The main contribution to the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere was made by the developed countries, who exchanged damage to the environment for their rapid industrial development. Now rich countries are concerned about the problem of climate change and want to impose environmental issues on countries that are just entering the trajectory of long-term economic growth. The climate justice lies with the fact that rich countries must share their wealth and not force developing countries to sacrifice the pace of their economic growth for the sake of climate goals.
To address the issues of emissions several initiatives have been launched, including shift to green energy, supply chain procurement, and key infrastructure improvements. The accounting system of development within environmental justice concept must include, first of all, environmental impact assessment, urban development concepts (parts of cities), landscape and noise protection planning. There should be a balance between production and demand, which could be achieved by consumption-oriented policy (Grubb et al., 2020). Moreover, there should be a differentiated and coordinated system of formal and informal planning tools, where businesses and policy makers act together to reduce harmful emissions (Grubb et al., 2020). Only them it would be possible to speak about the implementation of environmental justice principles in practice.
The drawbacks of the proposed plan of action are numerous and not easily resolved. First of all, policy-makers and businesses have different perception of greenhouse gases emission cuts and may not reach any meaningful agreement on the problem. Secondly, a balance between potential costs and possible advantages may shift in turn of reducing costs, thus obliterating any possible environmental agenda. Thirdly, environmental impact assessment may be conducted differently by governmental and non-governmental bodies resulting in the paralysis of effective measures to control harmful emissions around the world.
Reference
Grubb M., Crawford-Brown D., Neuhoff K., Schanes K., Hawkins S. & Poncia A. (2020) Consumption-oriented policy instruments for fostering greenhouse gas mitigation, Climate Policy, 20 (1), 58-73.