Confronting Carbon Inequality

Positives

• This article provides the opportunity to look at the climate crisis through a socioeconomic lens.
• The research provides excellent graphics to visualize the inequities of carbon consumption based on income.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should be familiar with how fossil fuel use and economic activities contribute to greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change.
• Teachers may want to explain the concept of the "global carbon budget" so students understand how the report refers to a finite amount of carbon emissions allocated for global use to meet goals set out in the Paris Agreement. The right margin on page 2 will help with this explanation.

Differentiation

• Consider having students propose ideas for getting the richest individuals to reduce their carbon emissions.  Explain the concept of incentives and have students brainstorm what would motivate the top earners to reduce their carbon emissions.
• Have students consider what it means to live in poverty. The report indicates that those in poverty live on less than $5.50 per day. Discuss what consumption looks like in their community compared to someone living in poverty and how carbon emissions correlate to different lifestyles.