From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

FROM POVERTY TO POWERwithout heavy dependence on fossil fuels – something no country hasever done before. And all this on top of the pressing need to overcomepoverty and inequality.Since industrialised countries bear an overwhelming historicalresponsibility for the excess carbon currently in the atmosphere, theyhave a duty to lead in both mitigation and adaptation efforts, at homeand abroad. This is part of the ‘ecological debt’ rich countries owepoor countries, which has been estimated to exceed the entire developingworld’s actual debt of $1.8 trillion. 216 In other words, the internationalregime must ensure that the richest, most responsible countries stopharming and start helping.The principles of equity that underpin this view are written intothe international climate regime, which states that rich countries‘should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverseeffects thereof’. 217 In addition to the importance of justice in its ownright is the practical relevance of fairness and equity. Developingcountries are unlikely to commit to take action under an internationalclimate regime that is patently unfair. So far, the feeble pledges of richcountries fall far short of requirements. The enormous politicalchallenge that this represents can be seen in the resulting stand-off ininternational climate negotiations.In order to secure an effective international climate regime, richcountries must move quickly to reduce their own emissions (i.e. stopharming), which still continue to rise year-on-year more than 15 yearsafter the UN Climate Convention was signed. In addition, rich countriesmust finance both adaptation and mitigation efforts – includingdevelopment and deployment of relevant technologies – required indeveloping countries (i.e. start helping), to encourage sustainabledevelopment and poverty reduction. In turn, developing countriesmust put these incentives to work by taking steps to build theirresilience to unavoidable climate change, and by moving to lowcarbondevelopment paths themselves.JUST ADAPTATIONEarly on in the climate negotiations, the Alliance of Small Island States(AOSIS) – gravely concerned that climate change could see many of itscountries swallowed up by rising sea levels – raised the prospect of408