Unequal Pasts + Carbon Crunch = Unequal Futures?
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the largest, with approximately 2,390 (±240) gigatonnes of CO2 (GtCO2) emitted cumulatively by the world between 1850 and 2019, according to the IPCC 2021.
Reducing CO2 emissions is crucial for mitigating climate change. However, the responsibility is not shared equally by all parts of the world. Developed countries have continued to emit more than their fair share, even after 1990, when they were required to lead in emissions reduction.
Unless emissions can be removed from the atmosphere at a scalable level, developing countries like India will be unable to access their full fair share of the total carbon budget. As a result, the bulk of the burden of climate change mitigation is being transferred to developing countries, which will also bear the cost of dealing with the impacts of climate change.
Reducing CO2 emissions will have the largest long-term impact on mitigating climate change.
- Developed countries have emitted more than their fair share of CO2.
- Developing countries will bear the cost of climate change mitigation and its impacts.
Author's summary: Climate change mitigation efforts are unfair to developing countries.