Interesting solution for the climate crisis

 

Here is an interesting idea to address the carbon inequality that will derail any serious attempt to limit carbon emissions to save earth from an ecological collapse. 

We calculate the total amount of co2 emissions humanity is allowed each year, that becomes the total number of Climate Coins that are available for the people of the earth to spend. Every human activity henceforth will come with an additional carbon price that needs to be paid through Climate Coins. A trip abroad is 1,50,000 Rupees and 50 Climate Coins, a person needs to pay both for the trip to happen. We assign climate costs to each activity, gas for vehicle, electricity for an air conditioner, steak at a hotel etc and let the market determine which activities are prioritized.

First and foremost this will bring out the environmental cost of each activity, thus making people realize the consequences of their actions, knowingly or unknowingly. You vacationed in Maldives, well did you realize the co2 your trip emitted, flight, hotel stay etc. This will make people evaluate their actions not just through money but also the environment. People will learn to environmentally live within their means, balance a trip abroad with a year of taking public transportation.

This will also drive service providers to provide a more climate friendly option, right now there is no incentive for an hotel say to reduce their emissions, now a trip to a carbon neutral hotel is going to be cheaper and the market will drive the adoption of environmentally cleaner alternatives.

The richest 10 per cent depleted the global carbon budget by 31 per cent while the poorest 50 per cent used only 4 per cent of the carbon budget. This will put the cost of our environmental damage where it should be, the people emitting the most. They will have to change their lifestyles or pay those who aren't through the proposed Climate Coins. If you do not have the 50 coins you need, you will pay some guy in a remote village who isn't using his.

The present system of raising costs in terms of money has failed, for one, the rich have lots of it, we cannot link money to climate as it has lots of other purposes and from the past year we know that there is an infinite supply of money. We need a new currency for the climate and a Climate Coin is the best alternative. 

The devil is in the details. A world climate bank will need to be formed, each year the allowed climate currency would need to be created, the old currency expired, the network for payments for Climate Coins will have to be created, and most important each person will need to be assigned their share of Climate Coins. The exercise to calculate the climate cost of each human activity isn't trivial either, but perhaps we can start with the big things and then work our way down. The farmer in a remote village need not get on the network at first, but he will and can with our present technologies.

We have all the necessary pieces in place, crypto currency for Climate Coins, mobile networks and apps for access, media to spread the word and most importantly a generation of people who realize that the status quo simply isn't tenable.

I believe this can be done and this will help.