Carbon Budget for Basic Needs： Implications of International Equity and Sustainability

The fundamental way of satisfying the basic needs of human development is to secure the basic needs, limit luxurious and wasteful emissions, and ensure the fulfillment of climate targets, so as to achieve intra- and intergenerational equity. In this paper, the author discusses and analyzes a series of challenges that the development has to face, such as poverty elimination, urbanization, and industrialization, and the problems of increased consumption that is brought about by the improvement of living standards; the author distinguishes the stock emission, which does not need annual updating, and the flow emission of regular consumption; the author also defines the standards of energy consumption and carbon emissions that can meet the basic needs. On this basis, the author proposes the concept and method of carbon budget, compares this method with other means, and in particular, studies and analyzes the implications of international equity and sustainability of carbon budget as part of the international climate regime design.