Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-2 (section)

=== 2.4.3 Poverty and Inequality ===

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Increasing economic inequality globally has given rise to concern that unequal societies may be more likely to pollute and degrade their environments ( [[#Masud--2018|Masud et al. 2018]] ; [[#Chancel--2020|Chancel 2020]] ; [[#Hailemariam--2020|Hailemariam et al. 2020]] ; [[#Millward-Hopkins--2021|Millward-Hopkins and Oswald 2021]] ). The nature of this relationship has important implications for the design of income redistribution policies aiming to reduce inequalities ( [[#2.6|Section 2.6]] presents evidence on how affluence and high consumption relate to emissions). Income inequality and carbon intensity of consumption differs across countries and individuals ( [[#Baležentis--2020|Baležentis et al. 2020]] ) ( [[#2.3.3|Section 2.3.3]] ). Reduced income inequality between nations can reduce emissions intensity of global income growth, if energy intensity reductions from income growth in some nations offset increases in energy and emissions from higher growth in other nations ( [[#Rao--2018|Rao and Min 2018]] ). Increasing income inequality between individuals can translate into larger energy and emissions inequality if higher incomes are spent on more energy-intensive consumption and affluent lifestyles ( [[#Oswald--2020|Oswald et al. 2020]] ; [[#Wiedmann--2020|Wiedmann et al. 2020]] ) ( [[#2.6|Section 2.6]] ).

Literature shows that more equitable income distributions can improve environmental quality, but the nature of this relationship can vary by level of development ( ''low evidence'' , ''medium agreement'' ) ( [[#Knight--2017|Knight et al. 2017]] ; [[#Chen--2020|Chen et al. 2020]] ; [[#Hailemariam--2020|Hailemariam et al. 2020]] ; [[#Huang--2020|Huang and Duan 2020]] ; [[#Liobikienė--2020|Liobikienė and Rimkuvienė 2020]] ; [[#Rojas-Vallejos--2020|Rojas-Vallejos and Lastuka 2020]] ; [[#Uddin--2020|Uddin et al. 2020]] ). Differences in the energy and carbon intensities of consumption and the composition of consumption baskets across populations and nations matter for emissions. ( [[#Jorgenson--2016|Jorgenson et al. 2016]] ; [[#Grunewald--2017|Grunewald et al. 2017]] ). There is evidence to suggest that more equal societies place a higher value on environmental public goods ( [[#Baumgärtner--2017|Baumgärtner et al. 2017]] ; [[#Drupp--2018|Drupp et al. 2018]] ). Additional research shows that reducing top income inequality in OECD countries can reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental quality ( [[#Hailemariam--2020|Hailemariam et al. 2020]] ) and that the effect of wealth inequality, measured as the wealth share of the top decile, on per capita emissions in high-income countries, is positive ( [[#Knight--2017|Knight et al. 2017]] ). Evidence from 40 sub-Saharan African countries suggests that a rise in income inequality contributed to increasing CO 2 emissions between 2010 and 2016, controlling for other drivers such as economic growth, population size, and inflation ( [[#Baloch--2020|Baloch et al. 2020]] ).

The key development objective of eradicating extreme poverty ( [[#Chakravarty--2013|Chakravarty and Tavoni 2013]] ; [[#Hubacek--2017a|Hubacek et al. 2017a]] ; [[#Malerba--2020|Malerba 2020]] ) and providing universal access to modern energy services ( [[#Pachauri--2013|Pachauri et al. 2013]] , 2018; [[#Pachauri--2014|Pachauri 2014]] ; [[#Singh--2017|Singh et al. 2017]] ) only marginally affects GHG emissions ( ''medium evidence'' , ''high agreement'' ). Shifts from biomass to more efficient energy sources and collective provisioning systems for safe water, health, and education are associated with reduced energy demand ( [[#Baltruszewicz--2021|Baltruszewicz et al. 2021]] ). Efforts to alleviate multi-dimensional poverty by providing minimum decent living standards universally, however, may require more energy and resources. Recent estimates of the additional energy needed are still within bounds of projections of energy demand under climate stabilisation scenarios ( [[#Hubacek--2017a|Hubacek et al. 2017a]] , 2017b; [[#Rao--2019|Rao et al. 2019]] ; [[#Pascale--2020|Pascale et al. 2020]] ; [[#Kikstra--2021|Kikstra et al. 2021]] ). Bottom-up estimates suggest that achieving decent living standards requires 13–40 GJ per capita annually, much less than the current world average energy consumption of 80 GJ per capita in 2020 ( [[#Millward-Hopkins--2020|Millward-Hopkins et al. 2020]] ) ( ''medium evidence'' , ''high agreement'' ). Aggregate top-down estimates suggest that achieving a high Human Development Index (HDI) score above 0.8 requires energy consumption between 30–100 GJ per capita yr –1 ( [[#Lamb--2015|Lamb and Rao 2015]] ). There is some evidence, however, of a decoupling between energy consumption and HDI over time ( [[#Akizu-Gardoki--2018|Akizu-Gardoki et al. 2018]] ). The emissions consequences of poverty alleviation and decent living also depend on whether improvements in well-being occur via energy- and carbon-intensive industrialisation or low-carbon development ( [[#Semieniuk--2020|Semieniuk and Yakovenko 2020]] ; [[#Fu--2021|Fu et al. 2021]] ; [[#Huang--2021|Huang and Tian 2021]] ).

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