People are in a very unequal position in relation to climate change. The carbon footprint of others is ten thousand or even a hundred thousand or a million times compared to other people. For example, the emissions from Amazon’s major owner Jeff Bezos’ short space trip correspond to the annual carbon emissions of all the residents of a city with 200,000 inhabitants, such as Tampere, Finland. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, on the other hand, has his own cruise ship, which is the size of a large ferry ship, for example, which can accommodate thousands of passengers, and pollutes the same amount. At the same time, others are concerned about the climate and carefully calculate their carbon footprint.

Western countries bear the greatest responsibility for climate change. From climate emissions, since the beginning of the industrial revolution around the 1780s, 90% of the emissions released into the air are caused by rich western countries. Today, China and the BRICS countries are also increasingly present. The biggest source of emissions is China, which is rapidly becoming prosperous. Second is the United States. A large part of China’s emissions, however, is related to Western countries’ business activities and production in China. Africa accounts for only about 1% of global emissions even though 17% of the world’s people live there. For example, in Gambia, the carbon footprint is 0.24 t per inhabitant, while it is 14 t in the United States of America, which means that an American produces 58 times more emissions than a Gambian. The carbon footprint of the oil country Qatar is more than 40 tons. The EU and the United States are the only countries and regions that have been able to reduce emissions in their territory, especially with the help of renewable energy. The carbon footprint of a Finn is on average 6 t. However, the United States and the EU buy a huge amount of products produced in China and elsewhere in the Global South and have thus outsourced a large part of their carbon emissions and environmental impacts. The carbon footprint per capita only tells how much emissions per inhabitant are generated, for example, only in the area of Finland or the USA.

Even ten years ago, the largest country in terms of emissions was the United States. Now it accounts for 12% of global emissions and China’s 34%.  The EU’s share is 6.4% and Russia’s 5.3%. Japan, Australia, South Korea and Canada again more than 5%. Therefore, the share of traditional industrialized countries (not including China) is about 30% of global emissions. This shows the outsourcing and transfer of emissions to China, where companies produce goods for the prosperous West in the ”factory of the world”. In the same way, for example, clothing production in India, palm oil production in Indonesia, and banana cultivation in Brazil for West produce emissions that should be counted among Westerners. China can be appreciated for its large investments in renewable energy such as wind and solar power. It might still save the world, because China’s emissions are huge and growing. Trump will likely withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which is devastating, but the low price of renewable energy can be a saving grace, when even in the USA it is known that wind and solar power are clearly the cheapest ways to produce energy.

Climate emissions are a great injustice between different countries and regions. Those who emit the most pollutants into the air suffer the least from the consequences of climate change, such as extreme weather events. The world’s poor do not have the same opportunities to adapt to a changing climate, they are more vulnerable due to poor infrastructure, capacity, resources and economy, and due to their geographical location, they are more exposed to extreme weather phenomena and natural disasters, as most of them occur in the Global South. Western countries have so far mostly refused to pay compensation for their large emissions to the countries of the Global South. Who is responsible when, for example, the Maldives sinks into the Indian Ocean? 80% of the Maldives is less than a meter above sea level, and the sea level may rise a couple of meters in the coming centuries, estimated to be around 50 cm already by the end of this century. The principle should be on a global scale that the destroyer of the environment pays for the harm he causes. It can be said that companies, countries and individuals are destroying the climate and this should cost so much that destroying the environment (atmosphere) is unprofitable.

It is not right that some (richer) individuals and other (richer) countries are allowed to release more emissions and pollution into the air than others. So far, emissions trading has only taken place within the EU, but emissions trading should eventually become available worldwide. In this case, emissions pay, and companies and operators are forced to reduce them if they want to be financially successful. Private luxury cruises, jumbo jets and space travel should also be subject to such a high Pigouvian tax that it is not profitable to acquire them and such activities can be minimized. The taxes obtained from these would be directed to environmental protection and climate work to compensate for emissions. The big problem is that the atmosphere is seen in the so-called as a general ”common pool” resource. A clear price must be set for spoiling the air and climate, and this price must be expensive in order to stop climate damage. No small price is out of the question, because the multi-billionaire oligarchs don’t care about that. Thinking even further, we can start charging wealthy people for their carbon footprint in general. For example, in Finland, that average 6 tons of carbon emissions could be free, and carbon emissions exceeding that would pay a progressively increasing carbon tax, so that, for example, 30 tons would mean extremely large climate fines.

Responsibility for the earth is shared. There can’t be free passengers on Earth, who are allowed to spend and release excessively and thousands of times more than others. Climate justice is about human rights, equality and the socially, ecologically and economically sustainable future of the earth.

Daniel Elkama