id21 viewpoint: The balance of resources for mitigating climate change

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 climatechange (taking actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions) as an isolatedproblem. There has been little debate about the costs to society of allocatingresources to climate change mitigation rather than other investmentopportunities.

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

Successful international development occurs in a societythat allocates both tangible (physical assets) and intangible (emotionalempathy, spirituality, intellectual enlightenment) resources optimally. Toachieve this, it is necessary that resources are produced and consumed in a balancedway. The consumption of too much or too little of any resource will prevent individualsfrom realising their full potential. This leads to a form of resource poverty andunsuccessful development.

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

 Attempting to solvethis resource allocation problem through economic systems is difficult. Manysocieties and markets attribute higher value to tangible resources, to theextent that insufficient attention is given to intangible resource development.This results in lower welfare – societies that lacktangible assets have a surplus of intangible resources, and societies with deficientintangible assets have tangible resource surpluses.

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

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