"The richest countries represent only 16% of the world population but have contributed to about 40% of the world's CO2 emissions." This fact connects to which of the following reasons for why climate change is a justice issue.

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The prompt presents a statement about wealthier countries contributing a disproportionately large share of CO2 emissions and asks which of the listed options best explains why climate change is a justice issue. 
Option 1: 'Policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change have unequal impacts' This statement highlights a real justice concern: even if everyone is affected, some groups or countries bear heavier burdens from policies (e.g., higher costs or limited access to adaptation resources). However, the fact given focuses on the distribution of emissions, not on policy effects, so this option explains a different facet of justice (policy impact) rather than the root reason implied by the specific distributional fact. 
Option 2: 'Causes of climate change are driven by social inequities' This aligns with the idea that historical and current social and economic inequalities shape who emits more (industrial activity, energy use, development paths) and why emissions are concentrated in a subset of the world. The statement about richest countries emitting more supports the claim that unequal social structures underlie the drivers of climate change, making this option a strong fit for the cause-based justice argument. 
Option 3: 'Impact of climate change is felt unequally' This option describes unequal consequences across populations (e.g., who bears the brunt of climate impacts like extreme weather, sea‑level rise, and vulnerability). The given fact about emissions by wealthy populations points to responsibility rather than to distribution of impact, so while this is a valid justice concern, it answers a different aspect of justice (effects distribution) rather than the root cause implied by the statistic. 
In summary, while all three options touch on justice-related aspects of climate change, the specific connection to the distribution of emissions across populations is most directly explained by the notion that 'Causes of climate change are driven by social inequities,' since the unequal origins reflect underlying social and economic structures that assign higher emissions to certain groups. The other options describe related, but distinct, justice dimensions (policy impacts and unequal impacts of effects) rather than the primary causal link highlighted by the quoted fact.

ENVIR 100 (Sp25) Exam 3

"The richest countries represent only 16% of the world population but have contributed to about 40% of the world's CO2 emissions." This fact connects to which of the following reasons for why climate change is a justice issue.

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