The dummies guide to CONTRACTION & CONVERGENCE.
Contraction and Convergence is a straightforward model for an international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions.It sets a safe and stable target for concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a date by which those concentrations should be achieved, based on the best scientific evidence.The atmosphere being a "global good", C&C declares that all citizens of the Earth have an equal right in principle to emit, and will actually be given an equal right by this future date, the individual allowance for each citizen being derived from the "safe" global target.So from the grossly inequitable situation we have now, per capita emissions from each country will "converge" at a far more equitable level in the future; while the global total of emissions will "contract". The constitutional logic of C&C is unarguable; there are no grounds for defending unequal use of the atmosphere.C&C secures survival by correcting both fatal poverty and fatal climate change in the same arrangement.
The economics are impeccable too....greenhouse gas emissions from industrial development in the West have been accumulating in the atmosphere for 200 years. So far, GHG emissions have been a close proxy for wealth. Per capita emissions in rich countries are now way above the global average, let alone a sustainable average; and in poor countries, way below.
The global account so far shows that 33% of people have 94% of the global dollar income and account for 90% of the global historical total of greenhouse gas emissions, while the other 66% of people have 6% of global dollar income and a history of emissions totalling 10%. Contraction and Convergence corrects all this.
Shares created by C&C are valuable because they are tradeable. A C&C agreement makes it possible for poor countries to finance their future defence against climate change and their "clean development", by trading their considerable excess emission shares to rich countries.The rich countries would use their capital to retire their "dirty development", and put in place economies that are clean and geared to reduced consumption.This is a "framework-based-market"; and organised this way, the trade marries poetic justice and economic efficiency into the same plan.
That is C&C in a nutshell.
I'd like to meet:
YOU....and here's why. This problem won't go away - it needs to be rectified. If we had 50 years to turn this around, then lifestyle changes might make some real impact, but the truth is we need immediate and radical action on a planetary scale if we are to stand a chance of survival. Now.....at this point you might be thinking "How can I possibly make any difference!?" or you might feel that the whole issue is simply too distressing to think about and that it's just easier to 'switch off' instead. This is understandable, and such thinking might explain why there is such antipathy surrounding this subject. What's so tragic about this kind of thinking is that the problem really is surmountable. IT IS ONLY A LACK OF POLITICAL WILL that stands in the way of the necessary actions that are needed to avert catastrophe. But how do we solve a problem so seemingly overwhelming and out of our control?
First....we need to understand the nature of the threat we face, which is threefold:
1/Planetary overpopulation.
2/fossil fuel based release of greenhouse gases and...
3/Destruction of eco-systems and the environment.
Second....we need to understand that in order to avert a global catastrophe on a truly apocalyptic level, a few things need to happen:
A/ We must halt global population growth and eventually decrease it to a sustainable 4 billion in 300 years.
B/ We must achieve a 60% cut in global greenhouse gas emmisions by 2030.
C/ We must halt mans ever increasing footprint - both concrete and agricultural - on the natural world, whilst simultaneously increasing co2 absorbtion through massive global reforestation and deployment of new technologies
Third....based on the aforementioned goals, we need a simple plan of action - or manifesto, that our politicians can strictly adhere to. Such a manifesto would consent our political leaders to:
1/ Instigate a debate at the UNITED NATIONS leading to the creation of a multi-national agreement for population control based on the 'carrying capacity' of each country.
2/ Raise the profile of and immediately sign up to the CONTRACTION & CONVERGENCE International agreement.
3/ Instigate a debate at the UNITED NATIONS leading to the creation of a multi-national agreement that recognises that all of the earth's eco-systems are a 'global good' and therefore need immediate protection and expansion to maintain a stable biosphere.
Fourth and finally....let us represent you! Just add us as a friend and when the website is up and running, add your name to the online petition.
Movies:
Watch Global Warning
narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio
(Go to youtube.com/watch?v=C3pujlkSTqo for the code.)
