A moral test at climate summit: What do rich nations owe poorer ones?
| Washington and Katowice, Poland
In 2015, the Paris Agreement on climate change rallied the world鈥檚 nations around a sense of collective resolve, a spirit of 鈥淲e鈥檙e all in this together.鈥�
Leaders embraced the idea that this global-scale problem requires ambitious action from every nation to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. They also agreed that wealthier nations should help finance the efforts of poorer ones.
Now the spirit of togetherness is being tested.
Why We Wrote This
The Paris Agreement was forged in a spirit of unified commitment. Now world leaders must determine how to quantify the obligation to aid developing nations in an energy transition.
Some of that money has already started to flow. But a key moment has arrived. Three years later, it鈥檚 the appointed time to firm up plans to hit a $100-billion-a-year target for such international transfers by 2020 鈥� and to expand this 鈥渃limate finance鈥� further from there.
The national and global initiatives are intertwined. Without help, developing nations will be less able to pursue ambitious targets for low-carbon economies. Officials from postcolonial and developing nations in the 鈥済lobal south鈥� say industrialized nations should bring more money to the table 鈥� for everyone鈥檚 sake.
鈥淚f developed economies put off their climate payments any longer, the Paris Agreement temperature goals will slip out of reach, with tragic consequences for people and planet," J. Ant么nio Marcondes, chief negotiator for Brazil, writes in an email to the Monitor. 鈥淭hese finance commitments were not mere ornaments to the Paris Agreement. They were fundamental elements in the balance of the Agreement which must be fully delivered for developed countries to meet their historical responsibilities, and for developing countries to reach an even higher gear.鈥�
A higher gear may be vital. The outlook appears daunting on several fronts.
This week came news that, despite global efforts to date, the world鈥檚 greenhouse emissions , driven especially by increases in China and India. Meanwhile, the United States under President Trump has backed away from its Paris climate commitments, and recent protests prompted the French government to cancel a gas tax designed to curb reliance on fossil fuels.
Still, with all the challenges there鈥檚 also hope and a tangible sense of determined optimism in Katowice, Poland, at the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known for short as COP24. The ethos of 鈥渨e鈥檙e in this together鈥� hasn鈥檛 died out.
鈥淭he expected commitments that we鈥檙e hearing from developed countries are all positive,鈥� says Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, director of sustainable finance at the World Resources Institute think tank, speaking by phone from Poland. 鈥淲e don't know yet what the numbers are going to be precisely, but we do know that there鈥檚 a collective sense that this has to be done.鈥�
He notes that, ahead of the summit for climate officials, Germany said it will contribute $1.7 billion to the Green Climate Fund for developing nations, nearly twice the support it gave the last time industrialized nations replenished that fund. That would push Germany toward the top tier of .
And the World Bank to devote $200 billion over five years to help poorer nations develop their economies in climate-smart ways.
鈥楬istorical responsibility鈥�
To some degree the Green Climate Fund is still earning the trust of donor and recipient nations alike. Some see room for the fund to make decisions both faster and with enhanced safeguards against misuse of the money.
Still, there鈥檚 fairly wide support for the general concept behind the Green Climate Fund. The reasons voiced by officials and nongovernment organizations are both moral and pragmatic.
鈥淭he emissions come mostly from developed countries. If you look at the emissions produced by a small island in the Pacific, it's almost zero, but the country can disappear because of rising sea levels,鈥� says Simon Wilson, head of communications at the Green Climate Fund.
鈥淸The developed world] has to take historical responsibility for this,鈥� says Peter Tarfa, director of Nigeria鈥檚 Department of Climate Change.
But Mr. Wilson also notes the business opportunities for private-sector firms. And Dr. Tarfa also frames the the issue more broadly.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a question of forcing developed countries to pay, it鈥檚 a question of getting developed countries to see the benefits of such action and meeting their obligations,鈥� Tarfa says. Reduced emissions bring a benefit to the whole planet. And helping nations adapt to the effects of climate change can mean a reduction in conflict and forced migration.
