Climate Injustice is real
Have you heard about climate injustice yet?
Climate injustice refers to the imbalance of those people responsible for emitting green house gases versus those suffering the consequences.
A study shows that the top ten emitters of greenhouse gasses account for three quarters of the overall worldwide emission. Furthermore, the top three on the list (China, the United States of America and India) being by far the largest contributors are responsible for fourteen times the amount of the bottom one hundred emitters. In short: Few countries account for most of the greenhouse emissions. As the biggest cause of climate warming is the burning of fossil fuels for the provision of electricity and heat, consequently developed and industrialized nations are the biggest contributors. However, these developed nations with a generally higher GDP (the gross domestic product which is an indication of wealth) are better equipped to sidestep the effects of global warming and also tend to live in less affected areas. The effects of climate change such as extreme temperatures, natural disasters and rising sea levels will have to be borne by those least responsible namely developing nations.
The study that investigated the relationship between a country's green house gas emission and its vulnerability to the negative consequences of global warming also found a positive correlation between a country's GDP and their emissions. This basically means that richer nations emit more green house gases while the effects are mitigated toward countries with a lower GDP. The problem is that when nations don't experience first hand the effects of their actions, they keep doing what they're doing. They feel unaffected by it which is a major issue.
The average footprint of someone in the richest 1% could be 175 times that of someone in the poorest 10%.
But the disprepancies of climate change effects are also visible within nations. People with higher incomes tend to live in less polluted areas with more green spaces, less congestion of traffic and lower levels of fine dust pollution. At the same time, they are the one's with the highest green house gas emissions. A study released by the British charity Oxfam states that "The average footprint of someone in the richest 1% could be 175 times that of someone in the poorest 10%." But why is that? For one, they airtravel more: They can afford vacations to further away destinations and tend to hold higher-ranking jobs which require them to travel more. Furthermore, their consumption levels are higher as they have more to expend and live in bigger apartments which consume more electrictiy and heat. Last but not least, people with higher incomes include more meat in their diets. At the forefront of meat consumption are the United States and Australia where on average 100 kilo of meat is consumed per person per year compared to countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia and Rwand only averaging 8 kilo (Source).
Those who are responsible need to held accountable for their actions and people need to start realizing that even if they might not experience the effects of climate change (just yet) this doesn't mean that they are not experienced by somebody else. Even when effects might not be within reach they sooner or later will be affected by it and meanwhile they should do anything to not only stop but also reverse the climate crisis. Individual contributions are always underestimated but they add up and can bring about great change. At the same time bigger nations with higher economic wealth should step in and assist smaller countries in crisis even more now. There need to be consequences to irresponsible or polluting actions: carbon taxes, taxes on air travel and waste taxes just to name a few. No one should pay for the mistakes of others and we must work towards global solutions resolving the climate crisis. Because in the end we are in this together.
So what can we do? Make your own contributions and motivate others to do the same, spread awareness by raising your voice and open discussion with your political leaders.