What do we owe the earth, and those who come after us?
Energy lets people eat, keep warm and work, and how much each person uses differs enormously between places. What does the use of the earth ask of us, and of the generations to follow?
The picture
What the numbers show, read from the Data library each time the page opens.
How to read the chart above, and the words it uses (for emissions per person).
How to read the data
The figure is each person’s average share of the carbon dioxide released in the place. An average hides wide differences between households and firms, and it leaves out goods made elsewhere.
Key terms
Carbon dioxide
The main gas released by burning coal, oil and gas, and by making cement.
Per person
The place’s total divided by its population.
Territorial emissions
Emissions released inside a place’s borders, whoever buys the goods.
Who has a stake
Each interest, then readings from the Catholic library and the Classics library that bear on it, oldest first. Choose a group to read.
Warmth, light, cooking, transport and work, and what they cost; for some it is still scarce, for others the question is how much is enough.
Jobs, investment, reliable supply, and a fair time to adjust when the way energy is made changes.
Farmers, fishers, and coastal and forest communities whose living and homes depend on soil, water and weather, and who often have the least say in how energy is used.
An earth that can still feed and shelter them, and a fair inheritance of both its goods and its debts.
For discussion
How should the need of households for energy now be weighed against the claim of generations to come?
Who should bear the cost of changing how energy is made: those who supply it, those who use it, or both?
What is owed to communities on the land who feel the effects of energy use but have little say in it?
