Inequality

The big day arrived on Monday as we crossed from County Durham into Yorkshire, God's own country. With 16 miles done by the finish in Northallerton, we've now managed 322 miles since we began 23 days ago in Northern Ireland.

One of the things you notice as you arrive in Northallerton are row-upon-row of 4x4s for sale. Many may be of more use here than those used in cities, but a local did whisper in my ear "this is one of the richest places in the country".

The way in which many of us compare a country's contribution to climate change is how much carbon dioxide a country emits per person. The UK is around 10 tonnes, China 4, India 1 and Bangladesh 0.3.

But within a country these figures are meaningless. There are clear divisions between how much different communities emit, and one of the biggest is between rich and poor. Richer people are more likely to fly, consume lots of manufactured goods, fill homes with electrical applicances, and have a (or many) gas guzzling cars.

In contrast many of the ways individuals are told to reduce their carbon emissions, for instance by the UK government, can only be done by richer people. "Better insulation" requires you to own your own home. "Buy solar water heating" requires lots of money available to invest. Even "fly less" assumes that you can afford a holiday in the first place.

Greater responsibility for climate change resides with the rich both between countries and within countries.