Everybody in the world is a polluter, one way or another, and pollution adds to the damage already done to the environment. There is no easy answer, but should start with education of what pollution is and how it should be reduced. This is the responsibly of every world government.

The problem is in the developed nations, that have grown used to cheap disposable products, cheap and plentiful oil and coal. Because it is cheap, demand has grown rapidly, encouraged by the large multinationals.
Oil is no longer as cheap as it was and as a result, people are starting to think about conservation, reducing the number of car journeys, sharing transport and increasing the use of public transport. But high oil prices (good for the oil producing countries and oil companies) will not be enough to prevent continued growing demand and the negative effects this is having of the world climate.

The idea for "Personal Carbon Credits" was to try to provide a method to control and reduce consumption of all types of energy. This should not be considered a new tax. When energy prices increase rapidly 20-30% in less than one year, the people that suffer the most are the old on fixed pensions and the low income groups. Higher prices do not stop or reduce demand for long, people cut back on other expenses, stop going to restaurants, use discount supermarkets, so that the car, the holiday flights, heating are the last to be considered for reduction. But this should be the first area to be targeted if we are to reduce CO2 emissions and limit the effects of climate change.

Personal Carbon Credits is based on the idea that the everybody should be equal when it comes to energy consumption. In the 2nd world war, the UK adopted ration books for every family, so that you were guaranteed the basic food for living. This worked, and they did not have computers. PCC's (Personal Carbon Credits) would work in a similar way, except for energy. The lower income groups and elderly would have enough credits to live on, but as income levels grow, these credits may not be enough to maintain the current life style. So extra PCC,s could be purchased, or savings made on energy use

.
The effect of having to spend even more money, on top of the energy price would start to make people consider energy usage and reducing their expenses. Some savings in reducing CO2 emissions can only be made at a global level, this is where the UN should put a world tax on aviation fuel, the proceeds would be used to fund the United Nations and reduce individual countries contributions, if they have reduced their CO2 emissions to 1990 levels.

The world needs leadership and decisions if we are to prevent the so called "tipping point" sending the climate into a uncontrolled upward spiral. It seems the UK government, under the leadership of Gordon Brown, is not able to make the decision to use PCC's. Maybe the better idea would be to get the whole European Union to commit to "Personal Carbon Credits".

For more information, see the following links.