id21 viewpoints

The balance of resources for mitigating climate change

Alex Morrell, a Climate Change Analyst currently studying at Dundee University, discusses how imbalances in resource allocation, including for climate change mitigation, are symptomatic of current economic and political systems.

Climate change is forcing societies to work together to find ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to acceptable levels. More critically, the current focus on climate change highlights how resource scarcity and the unequal allocation of resources are linked to the success (or failure) of international development.

To date, society has treated the mitigation of climate change (taking actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions) as an isolated problem. There has been little debate about the costs to society of allocating resources to climate change mitigation rather than other investment opportunities.

For example, many mitigation activities involve adopting more ‘carbon free’ technologies, so societies can sustain their existing imbalanced levels of consumption. Sustaining existing imbalances in consumption may not be the best use of resources for successful international development.

Successful international development occurs in a society that allocates both tangible (physical assets) and intangible (emotional empathy, spirituality, intellectual enlightenment) resources optimally. To achieve this, it is necessary that resources are produced and consumed in a balanced way. The consumption of too much or too little of any resource will prevent individuals from realising their full potential. This leads to a form of resource poverty and unsuccessful development.

For successful international development, it is therefore necessary to aim for a balanced allocation of resources. However, imbalances in resource allocation, including for mitigating climate change, are symptomatic of current economic and political systems.

Attempting to solve this resource allocation problem through economic systems is difficult. Many societies and markets attribute higher value to tangible resources, to the extent that insufficient attention is given to intangible resource development. This results in lower welfare – societies that lack tangible assets have a surplus of intangible resources, and societies with deficient intangible assets have tangible resource surpluses.

So, if current economic and political systems prevent successful international development, should they be reformed? No. These systems merely facilitate the allocation of resources. It is the values that underpin these systems that decide the extent to which inequalities continue. Therefore, it is vital that all consumers understand that by purchasing any item, they are creating a demand that either increases or reduces imbalances.

In modern society, the economy is the most effective medium through which individuals can reassert moral, spiritual and intellectual values, as well as satisfying their basic needs. So, when it comes to allocating resources for mitigating climate change, it is essential to question who benefits and how. At present, collective decision-making by all economic actors are perpetuating these imbalances. The costs of this, not just for those deprived of basic tangible resources, are increasingly difficult to accept.

Alex Morrell

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Further Information
Alex Morrell
amorrell@dundee.ac.uk

Useful links
'Biofuels, climate change and GM crops – who is really benefiting?'

‘Tree plantations and climate change: Avoiding responsibility in Ecuador’

‘Litigating for climate justice’

April 2008

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