On the principle of common but differentiated responsibility in the context of climate change and the aim of ecological justice

Climate change has developed from a marginal topic to a central one in public debate, not least because of the recent natural disasters. Since the 1970s it is clear that climate change constitutes a serious threat to human beings and their environment that will provoke massive damages of environment and society. Today we have no doubts that those developments are due to anthropologic influence. Politics have reacted, but not enough. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) expires at the end of 2012. The difficulties to find a political consensus for the time after Kyoto's expiration are evident. No matter how the approach will look like, it should in any case include the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, based on global solidarity and on the differences concerning the historical and current responsibility of all the countries in the world. It is obvious that industrial nations such as the USA, France or Germany have to bear more responsibility for the current situation than developing countries or even emerging markets/newly industrialized countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates or Kuwait) - the emission level of industrialized countries covered approximately 60% of the total CO2 emissions in the 1970s. Today, their share remains at almost 50%. The per-capita emission reaches about 12,6 tons of CO2 in those countries, while the emissions in developing countries are unsimilarly low, measured at 2,3 tons per year and per inhabitant. Furthermore, phenomena as globalization and related economic practices as outsourcing underline that the emissions are closely related to wealth: The poorest countries in the world emit only approximately 0,9 tons of CO2 per year. In order to implement just policies in the combat against climate change, we need to differentiate between different types of countries according to their industrial

development and keep in mind that the trend of emission trading reinforces the disadvantage of poor countries. Not only are the emissions not distributed equally, but also the consequences. Poor countries suffer much more from climate change, since they have no sufficient budget to adequately adapt to new environmental realities. In tropical or subtropical regions, in which the optimal temperature for growth is already given, even a slight temperature increase signifies an enormous crop loss. As many countries in those regions live on agriculture, their suffering from climate change is tremendous. But this is only an example of many countless examples on how poor countries are affected most. While politics keep on looking for the right solution, we all have to contribute individually to a decrease of emissions whose impact will be measurable only in approximately 50 years. As citizens of industrialized nations, we need to bare in mind the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and assume ours by reducing our per-capita emissions. In order to enable an effective individual contribution, we first need to be aware of the respective emissions of our daily acts. Smoking encourages for example the production of cigarettes, which has a negative impact on climate. We all share the historical responsibility of our country - it is time to act.

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