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Climate reparations are a type of requested loss and damage payments for damage and harm caused by climate change, which may include debt cancellation. [1] [2] [3] The term climate reparations differs from simple "loss and damage," in that it is based on the concept of reparations, that compensation holds countries accountable for historical emissions, and is an ethical and moral obligation. [4] [5] [2]
"The idea behind calls for loss and damage funding is that the countries that have done most to pollute the atmosphere, and grown rich doing so, should compensate," according to The New Republic . [6]
At the 42nd session of the Human Rights Council in 2019, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, cautioned that the projected levels of global warming pose 'catastrophic' risks for human rights. She further emphasized that climate change jeopardizes the enjoyment of various fundamental rights, including the rights to life, access to water and sanitation, food, health, housing, self-determination, cultural identity, and development. Furthermore the High Commissioner expressed that; human rights obligations require that states collectively cooperate toward the promotion of human rights, globally, including adequate financing from those who can best afford it. This requires climate change mitigation, adaptation, and rectification of damage. [7]
The subject of reparations must be considered, with equity, to be the center of global response. This exacts that the counties who have disproportionately created the environmental crisis must do more to compensate for the damages that has been caused, including respecting vulnerable countries. Generally, reparations are an effort to redress societal harm through the acknowledgement of wrongdoing and monetary means. Acceptance of responsibility, followed by undertakings that address the repair of injustices to society and widespread harm are key principles of reparatory justice. [7]
In the context of climate change, it would require identifying categorically any states that have contributed the highest emission intensity of greenhouse gasses in relation to the emission standards.The aim is to encourage accountability and make concessions for sustainable practices to rectify the serious damage inflicted disproportionately on low income countries. [7]
Climate reparations have been under discussion in connection with the catastrophic 2022 Pakistan floods. [8] [9] [10] As of October 14, 2022, the Scottish government is calling for loss and damage funding as a moral responsibility. [2]
Loss and damage was discussed at COP26. As a part of its COP26 coverage, New York Magazine featured a David Wallace-Wells article about climate reparations on its cover. [11] A Bangladeshi consultant remarked at COP26, "The term ‘loss and damage’ is a euphemism for terms we’re not allowed to use, which are ‘liability and compensation' ... ‘Reparations’ is even worse." [12]
At COP27, climate reparations, in the form of loss and damage funding for developing nations, are "top of the agenda", according to the World Economic Forum. [13] [14] [15] Environment and Climate Change Canada has announced support for discussion of "loss and damage," and the U.S. has announced support for "formal negotiations over possible climate reparations." [16] [17]
Two days before the COP27 talks began, a compromise was reached, "that discussion would focus on 'cooperation and facilitation' not 'liability or compensation.'" [18]
Vanuatu's starting point for climate reparations at COP27 is US $117 million. [19]
At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, there have been a consistent opposition to climate reparations from the wealthiest and most powerful nations. These same nations have benefited from current carbon emissions and using an excess of their atmospheric budget. Furthermore, this would require the redistribution of resources from the wealthy nations to colonized areas across the globe. [20]
A 2023 study published in One Earth estimated that the top 21 fossil fuel companies will owe cumulative climate reparations of $5.4 trillion over the period 2025–2050. [21]
Climate reparations have been described as a "human rights challenge." [22]
A "corrective justice model" could be based on governments accepting moral responsibility for damage to climate. In this model, the countries most responsible provide funding to the affected, poorer countries, which has done relatively little damage to climate. Funds might be distributed by an “international compensation commission,” which adjudicates claims by affected countries. [5]
Another approach would be lawsuits against corporations responsible for carbon emissions or damage to climate, in which courts would determine the funding to be distributed to affected parties. [5] [23]
Compensation could be distributed based on a "Polluter Pays" principle, meaning "that in addition to having to cover the expense of corrective action, the polluter also has to pay to compensate those who have suffered environmental harm as a result of their conduct." [24]
Mechanisms for distribution of funding could include debt forgiveness and direct grants for climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. [5]
Challenges for implementation include accountability and evaluation to ensure that funds do not disappear due to corruption. [5] Although IPCC has a task force on measuring emissions, it does not yet have a task force capable of establishing metrics for climate mitigation impact. [25]
Some opponents have argued that current generations should not be considered responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions of their ancestors. Since it was not widely understood before 1990 that greenhouse gas emissions would be a problem, some opponents argue that pre-1990 emissions should not be taken into consideration.
