Developed countries must help climate captives at climate summit

November 11^th 2013

By VIOLET MENGO

CHRISTIAN Aid has called on representatives at the UN climate summit here to put the issue of equity at the heart of discussion on creating a global deal to tackle climate change.

In a report launched today, ahead of the official opening, Christian Aid reminds delegates to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that industrialised nations have been responsible for the 72 percent of the total greenhouse gas emission since the start of the industrial revolution in 1850.

Despite pledges to cut emissions, the industrialised countries have shown a marked reluctance to face up to their historical responsibility for causing the problem in the first place.

The report, Fair shares in a constrained world, points out that developing countries, with 82.7 per cent of the world's population, have emitted just 28.5 per cent of the world's total emissions.

Report author, Mohamed Adow, Senior Climate Change Adviser at Christian Aid, said those already suffering the most from climate change are the world's poor that have done the least to create the problem.

“Like stopping the trans-Atlantic slave trade, this will take moral clarity from those in the developed world. This problem calls for action from the rich, who built their wealth through uncapped pollution. They must cut their emissions and lead the world towards a low-carbon, resilient future or they will force extreme weather, devastating droughts and rising sea levels onto the backs of the world's poor,” said Mr Adow.

He said the level of finance, technology and other associated support required by developing countries must be established, and the obligation to provide those resources dealt with equitably.

Mr Adow said developed countries have most of the world's wealth, which is considered a measure of capacity to tackle climate change.

“The 54 African countries with 16.6 per cent of the global population, and the least developed countries, with 12.7 per cent of the global population, have just 1.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent of the global income respectively. The figures speak for themselves,” said Mr Adow.

The report calls for all parties to the conference to agree to scientifically defined limits on greenhouse gas emissions, which will set the total global effort needed.

It reveals that countries must then decide on a clear equity process, one that sets the world on a path towards a climate deal in 2015 that is both just and ambitious.   

“A vision needs to be forged in Warsaw which captures the UNFCCC principles of 'common but differentiated responsibilities', a plan based on each country's historic responsibility and capacity to respond, this report lays out all of the data governments need to forge that plan,” said Mr Adow.

'This vision must bridge the current gap between the different government views and increase their understanding of the need for equitable effort sharing required for the 2015 deal,' said Mr Adow.

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