The paper explores the intertwined challenges of climate change and economic inequality, revealing how well-designed climate policies can simultaneously address both issues. Key findings suggest that redistributing carbon revenues can offset short-term economic costs while reducing inequality in the long term. This innovative research highlights the possibility of achieving climate safety and climate justice through smart policy design. Climate change and economic inequality are two of the most pressing issues facing the world today.
Combating Inequalities Through Climate Action
The Nature Climate Change study reveals the stark role climate change plays in perpetuating economic inequality. The researchers used data from eight large-scale Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) to reach their conclusions, explaining that climate change is projected to drive inequality between countries by an average 7% increase in the Gini index by 2100, while enhancing intra-country income variation too with a mean increase of 1.4 points as well.
But it also found a telling balancing indicator that measures the largest reduction in inequality achievable over time in conjunction with ambitious climate policies like carbon pricing. If carbon revenues are recycled back to the public equally, net short-term economic costs could be eliminated and inequality can even be reduced by almost 2 points in terms of Gini index.
Marriage of Climate Action and Social Justice
This new perspective not only reveals that, unlike the predictions of climate skeptics, interventionist changes may increase inequalities in the short run; but also point out that combining ambitious mitigation and a redistribution policy can potentially facilitate social justice. Insights from this research gives guidance to policymakers for creating more fair and politically viable climate action.
“This research shows that political development, if properly implemented, can simultaneously address climate change and economic inequality — two of the most pressing challenges of our time,” said study lead author Johannes Emmerling, a senior scientist at the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC).
Road to a Fair and Sustainable Future
Given the growing attention to reducing GHG emissions around the world in order to meet national climate goals, this study provides a significant and timely view. This research further emphasises the need for smart policy design and shows that it is possible to bring climate safety and justice in line.
This research demonstrates that efforts for climate safety and climate justice must be made in the same breath, as well. It represents a major research topic for our institute, and the collective work is an illustration of how community-based researchers can help to inform urgent policy areas”, states Massimo Tavoni, CMCC faculty and professor at EIEE.
