justice that should go hand in hand. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, which disproportionately affects vulnerable groups, this joint approach is needed more than ever.

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Social impacts of climate change mitigation policies and their implications for inequality

Cited by 3 publications

References 90 publications

The Failure of Lifestyle Environmentalism and the Promise of the Green New Deal for Working-Class People

The Failure of Lifestyle Environmentalism and the Promise of the Green New Deal for Working-Class People

Stranded human and produced capital in a net-zero transition

Achieving Social Equity in Climate Action: Untapped Opportunities and Building Blocks for Leaving No One Behind

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