Essay by Eric Worrall
Still covering for Joe; According to NPR, the United States owes developing countries billions of dollars in climate compensation, but those commitments have been shelved because of the Ukraine war.
The US pledges billions of dollars to fight climate change. Then there was the Ukraine war
By Rebecca Hersher | NPR May 14, 2022
The United States owes developing countries billions of dollars in climate funding. But the war in Ukraine is delaying payments and slowing US progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and that leaves leaders in lowly and less affluent nations. feel frustrated and forgotten.
“In effect, the United States owes the rest a climate debt it needs to pay,” said Mohamed Adow, leader of PowerShift Africa, a coalition that advocates for climate policies across the continent. “Our continent is on the effective front lines, and we are paying the price for the harm [of] these climate pollutants. ”
By 2021, the United States promises to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions this decade, while sending long-term overdue money to help developing countries transition to cleaner energy and protect people. from sea level rise, heat waves, food insecurity and other dangerous climate impacts.
If The United States followed throughcan still keep global temperatures from rising catastrophically and prevent tens of millions according to scientists and economists.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could put many US promises on hold. Next month renew its commitments At the international climate conference in Glasgow, the United States did not pass any major climate legislation. The Biden administration has limit back on domestic oil and gas drilling to cope with rising energy prices. This spring, Congress allocated less than a third about the international climate funding it commits to, even as it rushes in billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine.
…
The US owes billions of dollars in climate funding to less affluent nations. It was not charity, but something similar to compensation. The idea is that the industrialized nations of the early and mid-twentieth century became rich in part by burning oil, gas, and coal. Climate change caused by emissions from initial industrialization poses the greatest threat to developing countries, which have already contributed much less to global warming.
…
The United States owes no debt to developing countries. Even the poorest countries use mobile phones and other technologies mostly developed by the UK and the US, to improve their lives. Poor fishers in Africa use mobile phones to find the best market for their catch. People who earn a few dollars a day in the Philippines pay a dime to get on a gas-powered vehicle. Electricity for cooling, which comes mainly from fossil fuel-powered generators, is a game changer for the poor with access. Textbooks are mass-produced and the Internet has improved lives, job prospects, and incomes around the world.
All these life-enhancing technologies were only possible because of the industrial revolution that NPR greatly despised.
If the leaders of developing countries want to build for their people a sea wall, or other “climate” mitigation public works, they should scrap it and organize the construction of projects. their own civil engineering, using their own materials and resources, rather than expecting the United States or other rich nations to trigger their democratic incompetence by parachuting in a cargo crate pile of cash to solve all their money problems.
Related
