Equal Distribution

The paper argues that current socio-economic systems, based on extractive resource use and shaped by a dominant economic class, drive both climate change and global inequality. It highlights that a small, wealthy minority has consumed the majority of the global carbon budget, which threatens the 1.5°C target and limits the ability of poorer populations to improve their living standards. The authors conclude that setting limits on resource use requires inclusive governance to prevent solutions from further entrenching power imbalances.

• Structural inequality and climate change are mutually reinforcing, and current economic systems based on the extractive use of natural resources exploit and oppress people globally while driving environmental degradation.
• The global carbon budget has been disproportionately consumed by a wealthy minority; specifically, the richest 10% of the global population were responsible for 52% of cumulative carbon emissions between 1990 and 2015, using nearly a third of the budget for the 1.5°C target.
• If current emission rates persist, the global carbon budget may be exceeded by 2030 due to the actions of the wealthiest individuals, which restricts the capacity for the poorest populations to increase emissions to improve their standards of living.
• To effectively tackle climate change, global environmental governance systems must be restructured to be more inclusive, as failing to address who sets resource limits and whose voices are excluded will result in solutions that reinforce existing power imbalances.

APA

Nazareth, & Ghosh (2022). Equal Distribution. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/publications/equal-distribution/

Chicago

Nazareth, and Ghosh. Equal Distribution. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/publications/equal-distribution/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nazareth |last2=Ghosh |title=Equal Distribution |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=18 May 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/equal-distribution/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nazareth2022equal, author = {Nazareth and Ghosh}, title = {{Equal Distribution}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/equal-distribution/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }