Building on structuralist perspectives of the world economy, a small but growing group of researchers have forged a new literature on `ecologically unequal exchange' and documented that energy and materials disproportionately flow from the Global South to the Global North. These findings have begun to influence efforts to negotiate a `post-Kyoto' global climate regime. Since the extraction of resources and energy is one of the most damaging stages of the chain of commodity production, a logical next step is the mounting cry from developing countries that they are owed an `ecological debt' by the North. The G-77 and China have seized on these ideas and a movement for `climate justice' is now gaining strength in and exerting influence in international negotiations, including the UNFCCC meetings in Delhi, Bali, and Poznań. This article reviews the history of these related three ideas and examines their potential to reshape the discussion of `burden sharing' in the post-Kyoto world where development is constrained by climate change.
Acción Ecológica (2003) `Que es la Deuda Ecológica?' Web document, available online at: [http://www.accionecologica.org], accessed 14 July 2003.
2.
Acharya, A. (2004) `How Norm Spreads: Whose Ideas Matter? Norm Localization and Institutional Change in Asian Regionalism', International Organization58: 239-78.
3.
Adriaanse, A., Bringezu, S., Hamond, A., Moriguchi, Y., Rodenburg, E., Rogich, D., et al. (1997) Resource Flows: The Material Base of Industrial Economies. Washington, DC: World Resource Institute.
4.
Andersson, J.O. and Lindroth, M. (2001) `Ecologically Unsustainable Trade', Ecological Economics37: 13-122.
5.
Arden-Clarke, C. (1992) `South-North Terms of Trade: Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development', International Environmental Affairs4 (2): 122-39.
6.
Arrighi, G., Silver, B.J. and Brewer, B.D. (1999) `Industrial Convergence, Globalization, and the Persistence of the North-South Divide'. Reprinted in J.T. Roberts and A. Hite (2007) The Globalization and Development Reader . Oxford: Blackwell.
7.
Baer, P., Athanasiou, T., Kartha, S. and Kemp-Benedict, E. (2008) The Greenhouse Development Rights Framework: The Right to Development in a Climate Constrained World, rev. 2nd edn. Berlin: Heinrich Böll Foundation, Christian Aid, EcoEquity and the Stockholm Environment Institute.
8.
Bermann, C. (1999) Perspectivas Norte-Sul de Sustentabilidade: Uma redistribuição global do espaço ambiental / Política energética e emissões de CO2 no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: FASE.
9.
Bhagwati, J. (2004) In Defense of Globalization. New York: Oxford University Press.
10.
Biermann, F. (1999) `Justice in the Greenhouse: Perspectives from International Law', in F. Toth (ed.) Fair Weather? Equity Concerns in Climate Change, pp. 160-72. London : Earthscan.
11.
Blanchard, O., Criqui, P., Kitous, A. and Viguier, L. (2003) `Combining Efficiency with Equity: A Pragmatic Approach', in I. Kaul, P. Conceicao, K. Le Goulven and R.U. Mendoza (eds) Providing Global Public Goods: Managing Globalization, pp. 280- 303. New York, Oxford University Press
12.
Braudel, F. (1981) The Structures of Everyday Life. Vol. 1 of Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century. New York: Harper & Row.
13.
Bringezu, S. and Schütz, H. (2001a) `Material Use Indicators for the European Union, 1980-1997. Economy-wide Material Flow Accounts and Balances and Derived Indicators of Resource Use', EUROSTAT Working Paper. No. 2/2001/B/2. Wuppertal Institute, Wuppertal.
14.
Brown, G. (2005) Keynote address at the G-8 Energy and Environment Ministerial Roundtable, London, 16 March.
15.
Bruno, K., Karliner, J. and Brotsky, C. (1999) Greenhouse Gangsters vs. Climate Justice. San Francisco, CA: Transnational Resource & Action Center, available online at: [http://s3.amazonaws.com/corpwatch.org/downloads/greenhousegangsters.pdf ].
16.
Bunker, S. (1985) Underdeveloping the Amazon: Extraction, Unequal Exchange and the Failure of the Modern State. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
17.
Cabeza-Gutés, M. and Martinez-Alier, J. (2001) `L'échange écologiquement inégal', in M. Damian and J.C. Graz (eds) Commerce international et développement soutenable. Paris: Economica.
