Not Cool Ep 18: Glen Peters on the carbon budget and global carbon emissions

In many ways, the global carbon budget is like any other budget. There’s a maximum amount we can spend, and it must be allocated to various countries and various needs. But how do we determine how much carbon each country can emit? Can developing countries grow their economies without increasing their emissions? And if a large portion of China’s emissions come from products  made for American and European consumption, who’s to blame for those emissions? On episode 18 of Not Cool, Ariel is joined by Glen Peters, Research Director at the Center for International Climate Research (CICERO) in Oslo. Glen explains the components that make up the carbon budget, the complexities of its calculation, and its implications for climate policy and mitigation efforts. He also discusses how emissions are allocated to different countries, how emissions are related to economic growth, what role China plays in all of this, and more.

Topics discussed include:

-Global carbon budget

-Carbon cycle

-Mitigation

-Calculating carbon footprints

-Allocating emissions

-Equity issues in allocation and climate policy

-U.S.-China trade war

-Emissions from fossil fuels

-Land use change

-Uncertainties in estimates

-Greenhouse gas inventories

-Reporting requirements for developed vs. developing nations

-Emissions trends

-Negative emissions

-Policies and individual actions