Trust for Sustainable Living (TSL) 2022 Schools Essay Competition

We are in the midst of a global climate crisis. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 6th report, released in August 2021, states that “climate change is already affecting every inhabited region across the globe, with human influence contributing to many observed changes in weather and climate extremes.” As world leaders prepare to meet in November 2021 at the COP 26 Climate Summit to set out targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cap global temperature rise to 1.5oC, we are inviting students worldwide to consider how addressing inequality might play a role in combatting the climate crisis. Inequality comes in many forms… Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face the brunt of climate change impacts, though more developed countries produce most of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions Only 53% of the world’s children complete secondary education Over 9% of the global population currently live in extreme poverty Women have only 23.7% representation in national parliaments The proportion of global refugees has more than doubled since 2010 Indigenous peoples around the world continue to face overwhelming marginalization, discrimination and exclusion The list goes on… How might tackling inequality help to resolve the climate crisis?