As COP 26 came to a close on November 12, it seems that many voices, including those of climate activists, agree that the actions taken have not been up to the challenge we face. While there has been some progress, including the announced reduction of fossil fuels and methane emissions, most of the commitments made are based on promises rather than realistic and defined strategies. The tone used by Conference President Alok Sharma in his closing speech was in stark contrast to the much more thunderous tone of Laurent Fabius in 2015 at the conclusion of the Paris Agreements.
Over the course of the two weeks, COP participants developed and signed agreements on emissions, foreign fossil fuel financing, deforestation and oil and gas production. However, one issue was particularly disappointing: solidarity between developed and developing countries. In
this article, we will focus on the issue of "loss and damage" that comes after mitigation and
adaptation to Climate Change consequences. This major issue raises the question of historical
responsibility and represents a new, considerable ethical challenge.
Defined by the Glasgow Pact as "impacts of climate change which occur beyond the limits of
societies' and ecosystems' ability to adapt" and recognized in 2015 during COP 21, these damages represent colossal sums that require the implementation of dedicated financing mechanisms. The price of the economic consequences of climate change in developing countries alone is indeed estimated at between 290 and 580 billion dollars per year until 2030, and around 1700 billion dollars in 2050 (Garic, 2021). During the conference, many financing plans were proposed by various actors, including the Santiago Network created last year at COP 25 in Madrid to "catalyze the technical assistance of relevant organizations, bodies, networks and experts, for the implementation of relevant approaches for averting, minimizing and addressing L&D at the local, national and regional level, in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change" ("About the Santiago Network", 2021). Unfortunately, the States did not reach an agreement, presenting the existing funds as capable of dealing with the issue of loss and damage.
This failure is all the more stinging when one realizes that the existing funds in question, promised by developed countries to finance mitigation actions in developing countries, have still not been made available. It was decided in 2009 in Copenhagen that poor countries, on the front line of climate change and lacking the financial means to mitigate and adapt to its effects, would benefit from the collective mobilization of 100 billion dollars per year by 2020, a deadline extended to 2025 during COP 21. However, the nations "noted with deep regret" in Glasgow that this commitment has not been met, which seems worrying when the needs of developing countries for financing climate change mitigation and adaptation would amount to six trillion dollars by 2030 (Tripathi, 2021).
It is not so surprising then that no proper plan for rich countries to finance loss and damage has been established, and this inability to act reveals the complexity of climate justice. Indeed, the issue of dealing with climate disruption is particularly delicate since it is characterized by inequality in terms of historical responsibility, development needs and exposure to threats.
However, the general principle of civil liability stipulates that every person is obliged to repair the damage caused by his or her actions. Applying this to climate change, every individual carbon emitter should share moral responsibility for its consequences, to a degree that depends on their historical contribution. Moreover, it would seem logical that those countries most able to finance adaptation or accommodate displaced populations (whether financially, politically, or technologically) should prioritize doing so (Marshall, 2016).
In this context, it appears absurd that Sub-Saharan African countries, responsible for 0.5% of historical emissions, do not benefit from financial aid determined accordingly, which would allow them to cope with recurrent droughts, salinization and soil erosion - 92% of which are caused by emissions from rich countries (Banque de France, 2020).
The loss and damage are even greater when we consider the cultural and social impact of entire populations being forced to leave their land, history, and culture. Elizabeth Wathuti, a 26-year-old Kenyan activist, addressed the leaders on November 1, reminding them that 86 million people will have to migrate to survive by 2050. In her paper "Forced Environmental Migration: Ethical Considerations for Emerging Migration Policy," Nicole Marshall further questions the ethical issues associated with the case of Environmentally Displaced Persons (EDPs) and the inability of our migration policies to address these issues, as EDPs are not eligible for protected refugee status under the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951). The problem is unique in that these people are not subject to persecution but are displaced for natural reasons beyond the control of the state.
Thus, multilateralism seems to be struggling to agree on a fair system to deal with these new challenges. If the scientific, judicial, economic, and ethical worlds are certainly in the process of appropriating these issues, the suffering endured by populations across the world will only increase. So, the adaptation of our models must take place now and the management of funding must be reviewed: billions have been found for the post-pandemic economic recovery, it should be possible to find them for the survival conditions of a part of humanity.
References
About the Santiago Network. (2021). Retrieved 17 November 2021, from
Banque de France. (2020). Impact du changement climatique sur l’Afrique subsaharienne :
vulnérabilités, résilience et financements. Retrieved from https://publications.banquefrance.
Garric, A. (2021). A la COP26, négociations tendues sur la question du financement des dégâts
du changement climatique. Le Monde. Retrieved from https://www.lemonde.fr/climat/article/2021/11/09/a-la-cop26-les-negociations-se-tendent-sur-laquestion-du-financement-des-consequences-du-changement-climatique_6101448_1652612.html
Tripathi, B. (2021). Developing Nations Need Nearly $6 Trillion By 2030 To Cover 40% of
NDCs: UN. The Quint. Retrieved from https://www.thequint.com/news/world/developingnations-
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