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Children born today will have to live with a much lower carbon footprint than their grandparents if we want to control climate change.
Rapid and deep reduction in global energy, transportation and food emissions is needed to control temperature rises. An badysis has shown that this means that the new generation will have a carbon footprint nearly 90% lower than a person born in 1950.
The data has dramatically highlighted the burden inherited by today's children, a problem at the heart of the global school that hits the climate. Another major strike will take place on Friday in more than 70 countries.
"Those in positions of power – from politicians to business leaders – who have benefited from a much higher carbon budget have a duty to take action to ensure a liveable planet for current and future generations, "said Jake Woodier to the British Student Climate network, which supports strikes. "Without proper action, people in power sacrifice our future for today."
The new thinktank Carbon Brief combines data on emissions and demographic changes with climate models. It then calculates how much the average citizen on Earth can emit during his lifetime to keep the temperature below 1.5 or 2 ° C from preindustrial levels, the goal of the world's nations. avoid the climate catastrophe.
Previous and existing generations have emitted almost all the carbon dioxide needed to bring the world to temperatures between 1.5 and 2 ° C, which means that future generations will have to drastically reduce emissions from theft, consumption meat and other activities during their lives. Children and youth participating in youth strikes (born between 1997 and 2012) will have carbon budgets equivalent to one-sixth of those of their baby-boom grandparents (1946-1964).
"As school children's demonstrations increase each week around the world, our badysis highlights the intergenerational injustice of climate change," said Leo Hickman, editor of Carbon Brief. "If warming is to be limited to safe levels, today's children will have to drastically reduce their own emissions during their lifetime compared to older generations."
The idea for the badysis came from Ben Caldecott, Oxford University's Sustainable Finance Program. He said it was the first systematic use of emissions data to inform the debate on intergenerational responsibility for climate change and had produced "uncomfortable figures".
"The goal is not to stir up the concerns of growing intergenerational anxiety, but rather to provide objective badysis to support intergenerational dialogue within and between countries so that we can fight against climate change, "he said. "The results will fuel debates on intergenerational equity, for example in terms of access to housing, availability of pensions, higher university tuition fees, changes in the age of retirement . "
There is currently a significant gap between the average annual emissions of a US citizen (16.9 tons) and an Indian citizen (1.9 tons). The badysis showing that children born now would have a 90% lower carbon budget than their grandparents would badume, the gap would still be there.
But in a second badysis, Carbon Brief has proposed a future carbon budget identical for all citizens of the planet. This would mean that the budget allocated to a child born in the United States today is still lower, 97% lower than that of their grandparents. For a person born today in Europe, his budget would be 94% lower.
"The fact that those born today have only a lower carbon budget than previous generations shows the need for a transformative approach that places social and economic justice at the heart of plans to fight the climate crisis, "said Woodier. "We need mbadive investments in people and the planet to transform our economies, and we need them urgently."
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