Academics have published a proposal that would have every adult human being on Earth carry a “Personal Carbon Allowance” device in order to track an individual’s carbon consumption. The idea was published in the climate=alarmist journal Nature Sustainability.
The proposal was written by Francesco Fuso Nerini, Tina Fawcett, Yael Parag & Paul Ekins — all climate-change alarmists. The idea is so peppered with United Nations buzzwords that it may as well have been written by the UN IPCC itself.
Under such a system, each adult would receive an equal and tradable carbon allowance that would reduce over time in line with a nation’s national targets on cutting emissions. People who find themselves short on credits could then purchase more from those who have extra.
“Climate change could undermine the achievement of at least 72 Targets across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The development of a just and equitable transition to a net-zero society is vital to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change,” the report states.
It’s an old idea the researchers admit. It’s nothing less than the old “cap and trade” system writ large, with the advantage of new technologies — some of them developed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In many countries, mobile apps designed for COVID-19 infection tracking and tracing played an important part in limiting the spread of the pandemic,” the researchers point out. “The deployment and testing of such apps provide technology advances and insights for the design of future apps for tracking personal emissions.”
Individuals would start with a carbon allowance and be given a card (or a device like an app) that tracks every purchase they make. Purchasing fossil fuels or red meat or anything else that the climatistas don’t like would be added up with each purchase. Anyone going over their allowance would then be forced to purchase more carbon credits on a personal carbon market from those with credits to spare.
So, the proposed system is essentially a form of wealth redistribution with so-called climate change as the catalyst.
The researchers believe such a system would redirect economic behaviors by increasing “costs for carbon-intensive activities and goods” and create “economic incentives to reduce demand and improve efficiency.”
The proposal also suggests that cognitive awareness regarding climate change will be raised as people see their personal carbon footprints and by seeing how much (or how little) carbon that they should be personally responsible for.
The researchers also believe that social norms would be changed by creating a “new definition of a fair share of personal emissions” and a government-imposed “setting of acceptable levels of personal emissions.”
“Showing consumers the link between their everyday activity and carbon increases cognitive awareness and the shared goal of emission reduction, and the equal-per-capita allocation of PCAs is envisaged to create a social norm of low-carbon behaviour,” said co-author Paul Ekins.
It’s largely a behavior modification experiment on a global level imposed by government fiat. “Research indicates that behavioural change could be engendered by creating a direct and visible incentive to reduce carbon emissions. Studies show that people tend to adhere to the prevailing norm and that descriptive social norms and comparison with others influence decisions about electricity use and mode of transport.”
Lead author Professor Francesco Fuso Nerini attempted to sell the scheme as personal empowerment for those concerned about climate change.
“People are watching helplessly while wildfires, floods and the pandemic wreak havoc on society, yet they are not empowered to shift the course of events. Personal climate allowances would apply a market-based approach, providing personal incentives and options that link their actions with global carbon reduction goals,” Nerini explained.
The researchers see the system beginning in smaller “climate conscious” countries to prove the system’s worth. Then the proposal’s authors believe that “those ´first movers´ may experience benefits that go well-beyond reducing emissions and achieving net-zero targets.”
To say that this proposal is anti-freedom or anti-American doesn’t do its evil justice. This is true “mark of the beast”-type stuff with the all-seeing eye of Big Brother literally watching everything you purchase, everywhere you go, everyone you interact with. After all, with today’s technology, instead of carrying a “carbon allowance card” couldn’t they simply implant the thing on your forehead or your right hand?
And it’s all based on the utter lie of a “climate emergency” that doesn’t actually exist.
