CLIMATE IMPACT EQUITY LENS (CIEL) – CLIMATE CHANGE GETS PERSONAL
Spanish Version

The Climate Impact Equity Lens (CIEL) is a new tool for comparing the net climate impacts felt by diverse individuals around the world, and for tracking individual impacts over time. CIEL demonstrates that climate change will affect each person differently.

At present, very little is being done to prevent dangerous climate change. Some people are already experiencing damages from changing temperatures and weather patterns, and from sea-level rise – but everyone is enjoying the “benefit” of not paying for more ambitious emission reductions. Looking only at today’s impacts, most – but not all – of us are net winners (saving more from inaction than we lose from climate damages). Over the course of this century, net losers will become more common; in the next century, it will be hard to find people who still benefit from inaction.

CIEL provides a graphic display of changes over time in each individual’s net economic impact from climate change. You can download several CIEL publications and a tool that allows you to input individual characteristics to estimate the personal impact of climate change.

The Climate Impact Equity Lens (CIEL) is a new tool for comparing the net climate impacts felt by diverse individuals around the world, and for tracking individual impacts over time. CIEL demonstrates that climate change will affect each person differently.

(Excerpted from CIEL website, 2011, Stockholm Environment Institute, 11 Curtis Avenue, Somerville, MA 02145, USA. Phone: 1(617) 627-3786. Email: CIEL@sei-us.org)