Why an equitable approach is the only practical way to address the climate crisis

Sivan Kartha highlights the catastrophic potential of a 5-degree Celsius increase in global temperatures, comparing it to the scale of change that ended the last Ice Age. He asserts that while the technology and funds to stop fossil fuel reliance exist, they are concentrated among the wealthiest 10% of the population. Kartha concludes that achieving net-zero emissions globally requires the most privileged societies to eliminate their own emissions and provide support to less privileged populations to enable a collective transition.

• A global temperature increase of 5 degrees Celsius represents an existential risk to humanity, as a similar shift in the opposite direction was sufficient to melt ice sheets several kilometers thick and fundamentally transform the Earth's surface at the end of the last Ice Age.
• The precise impacts of warming by 3, 4, or 5 degrees are unpredictable, with particular uncertainties regarding the response of coral reefs, the intensity of hurricanes, the stability of the South Asian monsoon affecting over a billion people, and the frequency of wildfires.
• Global efforts to reach zero emissions are hindered by extreme inequality, as the richest 10% of the population earns more than half of the world's income and generates more than half of its pollution annually.
• The only practical and fair method to achieve global zero emissions is for privileged inhabitants who benefited from fossil-fuel-led development to eliminate their own emissions and provide support to less privileged populations.

APA

Kartha, S. (2019). Why an equitable approach is the only practical way to address the climate crisis. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/perspectives/why-an-equitable-approach-is-the-only-practical-way-to-address-the-climate-crisis/

Chicago

Kartha, Sivan. Why an equitable approach is the only practical way to address the climate crisis. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2019. https://www.sei.org/perspectives/why-an-equitable-approach-is-the-only-practical-way-to-address-the-climate-crisis/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Kartha |first1=Sivan |title=Why an equitable approach is the only practical way to address the climate crisis |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=11 December 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/perspectives/why-an-equitable-approach-is-the-only-practical-way-to-address-the-climate-crisis/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{kartha2019why, author = {Kartha, Sivan}, title = {{Why an equitable approach is the only practical way to address the climate crisis}}, publisher = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = dec, url = {https://www.sei.org/perspectives/why-an-equitable-approach-is-the-only-practical-way-to-address-the-climate-crisis/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }