Considerations of Global Equity and Burden-Sharing in Community-Scale Climate Action Planning

The authors argue that current community-scale emissions targets, such as 80% reductions by 2050, do not account for the UNFCCC principle of "common but differentiated responsibility." By applying the Greenhouse Development Rights (GDR) framework to Seattle, the study finds that an equitable global obligation would require the city to become carbon "negative" before 2020. This does not imply physical sequestration but rather a role where wealthy cities dramatically reduce their own emissions while financing low-carbon transitions in developing regions. The paper suggests that communities can use offsets or direct technology and financial transfers to meet these obligations and recommends that local governments integrate global equity into their official climate action plans.

• Standard community emissions targets, such as reducing greenhouse gases by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050, may no longer be sufficient to limit global warming to 2 degrees C and fail to incorporate the UNFCCC principle of "common but differentiated responsibility."
• The Greenhouse Development Rights (GDR) framework determines a region's climate obligation based on its historical emissions since 1990 ("responsibility") and its income above a "development threshold" of $7,500 per year ("capacity").
• Applying the GDR framework to the City of Seattle indicates that to meet a global mitigation obligation consistent with a 2-degree target, the city would need to reach carbon neutrality before 2020 and become increasingly carbon "negative" thereafter.
• In the context of wealthy cities, being "carbon negative" is interpreted as reducing domestic emissions dramatically while providing financial and technological support to enable low-GHG transitions in developing regions.
• The estimated cost for Seattle to meet its global obligation in 2020, at a price of $20 per ton of CO2e, would be approximately $100 million, which equates to roughly $150 per resident annually.
• A review of global community efforts shows that most "carbon neutral" plans, including those in Copenhagen and Melbourne, rely heavily on offsets to meet their goals, though these offsets are often loosely defined.

APA

Erickson, P., Chandler, C., & Lazarus, M. (2010). Considerations of Global Equity and Burden-Sharing in Community-Scale Climate Action Planning. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/Economics_of_climate_policy/sei-workingpaperus-1008.pdf

Chicago

Erickson, Peter, Chelsea Chandler, and Michael Lazarus. Considerations of Global Equity and Burden-Sharing in Community-Scale Climate Action Planning. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2010. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/Economics_of_climate_policy/sei-workingpaperus-1008.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Erickson |first1=Peter |last2=Chandler |first2=Chelsea |last3=Lazarus |first3=Michael |title=Considerations of Global Equity and Burden-Sharing in Community-Scale Climate Action Planning |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=December 2010 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/Economics_of_climate_policy/sei-workingpaperus-1008.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{erickson2010considerations, author = {Erickson, Peter and Chandler, Chelsea and Lazarus, Michael}, title = {{Considerations of Global Equity and Burden-Sharing in Community-Scale Climate Action Planning}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2010}, month = dec, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/Economics_of_climate_policy/sei-workingpaperus-1008.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }