Much has been written about the “clash of philosophies” – Developing country economic development vs fight against climate change. Many people complain that we should be “lifting people out of poverty” so they can afford to mitigate the effects of climate change. In opposition, climate change activists reply that this will be disasterous – imagine what the environment would be like if everyone lived like the average American…
Well, I think the answer to this apparent conumdrum is to give us all carbon credits. Each action we take has a carbon cost. We could buy/sell apples internationally if we wanted, but you’d have to balance this against other life-style choices. The principle works at all levels, where-ever there is a defined entity (e.g. company, charity, country). It also works best under an international contract and convergence scheme aimed at normalising atmospheric levels by a certain date. You would simply calculate year-on-year the total number of credits available and divide them up – each year the number would fall and the cost of borrowing more than your allotment would rise (as it does for regular monetary debt now).
In practical terms it’s complex (probably) but I think it couched in the right terms it’s not very different from what people are used to right now – credit cards, food calories and similar concepts.
