The Mismatch between Anthropogenic CO 2 Emissions and Their Consequences for Human Zinc and Protein Sufficiency Highlights Important Environmental Justice Issues

Elizabeth R. H. Moore, Matthew R. Smith, Debbie Humphries, Robert Dubrow and Samuel S. Myers
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Elizabeth R. H. Moore: Social and Behavioral Sciences Department, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
Matthew R. Smith: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Debbie Humphries: Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
Robert Dubrow: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
Samuel S. Myers: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA

Challenges, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: The impacts of climate change are not equally distributed globally. We examined the global distribution of CO 2 emissions and the ensuing distribution of increases in the risk of zinc and protein deficiency resulting from elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. We estimated cumulative per capita (2011–2050) CO 2 emissions for 146 countries using existing measurement data and by apportioning regional emissions projections. We tested the relationship between cumulative per capita CO 2 emissions and the risk of additional zinc and protein deficiency at the population-level and country-level. At the population-level (i.e., population-weighted), we observed a significant inverse association between CO 2 emissions and the percentage of the population placed at additional risk of zinc ( p -value: <0.001) and protein ( p -value: <0.01) deficiencies. Country-level (i.e., unweighted) analyses produced significant but less strong associations. Populations with lower per capita CO 2 emissions between 2011 and 2050 will experience a disproportionately high nutritional burden, highlighting socioeconomic, geospatial, and intergenerational injustices.

Keywords: climate change; nutrition; environmental justice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A00 C00 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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