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Climate Change: The Importance of Climate Equity
There is little doubt these days that climate change is occurring and it’s also clear that humans are having an impact due to our consumption levels being directly related to our carbon emissions. The latest report from the IPCC makes clear that due to the use of fossil fuels by human activity we have directly increased the global average temperature over the last century.
While this is very clearly a global issue that needs to be dealt with on a global level, it must also be viewed through the lens that certain regions and demographics are contributing far more to climate change than others. Take for example, according to Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute, the wealthiest 1% contribute towards twice as much carbon emissions as the poorer half of the globe. Not only are the wealthiest regions of the world causing the majority of climate change, but they’re also the ones who can so easily escape the consequences of climate change as well. Living in North America, when it gets too hot outside we can very casually enter our homes or office spaces and turn on the air conditioner. This allows those with these privileges to almost entirely escape extreme heats, while at the same time their intensified use of air conditioning will continue to fuel climate change and increase temperatures over the next several decades, all due to carbon and energy…
