Communication: "Why should we bear the consequences of the climate created by developed countries?" --Questions from representatives of developing countries attending COP26

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Xinhua News Agency, Glasgow, England, November 11, 2019 Newsletter: "Why should we bear the consequences of the climate created by developed countries? --Questions from representatives of developing countries attending COP26

Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Dailei JinJing

Is it fair that developed countries have created a climate crisis that has led to global warming, but the first victims are developing countries? During the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, several representatives of developing countries present at the meeting raised the same question and demanded that developed countries shoulder their historical responsibilities.

On November 9, during the twenty-sixth conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow, Uk. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Han Yan

"Pakistan, which emits less than 1 percent of the world's carbon emissions, is one of the countries most affected by climate change. It is very unfair that the climate consequences created by the developed countries are borne by us. Pakistan's climate change minister Malik Amin Aslam said in an interview with Xinhua news agency reporters at the COP26 venue.

Aslam, who is also a climate change adviser to Pakistan's prime minister, said that Pakistan faces extreme weather events such as glacier melting, high temperature heat waves, hurricanes, etc., and the frequency and intensity of these events are gradually increasing, seriously affecting people's lives and national economic development.

"Therefore, we participate in this climate change conference with hope, and strongly call on the developed countries that cause these climate problems to face up to and shoulder their historical responsibilities to help developing countries like Pakistan cope with climate change." He said.

He noted that developed countries in particular need to deliver on the climate funding pledges they made as early as 2009 as soon as possible to avoid turning the $100 billion annual commitment into empty talk.

"The pledge of $100 billion a year from developed countries is a disappointment for developing countries for more than a decade," Aslam said. Young people around the world are calling on developed countries to provide real climate action, not climate illusions. ”

Speaking about Pakistan's green energy and technology projects, Aslam said that Pakistan and China have carried out extensive cooperation in the field of climate change, including participating in the construction of the green "Belt and Road", jointly building hydropower stations, and greening the Gobi Desert.

"As a developing country, China is the country with the largest green transition. China is building an ecological civilization based on low-carbon development, and I know that China must do what it says, and the construction of ecological civilization proposed by China is not empty talk, but practical action. All parts of China are taking action to make great strides in the direction of green development. He praised.

Like Aslam, The Pacific island nation papua new guinea's environment minister, Vera Morrie, has a packed schedule at COP26. In between negotiations, he took time to interview reporters and calculated a "climate account" owed by developed countries.

He said that due to the impact of global warming, the waters of Papua New Guinea have warmed up, the number of important marine organisms such as tuna has plummeted, and fishery revenues have declined; sea levels have risen, and some infrastructure such as coastal roads have been destroyed; the Katerrit Islands have become uninhabitable due to rising seawater, and thousands of islanders need to be resettled. "By the most obvious of these, we suffer at least $100 million in economic losses each year. If you add the maintenance costs invested, the loss is even higher. ”

To that end, the environment minister shouted to developed countries: "Developed countries must fulfil their basic obligations. Because of their industrialization activities, we are victims of global climate problems and are suffering the climate consequences they create. This is absolutely unfair. ”

He said developed countries should not shift the responsibility for climate change to developing countries such as China, because "developed countries are mainly responsible for the current climate and ecological damage." They should not take an unjust stance against developing countries. ”

He believes that developed countries must continue to reduce their carbon emissions and participate in a series of actions to deal with climate change, while compensating for the less developed countries most affected by climate change.

Morrie hopes that the negotiations at this climate change conference will make substantial progress, that developed countries can truly shoulder their historical responsibilities and fulfill their commitments, and that "we do not want to leave with disappointment."