An equity- and sustainability-based policy response to global climate change

Transnational Municipal Networks in Climate Politics: From Global Governance to Global Politics

“…Targeting a global emissions level that would stabilize atmospheric GHG concentrations at approximately 450 ppm of CO 2-e , such an approach divides total emissions by world population to determine an appropriate per capita level, which can then be multiplied by the population of any unit (e.g. city) to determine a sustainable and equitable collective target (Byrne et al, 1998). 22 This process uniquely privileges and operationalizes both intergenerational and intragenerational equity in ways perhaps incommensurable with the privileging of efficiency that has so far dominated the discourse of climate governance, subverting and contesting neoliberal ecopolitics in favor of a potentially progressive agenda.…”

The concept of ecological debt: some steps towards an enriched sustainability paradigm

“…As the world and its problems do not present themselves in scientific facts, it is indeed important to see how 'matters of concern' are-through a 'scientific sieve'-always already framed into 'matters of fact'. 1 It is therefore disappointing to observe that nearly all of the few available scientific papers that elaborated on the concept of ecological debt have left aside a thorough conceptual discussion and concentrated on one particular interpretation that enables quantification (Azar and Holmberg 1995;Jenkins 1996;Smith 1996;Byrne et al 1998;Torras 2003). The same can be said about the latest Living Planet Report (Hails 2006) that explicitly uses the concept of ecological debtor (and creditor) for countries having an ecological deficit; the latter being defined as the amount by which a country's ecological footprint exceeds the locally available ecological capacity.…”

“…But in contrast to the ecological footprint, the concept of ecological debt in these campaigns was developed with only limited scientific analysis underpinning the claims. 2 As already mentioned, most of the research published in scientific journals (Azar and Holmberg 1995;Jenkins 1996;Smith 1996;Byrne et al 1998;Torras 2003;Hails 2006;Srinivasan et al 2008) focuses on a particular interpretation allowing for quantification and has not been used in NGO campaigns, nor does this literature refer to the grass-roots interpretation of the concept. In this respect, the work of the Spanish ecological economist Joan Martinez-Alier constitutes an important exception.…”

Fossil fuel sustainability index: An application of resource management

“…As Byrne et al (1998) have appropriately argued that the industrial countries have the wealth, technology, and responsibility to solve the problems of climate and social inequity by avoiding globalization of fossil fuel economy.…”