The injustice of climate change
When people think of the "why" behind working to mitigate climate change, the livability of the planet for future generations is often front and centre. But this planet right now is inhabited by a single human species, members of which are affected by climate change in vastly different ways. This raises the important issue of climate justice. The richest 1% of humanity have a footprint 30X larger than what’s compatible with 1.5°C of warming. Even the richest 10% globally (which includes almost every reader of this newsletter) has a footprint 9X the 1.5°C threshold and growing. By contrast, the poorest 50% of the global population emit far below the 1.5°C-aligned level. Furthermore, the contributors to climate change are financially equipped to avoid the worst effects — at least for now. Meanwhile, the news is replete with stories of the impoverished suffering from heat waves, lack of sufficient clean water and other climate related catastrophes causing death or extremely harsh living conditions where survival is a daily challenge.
There is a common misconception that the pollution of industrializing countries is the problem — it’s not. The most advanced societies are by far the biggest contributors to the crisis, yet the effects are born most acutely by the most vulnerable. By investing in solutions that decarbonize the planet, we can help avert some of the worst impacts of climate change and raise the standard of living for the less fortunate members of our human family. As we proclaimed when we were raising Fund II, this fight is about making the transition from finite to infinite resources.
