The Carbon Inequality Era: An assessment of the global distribution of consumption emissions among individuals from 1990 to 2015 and beyond

Abstract

In the 25 years from 1990 to 2015, annual global carbon emissions grew by 60%, approximately doubling total global cumulative emissions. This has brought the world perilously close to exceeding 2°C of warming, and it is now on the verge of exceeding 1.5°C. This paper examines the starkly different contributions of different income groups to carbon emissions in this period. It draws on new data that provides much improved insight into global and national income inequality, combined with national consumption emissions over this 25-year period, to provide an analysis relating emissions to income levels for the populations of 117 countries. Future scenarios of carbon inequality are also presented based on different possible trajectories of economic growth and carbon emissions, highlighting the challenge of ensuring a more equitable distribution of the remaining and rapidly diminishing global carbon budget.

Global Carbon Inequality, 1990-2019: The Impact of Wealth Concentration on the Distribution of World Emissions

“…Chancel and Piketty (see [21]) follow a similar method but use the GTAP Environmental Multi Regional Input Output (EMRI0) database [1] to take into account emissions from consumption and to look at a longer period. This approach was also used by [47].…”

We need a sustainable consumption pattern

“…Because an individual’s environmental impact increases with the level of consumption, which increases with income and wealth, the unequal distribution of income and wealth both within and between countries translates into an unequal environmental impact (Ivanova & Wood, 2020; Kartha, Kemp-Benedict, Ghosh, Nazareth, & Gore, 2020). In terms of country differences, according to most indicators, the average consumer’s environmental impact deserves to be called sustainable only in the poorest countries of the world (Wackernagel & Beyers, 2019).…”

“…A further complication is that the differences in incomes, consumption levels and environmental impacts are considerably bigger within than between countries (Ivanova & Wood, 2020; Kartha et al, 2020; Nielsen, Nicholas, Creutzig, Dietz, & Stern, 2021). For example, Barros and Wilk (2021) collected evidence on billionaires’ carbon footprint revealing that it is hundreds to thousands of times higher than that of an average citizen, even in the most affluent countries, the biggest boosters being private airplanes, private yachts and multiple, often enormous homes.…”

A safe and just space for urban mobility: a framework for sector-based sustainable consumption corridor development

“…Such inequity is occurring not just between countries but also within them, both of which can lead to significant social harm (Wilkinson and Pickett 2009). Economic inequalities also translate to unequal distribution of energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with a minor part of humanity being responsible for the major share of impacts (Hubacek et al 2017;Kartha et al 2020).…”