Sharing global CO2 emission reductions among one billion high emitters

Area of Science:

• Climate Science
• Environmental Economics
• Sociology

Background:

• Current climate policy often uses
• common but differentiated responsibilities
• at the national level, which can be inequitable.
• Global carbon reduction targets require effective and fair allocation frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a framework for allocating global carbon reduction targets based on individual emissions.
• To redefine "common but differentiated responsibilities" to apply to individuals rather than nations.
• To establish a universal cap on global individual emissions and derive national reduction targets.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing national income distribution data to estimate individual fossil fuel CO2 emissions.
• Constructing a global distribution of CO2 emissions based on individual consumption.
• Developing a rule for a universal cap on global individual emissions.
• Calculating national aggregate emission limits based on the individual cap.

Main Results:

• A framework is presented where "common but differentiated responsibilities" are based on individual emissions.
• High-emitting individuals globally are treated uniformly, irrespective of their location.
• A 13 GtCO2 reduction by 2030 involves approximately 1.13 billion high emitters across four major global regions.
• Climate mitigation efforts and poverty alleviation are largely independent.

Conclusions:

• The proposed framework offers a novel approach to equitable global carbon reduction target allocation.
• Focusing on individual emissions ensures fairness by treating high emitters equally worldwide.
• The methodology allows for flexible adaptation to future global emission goals and national contexts.
• The decoupling of mitigation and poverty alleviation suggests distinct policy approaches are needed for each.