The Universal problem, but can the solution be Universal?
People all around the world now know that environmental problems are universal. And it indeed is. Earthquakes devastated Japan, catastrophic hurricanes hit Florida, heavy rain flooded Rwanda, and a cyclone killed hundreds of people in Myanmar and Malawi. (US News, Brianna Navarre, Dec.28,2023) Natural disasters don’t discriminate whether the country is rich or poor, prepared or not, resilient or vulnerable. Nonetheless, there is a feature all countries share in common when dealing with these natural catastrophes: no matter in which state the nation is, they need to suffer a huge loss of lives and property.
Image 1. Japan hit by earthquake Noto
To deal with monstrous disasters brought about by climate change, countries took actions such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. In the Kyoto Protocol (1997), the participating countries agreed to reduce greenhouse gasses with each country’s self-set goals. As the protocol specifically mentioned the limit in the emission of GHG is only binding to industrialized countries, it not only liberated the developing nations from the burden of paralleling economic growth and environmental conservation but also realized the disproportion in the responsibility of current climate changes.
Paris Agreement came to bring all nations into action to keep the global temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial level. Countries set their own ‘nationally determined contributions’(NDCs), which is mandatory. The developing country, Afghanistan, for example, set the GHG emission reduction goals of 13.6% in its NDC. But it specifically mentioned that it is a conditional goal, which depends on external support of a total of $17.405B. Not all the developing nations directly ask for financial aid from the developed nations, but the need for financial support is clearly acknowledged in the Paris Agreement itself. Article 9 of the Paris Agreement requires developed nations to provide financial support to help developing nations achieve both mitigation and adaptation under their obligation under the Agreement.
Both the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement - the base of the International Climate Convention- identify the developed nations' responsibility when supporting developing nations' climate betterment policies.
The argument regarding financial aid for developing nations is controversial among the people of developed nations. Some claim that providing financial support might weaken the independence of the developing nations. Others say it takes up too much of our tax money. But when we think about our responsibility in today’s world, we should jointly consider our responsibility in the past; the responsibility that the Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, and the whole UN acknowledged. It is time to acknowledge our responsibilities ourselves and share things we have. To compensate for, to take responsibility for, and to make a livable world for all of the US around the globe.
Written by Somyung Lee
