Who is responsible for climate change?
To begin unraveling this subject, let's delve into the various ways in which human activities contribute to climate change.
By Patience Katusiime
The effects of climate change are all too visible in daily life. From heat waves to floods, extreme weather and rising temperatures are forcing people from their homes and worsening world hunger and famine.
But the climate crisis neither affects everyone equally nor is everyone equally responsible. New Oxfam research finds that just 125 billionaires are each responsible for one million times more greenhouse gas emissions than the average person.
Burning fossil fuels and chopping down trees lead to the release of this greenhouse gas. Both activities exploded after the 19th Century, so it’s unsurprising that atmospheric CO2 increased over the same period.
The complex topic of climate change and human responsibility! It’s fascinating to explore the intricate relationship between humans and this global phenomenon. To begin unraveling this subject, let’s delve into the various ways in which human activities contribute to climate change.
One major factor is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas for energy production and transportation. These activities release vast amounts of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere, contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect.
People who have contributed least to the climate crisis are right now suffering its worst impacts
Wealthy corporations are responsible for recklessly extracting fossil fuels for energy production after centuries of dirty industrialization in Europe and North America significantly contributing to global climate change.
According to a three-part PBS FRONTLINE series, Big Oil giant ExxonMobil sat on research by its own scientists conducted in the 1980s showing the connection between fossil fuel activities and global temperature rise. With government support, Big Oil doubled down on its polluting exploits, enabling the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane into the earth’s atmosphere. Approximately 71 percent of carbon emissions can be traced to just 100 fossil fuel producers since 1988.
By the mid ‘90s, a global scientific consensus emerged that humans were contributing to global temperature rise. But Big Oil led by its lobbyists at groups like the American Petroleum Institute did everything it could to seed doubt and delay meaningful climate action in the US and globally.
Before the early 1800s, individuals worldwide had more similar living standards. The Industrial Revolution in the Global North changed everything, and global economic inequality grew substantially among people around the world through the middle of the 20th century.
A New York Times analysis found that 23 rich industrialized countries are responsible for 50 percent of all historical emissions and more than 150 countries are responsible for the rest.
According to former NASA scientist James Hansen, industrialization in Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan was responsible for 77 percent of global emissions between 1751-2006.
Though China is responsible for the largest percentage of current emissions, rich industrialized countries are still responsible for more than one third. By comparison, Africa’s current emissions are less than 4 percent of the global total.
Wealthy countries are disproportionately responsible for the climate crisis, and they have the double responsibility to both cut emissions at home and to support developing countries with the costs of replanting crops and rebuilding homes after storms, and moving from dirty energy forms to cleaner, lower-carbon ones.
From 1990-2015 during a rapid escalation of the climate crisis the carbon emissions of the richest 1 percent of people globally were more than double the emissions of the poorest half of humanity.
Over that same time, the poorest 50 percent around 3.1 billion people were responsible for just 7 percent of emissions.
The major and growing responsibility of wealthy people for overall emissions is rarely discussed or considered in climate policy making. This has to change. These billionaire investors at the top of the corporate pyramid have huge responsibility for driving climate breakdown.
These wealthy polluters are responsible for climate change and it’s time to hold them accountable on the world stage. Oil companies must stop exploiting communities rich with natural resources in the Global South as the transition to clean energy continues, rich industrialized countries must pay for the loss and damage already being experienced by communities on the frontlines of the crisis, and carbon billionaires must shift their investments to funds with stronger environmental and social standards.
Patience Katusiime
Programs assistant, Environment governance institute
