New Delhi, With nearly a month to go for the United Nations Climate Change Conference , the global stage is set for negotiations that often look like standard diplomatic friction between nations, but fundamentally dictate how heavily the common man on the ground is impacted.
This reality prompts climate experts to emphasise the concept of ‘climate justice,’ relentlessly questioning why those who contributed the least to global warming must suffer the most, an imbalance they attribute to ‘carbon debt’ or historical emissions. Even though this debate resurfaces at every UN Climate Change Conference, it is now underscored by the recent BRICS New Delhi declaration, where developing nations reasserted that fossil fuels must remain part of their energy mix, while also recognising the need to promote “just, orderly, equitable and inclusive energy transitions. “The agreement was based on developed countries contributing financially and technology-wise to help developing countries get out of this situation. That hasn’t happened, and doesn’t seem to be happening soon. I feel that the Paris Agreement is becoming a one-sided agreement, where the developing nations are carrying the entire burden.
When a farmer faces drought and crop failure, an economically vulnerable citizen’s home is washed away in floods, a coastal resident struggles for fresh drinking water due to saltwater intrusion, or an urban outdoor labourer suffers acute heatstroke and lost wages during extreme heatwaves, they face the fallout of what they can only identify as increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
Further simplifying the concept of ‘carbon debt,’ Sanjay Vashist, Director at Climate Action Network in South Asia said that the developed countries used more than their fair share of atmospheric space by burning fossil fuels beyond their survival limits, at the expense of developing countries. Former Secretary at the Environment Ministry, only developing countries are sticking to the Paris Agreement, whereas developed nations have found a “convenient way out of the process, according to CK Mishra. Since they do not have the resources, the results become a little doubtful,” Mishra, who previously led Indian negotiations at United Nations Climate Change Conferences as secretary, told PTI.
Speaking to PTI Videos, Pallavi Das, a programme lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water , explained, “Before carbon-intensive lifestyles, societies were largely agrarian, with minimal fossil fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions. With the Industrial Revolution, people began using coal, oil, and gas extensively in factories, power plants, and other industries.”
