Who will pay for the climate crisis?

Nepal has demanded climate compensation after the recent devastating landslides and floods that killed thousands and caused widespread damage. The question that Nepal has raised by demanding compensation from major emitters like the United States, India, and China is not unique to Nepal. Rather, it is one of the world’s biggest justice questions: who will ultimately pay for the damage caused by climate change? To find the answer to this question, we need to look back. Since the Industrial Revolution, much of the world’s economic growth has been based on coal, oil, and gas. These fuels have fueled unprecedented prosperity in the economies, urbanization, and lifestyles of industrialised countries. But the environmental costs of that prosperity are not just on their shoulders.

Global warming is increasing, sea levels are rising, rainfall patterns are changing, cyclones and heat waves are intensifying, droughts are getting longer in some places, and the risk of floods and landslides is increasing in others. And the biggest impact of all this is often falling on countries that have played a relatively small role in creating this crisis. This is where the biggest paradox of climate change lies. The countries or populations that have contributed the least to global warming often suffer the most. A coastal farmer in Bangladesh, a small farmer in Africa, or a family in a remote village in the Himalayas did not make the decision to join the global carbon economy. But they are paying the price of climate change with their lives and livelihoods. So the question arises, is this just bad luck, or is it a matter of responsibility? This is where the concept of climate justice comes into play. Not all countries are equally responsible for the climate crisis, nor are all countries…