America and other developed countries hold huge responsibilities to poor Asian, African and South American countries, where the impact of global warming is wreaking havoc.
America’s carbon emissions, past and present, has contributed immensely to the suffering of vulnerable nations.
For example, the Nile in sub-Saharan Africa is drying up, leading to food competition, forced migration and political uneasiness.
Pakistan, in the summer of 2022, was also devastated by a rain flood that killed about 1,500 people, with climate change playing a big role.
Global warming causes climate change.
The science behind global warming is that the Earth’s temperature increases due to trapped heat caused by human activities such as fossil burning and deforestation.
This then leads to melting glaciers, rising sea levels, drought, flood rains and other disasters.
Although one will reason that countries with the highest contribution to carbon emission will suffer more consequences, however, the reverse is the case.
Developing countries contribute a minimal amount of carbon emissions, yet they suffer the most consequence.
Pakistan, for example, contributed 0.8% to global emissions yet saw one-third of its nation flooded in the summer of 2022, while countries like the United States, China, Russia, the U.K. and European Union countries with the most carbon emission experience relatively small consequences.
The Industrial Revolution in the 1870s was the catalyst for the increase in carbon emissions. Nations that have benefitted from industrialization at a cost to the environment, such as the United States, Britain and other developed countries, should take it upon themselves to contribute more to the alleviation of these effects.
The ease and comfort of driving in cars on the stress of Los Angeles should not come at the cost of displaced Pakistani citizens.
Economic and infrastructure development should not come at the cost of the environment.
The Paris Agreement established in 2010 seeks to alleviate the suffering of disaster-affected countries by encouraging developed nations to “take the lead in providing financial assistance to countries that are less endowed and more vulnerable.”
However, no enforcement exists in terms of how much these countries do.
“The funding is sometimes voluntary, so depending on what is going on politically in those nations, it may or may not be funded,” said Elizabeth Ritacca, an environmental history professor at Citrus.
This proved to be true when former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement on June 1, 2017, citing the unfair burden it places on American workers and taxpayers.
This move was ironic, given the fact that the United States, according to Our World in Data, “has emitted more CO2 than any other country to date: at around 400 billion (tons) since 1751, it is responsible for 25% of historical emissions.”
Thankfully, the U.S., under President Joe Biden, rejoined the Paris Agreement on Feb. 19, 2021.
Ritacca said wealthy nations should acknowledge their debt to the rest of the world and pitch in, but this seems bleak due to politics.
America, as a leading nation, needs to own up to its past environmental mistakes and make drastic changes, such as making huge shifts from coal-driven energy to solar-driven energy.
However, this will be challenging as it will take a lot of money, which means higher taxes for Americans. But paying higher taxes is small compared to an unlivable world.
America also needs to quit making the issue of climate change a partisan issue, which makes it harder to deal with.
“Whether we like it or not, the U.S. does have a leadership role in the world,” Ritacca said, and other nations will follow suit.
Right now, it seems like the U.S. is falling behind, and countries like the Netherlands and some European countries are starting to get proactive by increasing the use of bikes to get around.
The evidence of climate change on the vulnerable is glaring, which proves that it is a social justice issue.
Because of global warming, Ethiopia is currently facing a drought that, in turn, is hurting farmers. Agriculture is not as productive, and livestock is decreasing.
A lot of internal and external migration by citizens from affected countries is also related to climate change.
For survival, residents of countries hit by disasters and drought will have no choice but to migrate because people will look for opportunities elsewhere.
“There is also going to be a lot of migration and people are going to have to get on board with that,” Ritacca said.
To make things equitable for vulnerable countries, citizens of developed nations need to put pressure on their governments to take the issue of climate change seriously.
The news media in America, for example, need to tell more international stories that show the impact of climate change on developing countries.
American media needs to show they care about the world by aggressively looking for international stories to create awareness.
National news needs to move from being a 30-minute package filled with 15 minutes of commercials to actually devoting good chunks of time to climate news.
“News informs what voters care about and what voters care about is what politicians are going to focus on,” Ritacca said.
The U.N. also has to find a way to hold wealthy nations accountable to contribute to funds that help developing nations cope with the effects of global warming and to develop in a sustainable way.
“There really is no way forward unless you get buy-in from wealthier nations,” Ritacca said.