A 2013 study by Richard Heede, co-founder and director of the Climate Accountability Institute, spurred subsequent research by Heede and his colleagues. Their findings revealed that 90 fossil fuel companies were responsible for nearly two-thirds of the observed rise in global surface temperatures. These findings concluded that a relatively small number of corporations have been knowingly responsible for large amounts of damaging emission intensity for forty years, and argues that a public which has been willfully deceived by corporate public relations campaigns should not be expected to pay for these damages. [26]
The ambiguity surrounding the scope of remedial obligations, along with the potential for demands of comprehensive reparation schemes, has effectively prevented industrialized nations from openly acknowledging their responsibility. Given the high risks associated with admitting fault, typically, Western leaders have frequently adopted a stance of doubt and denial by rejecting the scientific evidence of human-caused climate change altogether.This provides leverage to dismiss any justification for imposing specific obligations on certain industrialized states regarding climate reparations. [27]
Vanuatu, a small island nation vulnerable to sea-level rise, has considered suing for climate reparations. [28] [29]
Pakistan and other nations from the Global South will be pushing for climate reparations at COP27. [10] [30] [31] [ needs update ]
Organizations supporting debt cancellation as a means of climate finance include the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development, the CARICOM Reparations Committee, the Transnational Accountability & Justice Initiative, Fridays for Future Bangladesh, and the Jubilee Debt Campaign. [30] [32] Climate campaigners have estimated that the G20 nations are collectively responsible for about 80% of greenhouse gas emissions, and some assert that expecting the poorer countries to bear the brunt of climate impacts is essentially continuing a legacy of colonialism and oppression connected with extractive industries. [29]
Fridays for Future strikes “for climate reparations and justice" took place in about 450 locations in September 2022, including Berlin, Kinshasa, Bengalauru, India, New Zealand, and Japan. [33]
An opinion piece in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists suggests that "rather than on locking down borders as a response to climate migration,' it is important to acknowledge "climate displacement as something driven by our fossil-fueled way of life in the Global North," and "focus on the question of responsibility and reparations, in a moral, legal, and financial framework under international law." [23]
The CARICOM Reparations Commission is more blunt: "Either we allow climate migrants to move in, or we compensate these refugees financially for the damages caused by our greenhouse gas emissions." [34]
The principle of loss and damage appears in the 2015 Paris Agreement as a mechanism for climate finance. [35]
Ecological debt refers to the accumulated debt seen by some campaigners as owed by the Global North to Global South countries, due to the net sum of historical environmental injustice, especially through resource exploitation, habitat degradation, and pollution by waste discharge. The concept was coined by Global Southerner non-governmental organizations in the 1990s and its definition has varied over the years, in several attempts of greater specification.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide, from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, is one of the most important factors in causing climate change. The largest emitters are China followed by the United States. The United States has higher emissions per capita. The main producers fueling the emissions globally are large oil and gas companies. Emissions from human activities have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by about 50% over pre-industrial levels. The growing levels of emissions have varied, but have been consistent among all greenhouse gases. Emissions in the 2010s averaged 56 billion tons a year, higher than any decade before. Total cumulative emissions from 1870 to 2022 were 703 GtC, of which 484±20 GtC from fossil fuels and industry, and 219±60 GtC from land use change. Land-use change, such as deforestation, caused about 31% of cumulative emissions over 1870–2022, coal 32%, oil 24%, and gas 10%.
Climate justice is a type of environmental justice that focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized or otherwise vulnerable populations. Climate justice seeks to achieve an equitable distribution of both the burdens of climate change and the efforts to mitigate climate change. The economic burden of climate change mitigation is estimated by some at around 1% to 2% of GDP. Climate justice examines concepts such as equality, human rights, collective rights, justice and the historical responsibilities for climate change.
Germanwatch e.V. is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Bonn, Germany. It seeks to influence public policy on trade, the environment, and relations between countries in the industrialized north and underdeveloped south. The organization collates a variety of economic and social data to formulate position papers, often in partnership with other NGOs. Particular areas of interest include trade in food and agricultural policy, climate change, and corporate accountability.
The climate policy of China is to peak its greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 and to be carbon neutral before 2060. Due to the buildup of solar power and the burning of coal, Chinese energy policy is closely related to its climate policy. There is also policy to adapt to climate change. Ding Xuexiang represented China at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2023, and may be influential in setting climate policy.
