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The problem of equity in IPCC reports
Context
In a recent study, researchers analysed more than 500 future emissions scenarios the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessed in its latest reports. The study found that across all 556 scenarios, income, energy-use, and emissions disparities between developed and developing countries are projected to continue up to 2050.
1: Dimension- Significance of ‘Equity’
- The principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities are enshrined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- These principles recognise that while tackling climate change requires global action, richer countries are better placed to shoulder bigger climate action responsibilities than poorer ones.
- By viewing climate action solely through the lens of global-level technical and economic feasibility, mitigation pathways often run counter to equity principles.
- Equity in this sense would imply that developed regions need to accelerate towards net negative emissions and make the remaining carbon budget available to other less developed regions. However, the scenarios project precisely the
- Thus, the construction of IPCC scenarios will need to be both equitable and environmentally sound.
2: Dimension-Equities in IPCC Report
- The study assessed 556 scenarios in IPCC’s AR6 report and found they project that per-capita GDP across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, West Asia and the rest of Asia, which together constitute 60% of the world’s population, will be below the global average even in 2050.
- They spotted similar inequities between the Global North and the Global South vis-à-vis the consumption of goods and services and both energy and fossil fuel consumption.
- The scenarios were also found to project higher carbon sequestration from land-based carbon sinks (like forests) and higher deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies in developing countries compared to developed ones.
- Thus, poorer countries would bear the burden of both mitigation action and carbon dioxide removal and CCS.
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