Nations like Nigeria don鈥檛 expect richer nations to pay for all their climate responses. But the needs are significant, and with aid they can do more.聽聽
鈥淚n Nigeria one of the major challenges is access to electricity. We would like to have more investments in clean sources of energy,鈥� Tarfa says. 鈥淲e also need environmentally friendly and affordable buildings, because the population is increasing dramatically. Other issues are clean transport and smart agriculture to maximize harvest.鈥�
One atmosphere
Each ton of carbon dioxide affects the global climate whether it was emitted in Stockholm or Shanghai. And increasingly the carbon pollution stems from developing economies where growing populations aspire to join the global middle class. Some say these economies, from Asia to Africa and Latin America, are also where each dollar invested can have the biggest effect.
鈥淢ore support translates into more action, and that benefits the whole planet,鈥� says a spokesperson for Brazil鈥檚 climate delegation, via email, calling Brazil鈥檚 clean-energy aspirations 鈥渢ransformational鈥� and 鈥渃ost efficient.鈥�
The vastness of the global task 鈥� slashing greenhouse emissions to stabilize global temperatures while also embracing the rise of a global middle class 鈥� brings complexity.
How much money is needed, and where? For what kinds of investments?
鈥淲e look at China, we think, 鈥極h they have all this money.鈥� ... It鈥檚 kind of going through the Industrial Revolution on steroids,鈥� says Kate Gordon, an Oakland-based expert with Columbia University鈥檚 Center on Global Energy Policy. 鈥淪ometimes we forget the scale of the challenge they鈥檙e facing to try to grow a middle class and grow a developed-country economy in a sustainable way.鈥�
She says 鈥渢he scale of doing that in China and India and other countries is bigger than the amount of money that they have to deal with it.鈥�
Even when the general need is acknowledged, part of the challenge is building developed-nation commitment to climate finance.
In France, the recent protests by yellow-vested citizens revolved around a fuel tax with revenue going toward deficit reduction, leaving working-class citizens feeling penalized by a new burden on their finances. The uproar doesn鈥檛 mean that all action on climate change will be unpopular, but hints at how questions of fairness can be crucial.
鈥淔rance points to the absolute need to think through the local impacts of macroeconomic policy, [since] ultimately climate policy is economic policy,鈥� says Ms. Gordon.
鈥淭here has to be a very careful political strategy to explain to the public why these initiatives and these efforts matter, both domestic and international,鈥� says Dr. Martinez-Diaz of the World Resources Institute. Canada has designed a carbon tax, he notes, so that it recycles revenue back to taxpayers, while giving incentives to move away from fossil fuels.
Building momentum
Climate policymakers also need to ensure accountability in the process for distributing funds even as they try to scale up the dollar volume. The Green Climate Fund isn鈥檛 the only channel for climate finance. But it鈥檚 a major one, and has been designed with safeguards to ensure careful review of the projects that get funded.
So far its outflows toward climate projects are small 鈥� some $1.6 billion in commitments 鈥� compared with its longer term goals. But it鈥檚 active already in 96 nations.
鈥淚n Egypt ... [our project is] building the largest solar park in the world,鈥� says the Fund鈥檚 Mr. Wilson.
鈥淲e think that it is a good model where, at least in principle, decision-making ... (through the Board) relies on a system which gives equal voice to developing and developed countries,鈥� says Brice Boehmer of the Berlin-based watchdog group Transparency International, speaking via email. He sees room for the fund , such as support for whistleblowers and 鈥渃onsultation and participation of civil society.鈥�
But in his view, such objectives 鈥渟houldn鈥檛 be used as an excuse by developed countries and donors to stop or slow down the disbursements of climate finance.鈥�
This story was produced with support from an聽Energy Foundation grant to cover the environment.