The environmental impact of the energy industry is significant, as energy and natural resource consumption are closely related. Producing, transporting, or consuming energy all have an environmental impact. Energy has been harnessed by human beings for millennia. Initially it was with the use of fire for light, heat, cooking and for safety, and its use can be traced back at least 1.9 million years. In recent years there has been a trend towards the increased commercialization of various renewable energy sources. Scientific consensus on some of the main human activities that contribute to global warming are considered to be increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, causing a warming effect, global changes to land surface, such as deforestation, for a warming effect, increasing concentrations of aerosols, mainly for a cooling effect.
Climate debt is the debt said to be owed to developing countries by developed countries for the damage caused by their disproportionately large contributions to climate change. Historical global greenhouse gas emissions, largely by developed countries, pose significant threats to developing countries, who are less able to deal with climate change's negative effects. Therefore, some consider developed countries to owe a debt to developing ones for their disproportionate contributions to climate change.
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was negotiated by 196 parties at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference near Paris, France. As of February 2023, 195 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are parties to the agreement. Of the three UNFCCC member states which have not ratified the agreement, the only major emitter is Iran. The United States withdrew from the agreement in 2020, but rejoined in 2021.
Loss and damage is a concept to describe results from the adverse effects of climate change and how to deal with them. There has been slow progress on implementing mitigation and adaptation. Some losses and damages are already occurring, and further loss and damage is unavoidable. There is a distinction between economic losses and non-economic losses. The main difference between the two is that non-economic losses involve things that are not commonly traded in markets.
The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties – the Conference of the Parties (COP) – to assess progress in dealing with climate change, and beginning in the mid-1990s, to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Starting in 2005 the conferences have also served as the "Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol" (CMP); also parties to the convention that are not parties to the protocol can participate in protocol-related meetings as observers. From 2011 to 2015, the meetings were used to negotiate the Paris Agreement as part of the Durban platform, which created a general path towards climate action. Any final text of a COP must be agreed by consensus.
Climate change litigation, also known as climate litigation, is an emerging body of environmental law using legal practice to set case law precedent to further climate change mitigation efforts from public institutions, such as governments and companies. Finding that climate change politics provides insufficient climate change mitigation for their tastes, activists and lawyers have increased efforts to use national and international judiciary systems to advance the effort. Climate litigation typically engages in one of five types of legal claims: Constitutional law, administrative law, private law, fraud or consumer protection, or human rights.
Climate change in the Marshall Islands is a major issue for the country. As with many countries made up of low-lying islands, the Marshall Islands is highly vulnerable to sea level rise and other impacts of climate change. The atoll and capital city of Majuro are particularly vulnerable, and the issue poses significant implications for the country's population. These threats have prompted Marshallese political leaders to make climate change a key diplomatic issue, who have responded with initiatives such as the Majuro Declaration.
India was ranked seventh among the list of countries most affected by climate change in 2019. India emits about 3 gigatonnes (Gt) CO2eq of greenhouse gases each year; about two and a half tons per person, which is less than the world average. The country emits 7% of global emissions, despite having 17% of the world population. The climate change performance index of India ranks eighth among 63 countries which account for 92% of all GHG emissions in the year 2021.
A climate target, climate goal or climate pledge is a measurable long-term commitment for climate policy and energy policy with the aim of limiting the climate change. Researchers within, among others, the UN climate panel have identified probable consequences of global warming for people and nature at different levels of warming. Based on this, politicians in a large number of countries have agreed on temperature targets for warming, which is the basis for scientifically calculated carbon budgets and ways to achieve these targets. This in turn forms the basis for politically decided global and national emission targets for greenhouse gases, targets for fossil-free energy production and efficient energy use, and for the extent of planned measures for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Pacific Climate Warriors, or 350 Pacific, is a grassroots movement for climate justice from the Pacific island states, which has been part of the global environmental organization 350.org since 2011.
The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP27, was the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference, held from 6 November until 20 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. It took place under the presidency of Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, with more than 92 heads of state and an estimated 35,000 representatives, or delegates, of 190 countries attending. It was the fifth climate summit held in Africa, and the first since 2016.
The timeline of international climate politics is a list of events significant to the politics of climate change.
This article documents events, research findings, scientific and technological advances, and human actions to measure, predict, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of global warming and climate change—during the year 2022.
Ayisha Siddiqa is an American climate justice advocate. She is a co-founder of Fossil Free University and Polluters Out.
The Oslo Principles, formally the Oslo Principles on Global Obligations to Reduce Climate Change, are a set of principles identifying the legal obligations of states to limit climate change, as well as means of meeting these obligations. Written by an international group of legal experts, the Principles’ goal is to limit the rise in average global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. The Oslo Principles were presented on March 30 at King’s College London.