Publication

This paper examines the link between the goals of attempting to achieve the eradication of extreme poverty and efforts to curb climate change by ensuring that that the global economy produces zero net emissions by the end of the 21st century. The authors contend that while the eradication of extreme poverty is not necessarily related to the achievement of zero net emissions, there are plausible scenarios in which climate change will create persistent and irremediable poverty, with the potential to keep hundreds of millions of people in poverty beyond 2030. They also argue that international and national efforts to tackle extreme poverty and climate change would be far more effective if they were combined rather than treated separately.