Published in the newstatesman.com today, this cover story from Mark Lynas promotes rationing per capita as an adequate answer to the hard facts we are facing.

You can’t bargain with the planet because it doesn’t care whether or not targets are ‘politically acceptable’. So unless we secure a deal determining how much carbon each nation and each person can emit, we simply will not survive. …

… If climate change is to be solved, global emissions will have to contract (to sustainable levels) and converge (towards zero). There is no other way to join the dots on the graph. The question is whether world leaders will face the inevitable before it is too late.

If we are to hit the 400ppm target, scarcely a decade remains before we must begin cutting emissions across the whole global economy. And after that particular climatic window closes, global warming may spiral quickly out of control. …

Sam Alexandroni proposes in same story an equal carbon allowance for each adult and tradable energy quotas. Some numbers:

  • 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted per person in the UK each year.

  • 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted per person in the US each year.

  • 3 tonnes the target for maximum annual carbon-dioxide emissions for each person by 2020
  • 2.4 tonnes annual cost in carbon dioxide of powering the average British home.

  • 5.5 tonnes carbon-dioxide cost of a return flight from London to Sydney.

  • 25 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted globally each year.

Full story: newstatesman.com - Why we must ration the future
Info: wikipedia.org - List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita