3E Intelligence

“Common but differentiated responsibilities” is one of the moral principles blocking the global climate diplomacy. Problem is that the principle is being applied to the wrong level: via the per capita emission levels of nation states. This leads to emerging economies (and new high emitters) such as China and India hiding behind their “historical right” to pollute and Western leaders worrying over their industrial competitiveness. End result: political inertia and a grotesque blame game which overlooks that all nations are in the same boat.

But the principle is not just wrong in terms of tactics, it is also plainly unfair. In some of the emerging economies some “nouveaux riches” are living lifestyles which are several times more carbon-intensive than the lifestyles most citizens in our countries could ever afford. Look at the extravaganza of Dubai.

Therefore the idea to tackle climate change at individual level instead of nations is much fairer and probably more effective. A new study from Princeton University’s Climate Mitigation Initiative shows exactly how this can be done.

For more on this, read the Princeton University press release and Time and Scientific American coverage.