18.
Callaghy, T.M., Kassimir, R. and Latham, R. (2001) Intervention and Transnationalism in Africa: Global-Local Networks of Power. New York: Cambridge University Press.
19.
Choucri N. (ed.) (1993) Global Accord: Environmental Challenges and International Responses. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
20.
Claussen, E. and McNeilly, L. (1998) Equity and Global Climate Change: The Complex Elements of Fairness. Arlington, VA: Pew Center on Climate Change.
21.
Cole, J.C. and Roberts, J.T. (n.d.) `Social Development Aspects of Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism Projects: A Review of Six Hydroelectricity Projects in Brazil and Peru', unpublished manuscript.
22.
Damian, M. and Graz, J.C. (eds) (2001) Commerce international et développement soutenable. Paris: Economica.
23.
Economic Times (2008) `China Tells Developed World to Go on Climate Change "Diet"', 12 March, available online at: [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Cetera/World_should_go_on_climate_change_diet/articleshow/2857210].
24.
Eilperin, J. (2008) `Developing Nations Plan Emission Cuts; Shift Seen as Crucial to New Climate Pact', Washington Post, 12 December, p. A10.
25.
Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change (2008)
26.
Finnemore, M. and Sikkink, K. (1998) `International Norm Dynamics and Political Change' , International Organization52: 887-918.
27.
Fischer-Kowalski, M. and Amman, C. (2001) `Beyond IPAT and Kuznets Curves: Globalization as a Vital Factor in Analyzing the Environmental Impact of Socio-Economic Metabolism', Population and Environment23(1): 7-47.
28.
Fischer-Kowalski, M. and Haberl, H. (2007) Sociological Transitions and Global Change: Trajectories of Social Metabolism and Land Use. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
29.
Frank, A.G. (1969) Latin America: Underdevelopment or Revolution. New York: Monthly Review Press.
30.
Friends of the Earth UK (2002) `Delhi Climate Talks Update', press release, 31 October, available online at: [http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/20021031152914.html].
31.
Giljum, S. (2003) `Biophysical Dimensions of North-South Trade: Material Flows and Land Use', PhD thesis, University of Vienna.
32.
Giljum, S. (2004) `Trade, Material Flows and Economic Development in the South: The Example of Chile', Journal of Industrial Ecology8(1-2): 241-61.
33.
Giljum, S. and Eisenmenger, N. (2004) `North-South Trade and the Distribution of Environmental Goods and Burdens. A Biophysical Perspective', Journal of Environment and Development13(1): 73-100.
34.
Giljum, S. and Hubacek, K. (2001) `International Trade, Material Flows and Land Use: Developing a Physical Trade Balance for the European Union', Interim Report, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
35.
Groenenberg, H., Phylipsen, D. and Blok, K. (2001) `Differentiating Commitments World Wide: Global Differentiation of GHG Emissions Reductions Based on the Triptych Approach: A Preliminary Assessment', Energy Policy29: 1007-30.
36.
Gupta, S. and Bhandari, P. (1999) `An Effective Allocation Criterion for CO2 Emissions' , Energy Policy27: 727-36.
37.
Heil, M.T. and Selden, T.M. (2001) `International Trade Intensity and Carbon Emissions: A Cross-country Econometric Analysis', Journal of Environment and Development10: 35-49.
38.
Hornborg, A. (1998a) `Towards an Ecological Theory of Unequal Exchange: Articulating World System Theory and Ecological Economics', Ecological Economics25: 127-36.
39.
Hornborg, A. (1998b) `Ecosystems and World Systems: Accumulation as an Ecological Process', Journal of World-Systems Research4: 169-77.
40.
Hornborg, A. (2001) The Power of the Machine: Global Inequalities of Economy, Technology, and Environment. Walnut Creek, CA : Alta Mira Press.
41.
Hultman, N.E., Boyd, E., Roberts, J.T., Cole, J., Corbera, E., Ebeling, J., Brown, K. and Liverman, D.M.(2009) `How Can the Clean Development Mechanism Better Contribute to Sustainable Development?', Ambio38(2): 120-2.
42.
Inglehart, R. (1990) Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
43.
Jaura, R. (2008) `Climate Change: Poznan Produces a "Vision Gap"' , IPS News, 13 December, available online at: [http://ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=45103].
