Campaigners yesterday pointed a finger at the rich for dangerous warming of the planet as negotiators from 195 nations fought a grinding battle over the text of a pact to avert climate disaster.
The rich-poor divide, which has for decades bedevilled climate talks, re-emerged on the sidelines of the UN conference in Paris, where participants reported mounting frustration over progress towards the post-2020 deal.
The UN talks aim to seal a deal that would slash carbon emissions — which come mainly from burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil — and deliver hundreds of billions of dollars in aid for climate-vulnerable countries.
It is the latest chapter in a 25-year diplomatic saga marked by spats over how to share the burden of reducing emissions, and hobbled by a negotiation system of huge complexity.
Behind their vows of support, many leaders have often preferred the short-term benefits of burning cheap and dependable fossil fuels to power prosperity, ignoring the consequences of carbon pollution.
British charity Oxfam issued a study saying the richest 10 percent of people produce half of Earth’s climate-harming fossil-fuel emissions, while the poorest half contribute a mere 10 percent, reports AFP.
An average person among the richest one percent emits 175 times more carbon than his or her counterpart among the bottom 10 percent, the charity said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has so far taken the strongest line of all the developing country leaders in the talks.
He has announced $30m (£20m) of investments in solar energy, and has also argued for a deal that would allow India to continue to grow its economy with coal and fossil fuels for many years.
“We hope advanced nations will assume ambitious targets and pursue them sincerely. It is not just a question of historical responsibility. They also have the most room to make the cuts and make the strongest impact,” Modi told nearly 150 heads of state on Monday.
He added that a strong agreement was need on ‘loss and damage’, the idea that vulnerable countries be compensated for irreparable damage done by climate change that they did not cause
“He wants a deal which will force rich countries to increase their commitments,” says a government spokesman.
India is arguing that while all countries should work towards reducing emissions, those which industrialised first and whose emissions led to climate change, such as the US, Britain and Germany, should cut the most and help pay vulnerable countries to adapt. This, it says, is a non-negotiable, fundamental part of the UN’s framework convention on climate change and must not be dismantled.
“We are not supporting any one prescription [for cuts] … On historical emissions we start in 1850. We are not singling out countries [for responsibility]. What individual countries do is to be decided by them. But the fact is that historical emissions have led to climate change,” said the spokesman. “Developing countries are trying to take action on their own, but their actions will fall short. It should be the responsibility of developed countries to step in.”
‘RICH SHOULD LEAD THE WAY’
“Rich, high emitters should be held accountable for their emissions, no matter where they live,” Oxfam climate policy head Tim Gore said.
“But it’s easy to forget that rapidly developing economies are also home to the majority of the world’s very poorest people and while they have to do their fair share, it is rich countries that should still lead the way,” he said in a statement.
Developing countries say the West has polluted for much longer and should shoulder a bigger obligation for cutting back.
They are also calling on rich nations to make good on a 2009 pledge to muster $100 billion (94 billion euros) a year in climate aid by 2020.
‘QUITE MESSY NOW’
“It’s quite messy now,” agreed Greenpeace climate campaigner Li Shuo, who has observer status in the talks, with more than 10 smaller groups trying to whittle down the draft into an intelligible blueprint.
“You had contact groups, spinoff groups, informal informals, huddles,” he said. “At some point, we definitely need to switch gear.”
The negotiators have been tasked with thrashing out an overall blueprint that can be handed over to ministers by Saturday.
A final deal, which needs the assent of every participant, is due by the conclusion of the Paris conference December 11, though such negotiations are often marked by missed deadlines and fraught all-night sessions.
Climate campaigners 350.org said in a report that the number of major financial institutions that had stopped investing in fossil fuels had shot up to 500 from 181 in a little over a year.
Friends of the Earth said many banks were still ploughing into coal mining, however, despite proclaiming themselves climate leaders.
Source: The Daily Star
