Researchers at the University of Leeds suggest that we could reduce our carbon emissions by bringing back rationing, like how we did during World War II.
The academics also explain that this system can help us quickly and fairly reduce greenhouse gases, according to a paper released in the journal “Ethics, Policy and Environment”.
Researchers have noticed that ways like carbon taxes and personal carbon trading, which governments may use to reduce pollution, generally benefit rich people since they have the money needed to purchase permission to pollute if trading was allowed.
The authors suggest that an alternative way could be carbon rationing, which gets a fair amount of resources for each person according to their needs and helps people work together to look after our planet.
When doing their research, the authors were from three different places: University of Leeds’ Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, Sustainability Research Institute and School of History.
Dr. Nathan Wood, who works at Utrecht University’s “Fair Energy” Consortium said: “Rationing could help us not only in the fight against climate change but also when it comes to other issues like the energy crisis we are facing today”.
Rationing During WWII
During World War II, the British people accepted food rationing (when everyone had to get a certain amount of food) better than if people had just tried to cut down on their eating. The idea of this policy was that everybody – regardless of how much money they had – could access the same things and it was why it worked so well.
During World War II, governments implemented a plan to ensure people had access to affordable resources. This plan included controlling prices on essential goods and as a result, more people were not malnourished even in the midst of shortages.
A big difference between World War II rationing and the climate crisis today is people’s perception. It looks like there is lots of stuff to buy, but in reality it isn’t true and resources are still limited.
Dr. Rob Lawlor, an expert from Leeds’ Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, explained: “We are only able to put out a certain amount of emissions if we want to prevent the extremely negative effects of climate change — there’s simply not enough resources available.”
Dr. Wood said: “People have been suffering because of the rising cost of living and energy bills, particularly those in vulnerable groups. They don’t have enough money to pay all their bills, but meanwhile rich people can use as much energy as they want.”
Dr. Lawlor said that it’s probably possible to lower the amount of pollution being released into the air even if people with the smallest emissions, who are usually already having a tough time, get to put out more dirt and dust into the environment. This could happen because of rules controlling how much people are allowed to use and regulations on prices.
Exploring Rationing Systems as a Solution to Climate Change
Scientists think that instead of right away setting up a rationing system, it would be better to start with stricter laws and then spread the word about why rationing is helpful.
Governments can control certain activities that cause a lot of pollution, like oil, gas and petrol production, distant airplane trips, as well as factories that produce lots of food. This will make these products become scarce. To manage the lack of these items, rationing could be put into action so everyone can get a fair share regardless of how much they need.
Experts came up with two ideas for managing the use of resources. The first plan was to give everyone a special “carbon card” like a bank card that could monitor and limit everything people buy. The second idea was to only control some things – like flights, gasoline, energy used in homes, or even certain kinds of food and clothes.
Dr Lawlor said that people had suggested using carbon allowances and cards before, but what made this idea different was that the allowances weren’t able to be traded. He also mentioned they took their inspiration from World War II, where prices of rationed goods were kept low—which helped those with less money.
Scientists believe that if you limit the amount of fuel someone can use, it could help our transition to cleaner energy and more sustainable habits. Dr. Wood said they could do things like give less petrol so people would have to use public transport like trains and trams more, which emit smaller amounts of carbon.
The researchers want government officers to think seriously about using this method (rationing) to fight climate change.
“A study called “Rationing and Climate Change Mitigation” by Nathan Wood, Rob Lawlor and Josie Freear was published on the 19th of February 2023.
Reference: “Rationing and Climate Change Mitigation” by Nathan Wood, Rob Lawlor and Josie Freear, 19 February 2023, Ethics Policy & Environment.
DOI: 10.1080/21550085.2023.2166342
