Counting the cost of carbon

Should countries and people harmed by climate change be compensated?

Poorer counties are spearheading a movement to make the world’s most affluent countries pay reparations to the Global South for “loss and damage” caused by the climate crisis.

This contentious topic is brewing ahead of the world’s largest and most important climate change think-tank.  The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, or COP27, will be the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference, to be held from 6 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

All countries are being affected by climate change to a lesser or greater degree, but some of the most affected countries have done very little to cause it in the first place; such countries are also often the very ones that most lack the resources needed to deal with these disasters.

Climate change impacts are most seen in a steep increase in extreme weather events, such as tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, wildfires and heatwaves. Unfortunately the poorest countries of the globe are becoming more prone and more susceptible to such events. These governments blame the heavily polluting counties for altering the atmosphere’s chemistry though uncontrolled carbon emission, with resultant warming and a concomitant increase in the severity of storms and droughts.

[pullquote]All countries are being affected by climate change to a lesser or greater degree, but some of the most affected countries have done very little to cause it in the first place[/pullquote]

Currently, the world’s carbon emission culprits are China, the USA, India, Russia, and Japan. On the African continent, South Africa is by far the largest emitter of carbon. The heavy reliance on coal-based energy and other fossil fuels, comprising 91% of the country’s energy mix, is a major source of ambient particle pollution. 11 out of the top 15 most polluted African cities are in South Africa. This is pretty shocking!

The crux of the matter is whether poorer counties have a right to compensation and whether heavy polluters have a moral obligation to make reparation. At COP 26, Scotland put its foot forward when it offered £2 million for loss and damage, making it the first developed country to ever put forward this kind of finance. 

In truth, we all have a responsibility for mitigating the results of climate change, but the effort must be led by the nations that reaped so many of the benefits of economic development and increased wealth through industrialization for so long (Los Angeles Times, 2019).

Perhaps some of our older readers will be prompted to trade in their ancient two-stroke, coughing and smoke-belching lawn mowers for a more efficient and less polluting electric or battery version! At least it is a start…

  • Des Pyle is a Senior Lecturer in Disaster Management at Stenden University.