Sorry, obviously I wasn’t clear, I’m saying the changes necessary to avoid climate change will often not affect people, not the outcomes of climate change.
On that point of what we need to do not affecting normal people - I don't think that's accurate either.
We WILL need to live different lives in the developed countries. Our lifestyles (beyond carbon emissions) are not sustainable.
If everyone on earth lived as those in the US did, we'd need 4-9 earths. So long as higher quality of life looks like how we live, people around will strive to adopt that. China is by volume, now the largest emitter, but it's only 1/6 of the US in per capita emissions!
I find it hard to see a scenario where we've addressed climate change and ecological collapse, while we live the way we live today.
Many people in the US live close to sustainable lives. they live without air conditioning, take transit everywhere, they eat chicken and not beef, they've never flown in an airplane. They're poor.
And then a small percentage of the US population lives insane lives. Gigantic houses with the windows open and the air conditioning on max for the garden party. Fly to Paris 14 times a year. Yacht idling in the harbor.
The carbon-production standards of most people, even in the US, don't need to change much.