Video - Contraction and Convergence animation from "The Age of Stupid"

This animation from The Age of Stupid is a quick and concise explanation of the concept of Contraction and Convergence, a framework for the equitable powerdown from our disastrous oil dependence.



Here is the blurb from the Global Commons Institute website;
"Contraction and Convergence, C&C, is a scheme to provide a framework for a smooth transition to a low level of CO2 emissions from human activity. It can either follow or replace the Kyoto protocol. The first step in C&C, 'Contraction', is based on agreeing a safe target concentration level and the determination of global annual emissions levels into the which should take the atmosphere to that target. We assume that what is 'safe' would be determined by an international agreement, probably by the UNFCCC acting under guidance from the IPCC. A profile of plausible annual emissions levels can be set by GCI's CCOptions model. We project forward to 2200.
Having defined a global budget, the second step, 'convergence' defines allocations to each country. CCOptions assumes that each country is assigned annual allowances which vary, per capita, linearly, starting from actuals in 2000 and converging to a common level of per-capita emissions in a target year. This target year need not be the same as the contraction target year and is a likely topic for political negotiation.
A cap year can be set so that population growth after that year does not accrue additional emissions rights.
The C&C package is expected to be completed with an emissions-trading mechanism and with a governance framework including penalties for non-compliance."