44.
Jorgenson, A.K. (2003) `Consumption and Environmental Degradation: A Cross-National Analysis of the Ecological Footprint', Social Problems50: 374-94.
45.
Jorgenson, A.K. (2006) `Unequal Ecological Exchange and Environmental Degradation: A Theoretical Proposition and Cross-National Study of Deforestation, 1990-2000', Rural Sociology71: 685-712.
46.
Jorgenson, A.K. (2009) `The Sociology of Unequal Exchange in Ecological Context: A Panel Study of Lower-Income Countries, 1975-2000', Sociological Forum24(1): 22-46.
47.
Jorgenson, A.K. and Rice, J. (2006) `Uneven Ecological Exchange and Consumption-Based Environmental Impacts: A Cross-National Investigation', in A. Hornborg, J. McNeill and J. Martinez-Alier (eds) Rethinking Environmental History: World-System History and Global Environmental Change, pp. 239-58. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
48.
Kay, C. (1998) `Relevance of Structuralist and Dependency Theories in the Neoliberal Period: A Latin American Perspective', Working Paper Series No. 281, Institute of Social Sciences, The Hague.
49.
Keck, M. and Sikkink, K. (1998) Activists Beyond Borders. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
50.
Khastagir, N. (2002) `The Human Face of Climate Change: Thousands Gather in India to demand Climate Justice', CorporateWatch website , 4 November, available online at: [http://www.corpwatch.org/campaigns/PCD.jsp?articleid=4728 ].
51.
Leiva, F.I. (2008) Latin American Neostructuralism: The Contradictions of Post-Neoliberal Development. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
52.
Machado, G., Schaeffer, R. and Worrell, E. (2001) `Energy and Carbon Embodied in the International Trade of Brazil: An Input-output Approach', Ecological Economics39(3): 409-24.
53.
Martinez-Alier, J. (2003) The Environmentalism of the Poor: A Study of Ecological Conflicts and Valuation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
54.
Mol, A.P.J. (1995) The Refinement of Production: Ecological Modernization Theory and the Chemical Industry. Utrecht: International Books.
55.
Mol, A.P.J. and Spaargaren, G. (2002) `Ecological Modernization and the Environmental State', in A.P.J. Mol and F.H. Buttel (eds) The Environmental State under Pressure, pp. 33-53. Oxford: Elsevier Science.
56.
Müller, B. (1999) Justice in Global Warming Negotiations: How to Obtain a Procedurally Fair Compromise. Oxford: Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
57.
Muradian, R. and Martinez-Alier, J. (2001a) `Trade and the Environment: From a ``Southern'' Perspective', Ecological Economics36: 281-97.
58.
Muradian, R. and Martinez-Alier, J. (2001b) `South-North Materials Flow: History and Environmental Repercussions', Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research14(2): 171-87.
59.
Muradian, R. and O'Connor, M. (2001) `Inter-country Environmental Load Displacement and Adjusted National Sustainability Indicators: Concepts and their Policy Applications', International Journal of Sustainable Development4(3): 321-47.
60.
Muradian, R., O'Connor, M. and Martinez-Alier, J. (2002) `Embodied Pollution in Trade: Estimating the ``Environmental Load Displacement'' of Industrialized Countries', Ecological Economics41: 51-67.
61.
Okereke, C. (2008) `Equity Norms in Global Environmental Governance' , Global Environmental Politics8(3): 25-50.
62.
Ott, H. (2003) `Warnings Signs from Delhi: Troubled Waters Ahead for Global Climate Policy', in Yearbook of International Environmental Law, Vol. 13. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
63.
Ott, H., Sterk, W. and Watanabe, R. (2008) `The Bali Roadmap: New Horizons for Global Climate Policy', Climate Policy8: 91-5.
64.
Ott, H., Winkler, H., Brouns, B., Kartha, S., Mace, M.J., Huq, S., Kameyama, Y., Sari, A., Pan, J., Sokona, Y., Bhandari, P.M., Kassenberg, A., Lebre L.a Rovere, E. and Rahman, A.A. (2004) `South-North Dialogue on Equity in the Greenhouse: A Proposal for an Adequate and Equitable Global Climate Agreement', available online at: [http://www.wupperinst.org/uploads/tx_wiprojekt/1085_proposal.pdf ].
