WE ARE NO DEBTORS! WE ARE CREDITORS OF A HISTORICAL, SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL DEBT!
THE CASE OF THE U.K.’S CARBON DEBT
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF ECOLOGICAL DEBT
Andrew Peter McDevitt
University of Edinburgh, 2006
This thesis focuses on the carbon debt of the U.K., as an illustration of the difficulties inherent in any attempt to put the concept of ecological debt into practice in real world situations. Initially, the lack of a clear conceptual framework and the presence of a multiplicity of languages in which the concept is presented are considered to be two important weaknesses.
The calculation and subsequent analysis of the U.K.’s carbon debt highlight a number of unanswered questions which are then addressed with reference to the literature on ecological economics: Should the carbon debt be calculated according to global average carbon emissions or a sustainable level of emissions? To what extent is it possible to identify specific carbon debtors and creditors beyond simply ‘North’ and ‘South’, ‘present’ and ‘future’ generations? How can the carbon debt be calculated in monetary terms, and what is the value of such an exercise? To what extent can historical responsibility for past carbon emissions be accounted for?
