EQUITY REFRESHER

This fact sheet from Friends of the Earth International defines climate equity as the fair sharing of the global carbon budget, arguing that developed countries must bear the primary burden of emissions reductions due to their historical responsibility and greater capacity.

• Climate equity requires that countries with the highest historical greenhouse gas emissions reduce their emissions more than others to ensure a fair distribution of the global carbon budget. Developed nations are viewed as having a "huge ecological and climate debt to developing nations" resulting from historical overconsumption and the exploitation of resources in developing countries.
• To limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C—a goal supported by 100 developing countries and Friends of the Earth International—developed countries must drastically reduce domestic emissions and provide developing nations with finance, capacity building, and technology free of intellectual property rights and patents. This support should cover mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage, avoiding "false solutions" such as carbon markets or offsetting.
• The global carbon budget should be apportioned based on three criteria: responsibility (those who historically pressured the climate system most must make the biggest binding commitments), capacity (those with more financial, technological, and institutional resources must take on more commitments), and the right to sustainable societies (prioritizing the most vulnerable and future generations).
• While the World Bank and the Stockholm Environment Institute state that a 1.5°C limit is technically and economically achievable, the document notes that a 0.6°C rise is already inevitable due to time lags. Achieving the 1.5°C threshold would require an "immediate revolution" in energy production, consumption, food, and transport.
• The document advocates for "system change—not climate change," arguing that the climate crisis is a symptom of a flawed economic system. Proposed solutions include ending neoliberalism, implementing agroecology in food systems, ensuring community-owned energy, and ending deforestation through community management of natural systems.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (n.d.). EQUITY REFRESHER. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EN-CJE-equity-factsheet-FOEI_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. EQUITY REFRESHER. n.d. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EN-CJE-equity-factsheet-FOEI_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=EQUITY REFRESHER |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EN-CJE-equity-factsheet-FOEI_FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternationalndequity, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{EQUITY REFRESHER}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EN-CJE-equity-factsheet-FOEI_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }