The Injustice of Climate Change

It is not often looked at in this way, but climate change isn't only a question of environmental concern. Major international studies have predicted that this century up to 185 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa will die as a direct result of climate change. The causes will include increased drought, famine, and flooding, which we're already starting to see in places like Bangladesh. Add to that the forecast that there will be up to 700 million climate refugees in the same timeframe, and the picture becomes even scarier. The potential for violent conflict, even within Europe, is huge.

What makes it such as pressing ethical concern though, is that the people who are likely to suffer the most from climate change have the least responsibility for causing it. It's an issue of unprecedented global social injustice. For example, in just two days, I (as Mr Average in the UK) will produce as much carbon dioxide through my consumer and transport habits as someone from Ghana would in a whole year. So the fact that it's Ghaneans who will feel the sting of climate change is not just unfair, its scandelous.

The good news is that I can do something about this. The same scientists who are unanimous in predicting dire consequences if we don't take radical action now are all pretty much in agreement that if we do, we have a chance to avert the very worst aspects of climate change. The tricky thing is: what do we do? Many businesses are keen to present Green solutions, tapping into our desire to do the right thing. But too often, these haven't been thought through, and in some cases the Green solutions cause more harm than simply doing nothing!

Take offsetting for example. Some companies will tell you that although you are producing a large amount of carbon through buying their products (cars, holidays, etc.) they will offset the carbon emissions for you by investing in tree planting or other such schemes. Increasingly, this means that those companies are investing in carbon-saving projects in poor countries through things like the European Trading Scheme. Sounds good doesn't it? The problem is it doesn't add up. It's basically a way of saying: I can do lots of bad things here if good things are happening elsewhere. Ok, if we were actually reducing the emmissions that poor countries produce, that would be one thing. But there's little evidence that this is happening. In fact, poor countries are producing much the same as they always were (very very little), while we are producing more and more. What's worse is that many offsetting projects actually do real harm on the ground. Take for example the sponge iron factories in India. These devastate local communities with the pollution they cause, yet many are currently expanding their operations having demonstrated that with investment from carbon trading schemes they can reduce emissions by a tiny fraction. The result? More more villages are wiped off the map, and our acceleration towards climate chaos increases.

Then there are biofuels. It is now widely recognised that the hope held out for biofuels - to help us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels for transport - has been hugely misplaced. Across the world, rainforests are being chopped down to plant and cash in on the biofuel boom, while hundreds of thousands of farmers are ditching staple crops to plant biofuels, one of the factors which has led to the global food crisis we are experiencing today. Moreover, those farmers are using high levels of carbon-heavy fertilisers to grow biofuels! Couple that with wider land use issues, and the amount of carbon being produced to grow biofuels significantly outwieghs the amount we are saving by using them in our cars.

So it is complicated. Just when we think we're doing something good as consumers - supporting companies that offset their carbon and invest in things like biofuels - we realise it may be doing more harm than good. Where does that leave us? The most important thing that consumers can do to help win the fight against climate injustice is to recognise that right now business simply doesn't have the answers. The reason for that is very straightforward. To reduce emissions will cost big business lots and lots of money, and unless they are all changing at the same time - competing on a level playing field - there is no incentive to take the challenge seriously. The only way to make that happen is for consumers to also act as citizens, and for each of to write to our MPs and MSPs (in Scotland) to call for legislation which will mean that all businesses will have to adapt meaningfully to reduce their carbon emmissions, and do so on an equal footing.

The time to do this is now because next month the UK Parliament will debate and agree legislation to fight climate change, with the Scottish government doing likewise later in the year. This is our chance to set the standard and ensure that responses to climate change are tough and serious enough. There are many organisations, including WDM and others like Friends of the Earth, who can help you find the right words to petition your MP. Just visit their website and look for where it says "Take Action".

But please, do it today. The world simply will not wait.