Global wealth inequality has been demonstrated to have a multifaceted impact on societal challenges, including the hindrance of obstruction and the weakening of mitigation measures and their support (Green und Healy, 2022). This phenomenon not only hinders environmental sustainability but also exacerbates social disparities, as evidenced by the increase in CO2 emissions and the disparities in health and well-being observed among lower-income households (Haciimamoglu et al., 2025, Chancel et al. 2025).
Chancel et al. (2025) emphasize the research in their paper, which utilizes modeling to analyze wealth and capital share under potential future scenarios. They also develop a new conceptual framework to assess the impacts of climate change (policies) on global wealth distribution. The framework under consideration comprises three fundamental components: climate/policy change, biophysical impacts, and monetary impacts. These components interact with one another in a variety of ways.
In this regard, the carbon tax is a popular tool for mitigation, the investigation of which was further pursued by Ohlendorf et al. (2021). A meta-analysis was conducted, which suggests that the implementation of revenue recycling mechanisms may result in a reduction of distribution inequalities in the context of carbon taxes.
Both papers will be used for the refined title, which will focus on using the framework to assess the impact of the carbon tax on wealth distribution.
Update after feedback:
The aim of the poster is not to assess which wealth distribution would be just. A better title would therefore maybe be: Climate Change Mitigation and Wealth Distribution – Using Policies To Reduce (Wealth) Inequalities. The motiviation would be based on the observation that current wealth distributions and inequalities slow climate mitigation down and have multifacet social impacts to evaluate certain mitigation policies (in this case the carbon tax) on whether they reduce theses inequalities.
Green, F., & Healy, N. (2022). How inequality fuels climate change: The climate case for a Green New Deal. *One Earth, 5*(6), 635-649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2022.05.005
Haciimamoglu, T., Sungur, O., Yildirim, K., & Yapar, M. (2025). Rethinking the Climate Change–Inequality Nexus: The Role of Wealth Inequality, Economic Growth, and Renewable Energy in CO2 Emissions. Sustainability, 17(8), 3335. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17083335
Chancel, L., Mohren, C., Bothe, P. et al. Climate change and the global distribution of wealth. Nat. Clim. Chang. 15, 364–374 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02268-3
Ohlendorf, N., Jakob, M., Minx, J.C. et al. Distributional Impacts of Carbon Pricing: A Meta-Analysis. Environ Resource Econ 78, 1–42 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-020-00521-1
I find the topic of the effects of wealth distribution on climate change mitigation strategies interesting and relevant. Great that you have also found a set of suitable scientific references. I think that analysing the interactions between the climate mitigation strategy of carbon taxing and wealth distribution is a very suitable topic for a poster. Based on your literature research (what is known?), you can show where more research would be needed (knowledge gaps). Also, you can develop ideas how to implement carbon taxes in ways that better consider the inequal wealth distribution. Thus, you have all ingredients for a poster on “Researching and shaing climate futures”.
It is not entirely clear to me yet, where this post and poster wants to go. The topic of social justice, and a ‘just transition’ to mitigate climate change is a major topic in economic, policy, and social movement discourses. The Green New Deal is a policy instrument in this regard, the carbon tax is an economic instrument. Does the poster aim to discuss this broader context? Then it should also include the movement discourse. Does it want to focus on one of the strategies, political or economic? Then it needs to motivate this focus, and carve it out more clearly.