A bold study now combines rigorous ethical criteria to calculate national obligations based on each country’s level of ‘overshoot’ in appropriation of the atmosphere’s capacity to absorb carbon emissions. The findings suggest that a massive debt is owed.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Negotiation of a Framework Convention on Climate Change. Elements relating to mechanisms. Vanuatu: Draft annex relating to article 23 (insurance) for inclusion in the revised single text on elements relating to mechanisms (A/AC.237/WG.II/Misc.13) submitted by the Co-chairmen of Working Group II (Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1991).
COP27 reaches breakthrough agreement on new “loss and damage” fund for vulnerable countries. United Nations (20 Nov 2022); https://go.nature.com/3IXPAhE
Falzon, D. et al. Glob. Environ. Polit. (in the press).
Birnbaum, M. How a small island got world’s highest court to take on climate justice. Washington Post (29 Mar 2023).
Fanning, A. L. & Hickel, J. Nat. Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01130-8 (2023).
Baer, P., Athanasiou, T., Kartha, S. & Kemp-Benedict, E. The Greenhouse Development Rights Framework: The Right to Development in a Climate Constrained World 2nd Edn (Heinrich Böll Foundation, Christian Aid, EcoEquity and theStockholm Environment Institute, 2008).
Holz, C., Kartha, S. & Athanasiou, T. Int. Environ. Agreem. 18, 117–134 (2018).
The Imperative of Cooperation. Steps toward an equitable response to the climate crisis (Civil Society Equity Review, 2022); https://www.equityreview.org/
Robinson, K. S. The Ministry for the Future (Orbit Books, 2020).
Klinsky, S. et al. Glob. Environ. Change 44, 170–173 (2017).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Roberts, J.T. Calculating what we owe. Nat Sustain 6, 1037–1038 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01142-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01142-4