Prioritising human wellbeing in a climate-constrained world

Currently,Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions scenarios take economic growth projections as the starting point for their estimations. The goal of this project is to move away from this perspective, and consider the emissions required for universal human wellbeing. This project contributes to Oxfam’s long-term goal of combining its core campaigns around climate change and socio-economic equity into a unified framework for addressing environmental and social justice.

This research project consists of five interlinked parts:

(1) Building a quantitative model, connecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with household expenditure surveys through Multi-Regional Environmentally-Extended Input-Output (MRIO)modelling;
(2) Connecting household-level and public expenditure with globally-emitted GHG caused by the
production of goods and services. These outcomes will enable the comparison of household economic
inequality with the resulting emissions inequality, a novel result which is likely to interest many within
the development and climate change communities;
(3) Testing key policy proposals for climate change mitigation. Environmental sustainability measures can
exacerbate problems of poverty and access to resources for basic needs. The model would test the
progressivity or regressivity of such measures, and thus be used to inform policy makers, and advocate
for the most progressive (equitable) measures;
(4) Exploring the interdependencies between GHG emissions mitigation and universal access to resources
to satisfy basic needs. The basis of this component is an estimate of the resource needs required for
human health, food and development, the notion of a universal “floor” of resource requirements which
all should have access to from a human rights perspective;
(5) The fifth component will take the reverse approach to the previous one, and focus on the remaining
carbon and GHG emissions budgets given by the latest AR5 IPCC report. Depending on the distribution and use of these budgets, they may or may not be compatible with universal human development.