68
edits
Changes
DEVE
,no edit summary
The idea that climate change is solely an environmental issue misses the bigger picture - '''climate change represents and perpetuates power imbalances across the world'''. The industrialised nations of the Global North emit about '''80%''' of global greenhouse gases, while developing nations from the Global South face the worst impacts. In fact, global warming poses a threat to some southern vulnerable countries’ survival - rising sea levels will contaminate the drinking water, agriculture, infrastructure and threaten biodiversity in the coastal areas, making some uninhabitable. It is even predicted that entire cities could flood, including Rotterdam and Sydney. Some islands in Africa, Asia and South America are facing the risk of disappearing under water. The regions that will be most affected by the rising sea levels are east, south east and south Asia.<ref>"Sea-Level Rise and Impacts in Africa, 2000 to 2100. Application of the DIVA model to Africa.", retrieved from: https://www.weadapt.org/knowledge-base/economics-of-adaptation/impacts-of-sea-level-rise-in-africa</ref>
So, the debate centers on the obligation of industrialized states - due to '''historical responsibility''' - and international organizations to provide development assistance to developing countries and to invest in energy proportionate to what they emit and use. On the one hand and being mainly responsible historically for emitting the most GHGs we have "the West". Even though the '''EU and the United States of America''' are often seen as '''“the West”''' and in many levels share a set of common values and ideas, when it comes to climate justice, their ideas and policies vary widely. With the USA being the second largest GHG’s emitter - In 2015, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions totaled 6,587 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents <ref>Article “Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks”, retrieved from: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks</ref> – and with Trump's very well-known '''support of the fossil fuel industry''' and the recent drop out of the Paris Agreement, the '''USA environmental policy''' could severely weaken the chances of mitigating climate change.
On the other hand we have the developing countries. Developing countries '''lack the resources''' to address this new environmental and social threat that is climate change. Least developed countries are especially vulnerable, since their budget is stretched to meet basic needs, such as access to food, water, and housing.
