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Carbon reductions for the rich
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Photo: Paul Turgeon
A new study, explained in this article, suggests basing countries’ carbon emission reduction targets on the number of rich people the country contains. The rationale is that rich people emit the most carbon dioxide individually, through factories they own or cars they drive, and the more of such people within a country, the higher its current emissions. If this system were to be adopted into the Kyoto Protocol (which, in its current form, expires in 2012), it probably wouldn’t entail any drastic changes. Developed countries, which have already received the most stringent reduction targets, also tend to contain the most rich people. The criticism of the fact that the Protocol sets no limits for developing countries would not be assuaged - reduction targets of any kind would still not apply to countries with current emissions below a certain level.
Perhaps the main argument for incorporating this system into the renewed Kyoto Protocol is that it would provide an easy mechanism to determine when developing countries have “developed enough” and can be asked to reduce their emissions, and by how much. The biggest loophole, though, is the offshoring of factories to developing countries. The emissions-producing factory can be exported to a poor country without its rich owner, increasing that poor country’s emissions in a way undetectable through this system. Of course, if it is true what the most staunch globalization supporters claim, even this should not matter. Having factories located in poor countries will gradually increase the standard of living there, and will, over time, generate rich people. How long this will take, however, and to what extent it is accurate is still a subject of debate. In the meantime, should this system be enacted, finding a way to close the loophole can’t hurt.
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