Climate change is frequently described as an existential threat to humanity. What that framing obscures is that it is not an equal threat. The countries least responsible for the carbon emissions driving global warming are, by a cruel geographic and economic logic, the most exposed to its consequences. This gap between who caused the crisis and who bears its costs is among the most profound moral challenges of the twenty-first century.

Global inequities in science refer to the uneven distribution of scientific resources, opportunities, and recognition across countries, languages, and socioeconomic groups. These disparities shape who gets to participate in scientific research, whose work is visible, and whose priorities define the funding.