Worldwide adverse weather events this summer have reinforced the moral imperative of Loss and Damage funding, in particular the damage caused by flooding in Pakistan, a nation which contributes less than 1% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.
Last year there were several papers which argued for the solution of a global Climate Income policy to level the playing field between those who have historically benefited from fossil fuels and the global south. Oxfam is also interested in the concept. On Monday the 19th September the Guardian reported that a discussion paper has been prepared for the UN General Assembly meeting this week to ask for a ‘climate related and justice-based global tax’, possibly raised by a global carbon tax.
Antigua and Barbuda have also submitted a discussion paper to the Assembly, warning that increasing sea and air temperatures in the Caribbean could create a superstorm within years that would wreak £7.9bn of damage in the island nation alone, six times its annual GDP. Walton Webson, Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the UN and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, said: “[We] deserve to live without the looming fear of debt and destruction. Our islands are bearing the heaviest burden of a crisis we did not cause, and the urgent establishment of a dedicated loss and damage response fund is key to sustainable recovery. We are experiencing climate impacts that become more and more extreme with each passing year.”
Here’s hoping that the discussions will be productive; at the very least that an agreed framework for the delivery of Loss and Damage funding can be agreed at COP27, if not sooner, and ideally that the case for a socially just global carbon price will be heard and agreed!
Oxford University report argues that switching to renewable energy would be as good for the pocket as the planet.