There’s a big gap between the causes of climate change and its consequences, and that’s why climate justice is so important.
The problem is will summed up in the Climate Inequality Report 2023, which I’ve been reading this week. Published by the World Inequality Lab, it’s a comprehensive investigation of climate justice and I will share more from it in future. Today I wanted to share this summary graph, showing who suffers the losses from climate change, who is most responsible in terms of emissions, and who has the wealth to protect themselves from harm:
As the graph shows, the richest 10% of the world’s population have caused almost half of global emissions. (Most people reading this will be in that top 10%, by the way. I certainly am.) They face just 3% of the potential losses from climate change, and have three quarters of the world’s wealth to help them cope with any disruption.
The ratios are inverted for the poorest half of humanity. Though they have caused just 12% of emissions, they suffer three quarters of the losses with just 2% of the wealth to handle the disruption.
This is why emissions cuts should start with the richest, and why adaptation should start with the poorest.
The Earthbound Report 