If we rely on the headlines at the end of the first day of speeches by world leaders here at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai, it may seem that everything is going well in preparing to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and that the battle to save the earth is assured victory.
Commitments of Wealthy Countries
Every leader from around the world, whether from a rich or poor country, or a large or small producer, announced the measures they intend to take. These announcements included a commitment to cut carbon emissions by half during this decade and a pledge to achieve net-zero emissions.
Loss and Damage Fund
Additionally, many wealthy countries have promised to invest millions of dollars in various climate initiatives, such as the new “Loss and Damage Fund” or the “Green Climate Fund.”
Meeting Financial Promises
However, as we move away from the headlines and the spotlight and examine the speeches and documents, the situation begins to appear less bright and positive, almost catastrophic.
Certainly, the “Loss and Damage Fund” agreement is a very significant and commendable achievement, especially for the UAE, which is hosting COP28, and the dynamic president of COP28, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber.
But now begins the difficult task of funding this fund, and there is no doubt that the money allocated to this fund can only come from wealthy countries or their billion-dollar companies.
Financial Challenges
The total amount needed to combat the effects of climate change, which is the fund’s goal, reaches trillions of dollars. However, on the first day, the total commitments amounted to only 400 million dollars, a quarter of which comes from the host country, which, despite its relatively wealth, is still considered a developing nation rather than a developed one.
Some contributions from the wealthier countries seem laughable in comparison. For instance, Japan’s commitment to provide 10 million dollars or even 75 million dollars from the United Kingdom.
But even these laughable pledges are still just promises, and we can only hope that they translate into actual money sitting in the fund’s account to be distributed to the countries in need of the funds.
Financial Challenges and Previous Commitments
For 15 years, wealthy countries have pledged to pay 100 billion dollars annually to help developing countries cope with climate change. However, the total of the fund has not come close to the target in any year.
In the face of growing criticism from developing countries and their civil society organizations, wealthy countries have started resorting to all sorts of accounting tricks to reach the 100 billion dollars annually.
They started mixing all kinds of funding and loans allocated for other purposes and goals and labeled them as climate financing, often resorting to double counting and accounting.
This accusation was directed again at British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on December 1 by British NGOs, which accused him of recycling old commitments to make them appear new.
Impact of Climate Transition on Developing Countries
One of the tricks that developed countries seem to have absorbed is qualifying the countries deserving help to transition to climate change.
Previously, there were only two categories in this discussion – developed and developing countries – and in recent years, wealthy countries have divided developing nations into emerging economies and least developed countries.
With most countries meeting the criteria of emerging economies, the number of countries deserving assistance, according to the wealthy world’s narrative, has dropped from over 150 to around 46 countries.
Challenges Facing Developing Countries
But there is no doubt that India, despite being the third largest economy in the world, is a poor country, as are Bangladesh, Brazil, and Egypt.
India is home to the largest number of extremely poor people in the world, with up to 400 million Indians suffering from hunger. The situation is not very different in other emerging economies.
This
Classification is crucial, as in his speech on December 1 at COP28, French President Emmanuel Macron seemed to place the responsibility on emerging countries in the battle to save the planet.
“Emerging countries must eliminate carbon, and this is our biggest fight. If there is a top priority, it is for emerging countries to eliminate carbon”, he said in his speech.
It appears that Macron has set his sights on the developing world, while developed countries are still far from setting their own carbon elimination timelines, with almost every single wealthy nation avoiding fossil fuels.
While Canada and the United States continue to open new areas, even in environmentally sensitive and protected areas, to extract oil and gas, Japan has postponed its own coal phase-out goals, pledging on December 1 not to invest in new coal-fired power plants starting in 2050.
The European Union has recently been forced to ease its ambitious campaign to ban the sale of fossil fuel vehicles by 2035, due to strong resistance from the powerful car lobby.
In his speech, which received the warmest response from the audience, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva struck a chord when he said: “The planet is tired of unmet climate agreements” and that he has had enough of “empty and grand speeches”.
It is time for leaders of developed countries to take note and listen. There are still 10 days of negotiations left at this conference. Enough time to set aside theatrics and move to what is required: drastically cutting their emissions by 2030 and increasing funding with real money to developing countries. Immediately.
Ranveer Nayar is the editor-in-chief of Media India Group and founder and director of EIFE.
Note: The opinions expressed in this section are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Arab News.
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