65.
Oxfam International (2008) `Climate, Poverty, and Justice: What the Poznań UN Climate Conference Needs to Deliver for a Fair and Effective Global Climate Regime', Oxfam Briefing Paper, December.
66.
Parks, B.C. and Roberts, J.T. (2005) `Environmental and Ecological Justice', in Palgrave Advances in International Environmental Politics, pp. 329-60. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
67.
Paterson, M. (1996) Global Warming and Global Politics. London: Routledge.
68.
Princen, T., Maniates, M. and Conca, K. (eds) ( 2002) Confronting Consumption. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
69.
Rice, J. (2007a) `Ecological Unequal Exchange: International Trade and Uneven Utilization of Environmental Space in the World System', Social Forces85(3): 1369-92.
70.
Rice, J. (2007b) `Ecological Unequal Exchange: Consumption, Equity and Unsustainable Structural Relationships within the Global Economy', International Journal of Comparative Sociology48(1): 43-72.
71.
Roberts, J.T. and Grimes, P.E. (2002) `World-System Theory and the Environment: Toward a New Synthesis', in R.E. Dunlap, F.H. Buttel, P. Dickens and A. Gijswijt (eds) Sociological Theory and the Environment: Classical Foundations, Contemporary Insights, pp. 167-94. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
72.
Roberts, J.T. and Parks, B.C. (2007) A Climate of Injustice: Global Inequality, North-South Politics, and Climate Change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
73.
Roberts, J.T., Grimes, P.E. and Manale, J. (2003) `Social Roots of Global Environmental Change: A World Systems Analysis of Carbon Dioxide Emissions', Journal of World-System ResearchIX(2): 277-315.
74.
Røpke, I. (1999) `Prices are not Worth that Much', Ecological Economics29: 45-6.
75.
Rosales, O. (1988) `An Assessment of the Structuralist Paradigm for Latin American Development and the Prospects for its Renovation', CEPAL Review34: 19-36.
76.
Russi, D. and Muradian, R. (2003) `Gobernanza global y responsabilidad ambiental' , Ecologia Política24: 95-105.
77.
Ruth, M. (1998) `Dematerialization in Five US Metals Sectors: Implications for Energy Use and CO2 Emissions', Resources Policy24(1): 1-18.
78.
Shah, A. (2002) `COP8-Delhi Conference', Climate Change and Global Warming Website, 2 November, available online at: [www.globalissues.org/article/382/cop8-delhi-climate-conference ].
79.
Shue, H. (1992) `The Unavoidability of Justice', in A. Hurrel and B. Kingsbury (eds) The International Politics of the Environment: Actors, Interests and Institutions, pp. 373-97. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
80.
Simms, A., McGrath, J. and Reid, H. (2004) Up in Smoke? Threats from, and Response to, the Impact of Global Warming on Human Development. London: NEF.
81.
Srinivasan, T., Carey, S., Hallstein, E., Higgins, P., Kerr, A., Koteen, L., Smith, A., Watson, R., Harte, J. and Norgaard, R. (2009) `The Debt of Nations and the Distribution of Ecological Impacts from Human Activities', Proceedings of the National Academy of Science105(5): 1768-73.
82.
Torvanger, A. and Godal, O. (2004) `An Evaluation of Pre-Kyoto Differentiation Proposals for National Greenhouse Gas Abatement Targets', International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics4: 65-91.
83.
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) ( 2007) Human Development Report 2007/2008. New York: United Nations.
84.
Wallerstein, I. (1972) `Three Paths to National Development in 16th Century Europe', Studies in Comparative International Development8: 95-101.
85.
Weiss, E.B. (1989) In Fairness to Future Generations: International Law, Common Patrimony, and Intergenerational Equity. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Transnational.
86.
Wolfensohn, J. (2004) `The World Bank Challenge: Tackle Poverty and Protect the Environment', Annual Greenpeace Business Lecture, Royal Society of Arts, London, 13 May.
87.
World Bank (1992) World Development Report 1992: Development and the Environment. Washington, DC: World Bank.
88.
Ybema, J.R., Battjes, J.J., Jansen, J.C. and Ormel, F. (2000) Burden Differentiation: GHG Emissions, Undercurrents and Mitigation Costs. Oslo, Norway: CICERO.
