Waste Management in a Changing Climate: Global Inequality and Local Climate Action

Golbal inequality and local climate action

Abstract

Is it possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through waste management? The world faces that challenge in unequal conditions. In recent years, waste management emissions in developed countries have been reportedly reduced, despite an almost two-fold increase in waste generation. In contrast, in the same period, waste management in developing countries has been aggravated by unsustainable practices, with a growing influence in the planet’s climate. How to solve this unacceptable inequality between the global north and the rest of the world? Since waste management is primarily a local responsibility, as first responders, local governments are essential to strive. Global inequality and local climate action are recent subjects in sociological waste management analysis and, for that reason, a general approach to the matter is proposed here.