Climate Justice

Cap and share
for climate justice without borders

Our atmosphere is global. CO2 pollution, most of which takes place in the Global North, has severe impacts in the Global South. Climate justice, a concept developed within Black and Indigenous climate movements, demands action that acknowledges this imbalance and provides redress to the Most Affected People and Areas (MAPA). Crucially, this redress must be paid for - where could the money come from?

Equal Right is working with partners around the world to co-create a potential solution - Cap and Share - which would control fossil fuel extraction and return extracted wealth to communities all over the world. Cap and share is an international mitigation and climate finance system that could underpin wider climate justice initiatives and support a just and radical green transformation.

Several models for cap and share exist, all with slightly different emphasis and benefits. Our cap and share proposal, produced in partnership with Autonomy, is described and modelled in our discussion paper, 'Climate Justice Without Borders: Cap and share as a mitigation and climate finance solution'. To find out more, check out the summary below, read the media coverage here or click these buttons to read briefings in English, French or Spanish.

CLIMATE JUSTICE WITHOUT BORDERS

How Cap and Share can end fossil fuel extraction and raise trillions for climate finance.

Cap

  • A cap would be placed on the maximum amount of fossil fuel that can be extracted, lowered each year until it reaches zero.

  • This would be set by international agreement and informed by climate experts depending on the world’s remaining carbon budget.

  • It would be legally binding with penalties for companies or countries exceeding it.

  • Fossil fuel companies would apply for permits to extract fossil fuel within cap limits.

Charge

  • Fossil fuel companies would pay a charge for every tonne of CO2 equivalent they extract.

  • Our model features a cap at 2022 extraction rates and a charge of $135 per tonne, increasing every year by 16%.

  • This delivers just under $5 trillion in its first year of operation (see Figure 1 below).

Fund

  • A democratically-operated Global Commons Fund (GCF) would be established with money raised from the charge.

  • The GCF would invest in a green, just transition and build sustainable, intergenerational wealth.

  • At least $1 trillion would be allocated annually to climate grants for mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage for developing countries and MAPA1 communities.

Share

  • Dividends from the GCF are paid to all citizens of the world as a Universal Basic Income, with at least $30 a month possible in its first year alone, increasing to $50 by year 15

  • This could eliminate global poverty by 2050 and help people deal with the impact of any energy price increases.

Cap and Share makes it easier to end extraction, reduce emissions, end dependency on fossil fuels and keep us on a pathway to 1.5° with no offsets, credits, trading, geoengineering or other false solutions.

Cap and Share redistributes wealth to countries and people in the Global South.

The Global Commons Fund would build intergenerational wealth for all people of the world, tackling inequality, building resilience within vulnerable communities and protecting future generations from global crises.

The Universal Basic Income paid by the GCF is a vital component of a just transition, supporting costs associated with workers moving out of the fossil fuel industry, households installing renewables, and compensating for loss, damage and displacement.

Cap and Share is more powerful than Cap and Trade (and similar policies):

Cap and Share taxes all fossil fuel extraction, not just any amount over the ‘cap’

The cap in Cap and Share is legally binding, rather than just a charge when companies go over it

In Cap and Share, no offsets, trades or swaps of pollution or emissions credits are allowed, and the cap would progressively decline until no new fossil fuel is extracted

Cap and Share involves direct distribution of the carbon charge proceeds to citizens (there is no inherently distributive element to Cap and Trade)

Cap and Share can be integral to achieving the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement and supporting the framework for the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).

It moves the conversation on climate finance beyond countries’ contributions, extends the burden of cost to polluters, directs trillions to the Global South, and ensures all countries benefit from cash payments and investments in the Green Economy.

How Cap and Share could be introduced.

This is a global vision, but a union of two or more countries, which agree to levy a charge on fossil fuel extraction or imports and share the proceeds in a bilateral fund, could also work. This would be best implemented between Global North and Global South countries to address climate debt and provide climate finance. This would be an important step towards a full Cap and Share.

Cap and Share is a bold and ambitious proposal, but no less than what we need to achieve climate justice. View our full policy document here.

'How to fund climate justice' paper and ‘Cap and Share Climate Alliance’ launch

Launch of the new Cap and Share Climate Alliance, followed by a presentation and discussion on Equal Right’s paper "Climate Justice Without Borders".

Our work on cap and share is carried out alongside partners via the Cap and Share Climate Alliance. To find out more or work with us please email us at info@capandsharealliance.org