Solving the problem of carbon dioxide emissions

More than just an environmental challenge, the problem of carbon dioxide emissions is a basic human rights issue. This paper proposes a solution to the problem based on the proposition of Green Human Right that all men are created equal and thus entitled to equal carbon dioxide emissions per person. Countries with per capita carbon dioxide emissions above that of the global average must pay for the privilege to pollute. Conversely, countries with that below the global average are entitled to compensations. To determine the excess or slack carbon dioxide emissions of individual countries, the total carbon dioxide emissions of every country are adjusted for international trade to account for carbon dioxide out-sourcing and carbon sequestration by forests and forest products to arrive at their net carbon dioxide emissions. Countries with above the global average in net per capita carbon dioxide emissions have excess emissions. Those with below the global average have slack emissions. Total excess or slack carbon dioxide emissions are determined by multiplying the per capita excess or slack per capita emissions by its population. They then pay into or get compensated from the Green Climate Fund based on their respective excess or slack carbon dioxide emissions. Based on the total excess carbon dioxide emission figures from 2009 and $10 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions, major excess emission countries and the amount of money they would pay into the Green Climate Fund are the U.S. $40.8 billion, Japan $7.8 billion, U.K. $5.1 billion, Canada $4.7 billion, Germany $4.6 billion, and Russia $42 billion. China, for the first time, also would become an excess emission country and would pay $446 million, thus obliterating the artificial separation between developed and developing countries and removing a major stumbling block in climate change negotiations. Major slack emission countries and the amount of money they would earn from the Green Climate Fund are India $3.7 billion, Pakistan $645 million, Bangladesh $626 million, Nigeria $433 million, Ethiopia $358 million, the Philippines $351 million and Vietnam $333 million. The incentives created by the proposed solution would propel all countries to focus on controlling or lowering their total global carbon dioxide emissions. Excess emission countries have incentives to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions to lower their payments. Slack countries also have incentives to lower or limit their emissions, if they want to keep earning money over time. When the price of carbon dioxide emissions is high enough, its impact on the global carbon dioxide emissions would be significant. Furthermore, as a dynamic system, every year the price set for carbon dioxide emissions would depend on how quickly the total global carbon dioxide emissions are being reduced through conservation efforts and technical innovations. Once the price is set, there is total transparency. Every country will know exactly how much it would either pay into or earn from the Green Climate Fund, sparing rich countries from haggling over how much each will pay and poor countries over how much each will earn. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.