REACTION: IPCC impacts report makes ‘burning case’ for climate reparations
Date: 28 February 2022
Campaigns: Climate
Responding to the release of the IPCC Report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (1), Daniel Willis, climate campaigner at Global Justice Now said:
The horrendous inequality of the climate impacts detailed in this report makes a burning case for climate reparations. Over 3 billion people, the vast majority in the global south, are highly vulnerable to a crisis to which they have contributed comparatively little. Yet rich countries like the UK, which have fuelled global warming through centuries of fossil fuel expansion, will be protected from the worst impacts despite seeing yet more extreme weather and flooding.
“The bottom line is that rich countries must pay up for the loss and damage they have caused. For all the Prime Minister’s claims to have made ‘cash’ a priority at COP26, the rich world failed in Glasgow to meet the minimal $100 billion climate finance target. Money for adaptation remains severely lacking, and a genuine loss and damage fund has been repeatedly blocked by rich countries. The UK’s $3 billion a year of climate finance falls catastrophically short of its fair share of $46 billion, given its historic contribution to global warming.(2)
“The last week has reminded us of why international co-operation is vital in times of crisis. As well as increasing grant-based finance, rich countries must consider how they atone for this man-made disaster through a programme of climate reparations. Cancelling debts, dismantling the fossil fuel industry, rapidly accelerating emissions reductions targets, and removing intellectual property on green technologies can all contribute to a just response to the devastating path we find ourselves on.”
Notes
1. Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/02/28/pr-wgii-ar6/
2. For more information on climate finance and the UK’s fair share, please see the Global Justice Now report Financing justice? UK climate finance and how to increase ambition at COP26: https://bit.ly/3hYycuJ
Estimate of UK’s fair share of climate finance from statement by leaders from the global south: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57839368
Media contact
Jonathan Stevenson, Global Justice Now
+44 7711 875345
[email protected]
Global Justice Now is a UK-based campaigning organisation working in solidarity with social movements to fight the causes of poverty and injustice.
Image: Toa55/Shutterstock
