Offsets, carbon markets, and climate and economic justice

Today, 682 million people, or 8.5% of the world's population, live in extreme poverty, which the World Bank defines as subsisting on less than $2.15 per day. The majority live in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. The traditional pathway for economic development available to these countries has historically required a lot of energy; the world's richest countries frequently have the highest per capita historical greenhouse gas emissions and are also primarily responsible for anthropogenic climate breakdown. Lower-income countries today confront very reduced emissions budgets if catastrophic warming is to be prevented, and they are more vulnerable to climate change-related damage.