Abstract
Profound distributive injustices underly global patterns of resource use and related carbon emissions. In addition, those with the least responsibility for the climate crisis are projected to be most severely impacted in the decades ahead, while those with the greatest share of resources continue to produce disproportionate levels of pollution. Those with the resources need to do much more, particularly as countries facing the highest levels of temperature variability also have the least economic potential to cope with the impacts. A fair sharing of climate change burdens between countries would mean that those countries benefiting from greater climate stability would also bear a higher burden of climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
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Notes
- 1.
Relative to 1961–1990.
- 2.
G20 members are not collectively on track to achieve 2030 emissions reduction pledges (UNEP, 2021).
- 3.
McAdam argues that the decision was based purely on humanitarian and discretionary grounds. Nevertheless, New Zealand has started to systematically delineate the legal protection framework applicable to claims based on the impacts of climate change, natural disasters or environmental degradation (McAdam, 2015).
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Data for 2018.
- 5.
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Morrissey, J., Heidkamp, C.P. (2022). A Shared (Cost) Burden (Pillar Three). In: Demanding Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18958-6_4
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