Difficult to implement, what is the idea of climate reparation?

Source: The post is based on the article “Difficult to implement, what is the idea of climate reparation?” published in Indian Express on 6th September 2022

What is the News?

Pakistan has been facing the worst flooding disaster in its history. Due to this, Pakistan has been demanding Climate Reparations or compensation from the rich countries that are mainly responsible for causing climate change. 

What is Climate reparations?

Climate reparations are about rectifying climate injustice. It is a framework where those most responsible for climate change must provide support to those who have been wronged.

This demand for climate reparations is an extension of the universally acknowledged “Polluter Pays” principle. This principle makes the polluter liable for paying not just for the cost of remedial action, but also for compensating the victims of environmental damage caused by their actions.

Who is historically responsible for Climate Change?

In the climate change framework, the burden of responsibility falls on those rich countries that have contributed most of the greenhouse gas emissions since 1850, generally considered to be the beginning of the industrial age.

The United States and the European Union including the UK, account for over 50% of all emissions during this time.

If Russia, Canada, Japan, and Australia too are included, the combined contribution goes past 65% or almost two-thirds of all emissions.

Historical responsibility is important because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, and it is the cumulative accumulation of carbon dioxide that causes global warming.

What about developing countries like India and China?

A country like India, currently the third largest emitter, accounts for only 3% of historical emissions.

China, which is the world’s biggest emitter for over 15 years now, has contributed about 11% to total emissions since 1850.

What are the institutional mechanisms for climate finance?

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1994): It lays down the broad principles of the global effort to fight climate change. It explicitly acknowledges this differentiated responsibility of nations.

– It makes it very clear that rich countries must provide both finance and technology to developing nations to help them tackle climate change.

– It is this mandate that later evolved into the $100 billion amount that the rich countries agreed to provide every year to the developing world.

– While this promise is yet to be met, this $100 billion per year amount is not meant for loss and damage.

Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM): The WIM for Loss and Damages, was set up in 2013. It was the first formal acknowledgement of the need to compensate developing countries struck by climate disasters.

– However, the progress on this front has been painfully slow. No funding mechanism, or even a promise to provide funds, has come about.

Have developed countries provided funds for Climate reparations?

Developed countries are struggling to even put together the $100 billion per year flow that they had reluctantly agreed to provide.

Further, loss and damage claims can easily spiral into billions of dollars or even more. According to a UN report, annual funding requests related to climate-linked disasters averaged $15.5 billion in the three-year period between 2019 and 2021. 

The report also said that the United States alone is estimated to have inflicted more than $1.9 trillion in damages to other countries due to its emissions.