The 'Carbon Neutral Clock' Runs on Money

COP26 Heading Toward Disaster... India Declares "Carbon Neutrality by 2070"
10 Years Later Than China and Russia, 20 Years Behind US, UK, EU, Japan, and Korea
Clear Divide Between Developed and Developing Countries... Pressure for "1 Trillion Dollar" Support

On the 1st (local time) in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, where the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) is being held, members of the international relief organization Oxfam performed a demonstration urging solutions to the climate crisis by wearing masks of various world leaders and mimicking a bagpipe band. COP26, which opened on the 31st of last month and runs until the 12th, gathers about 30,000 people including over 120 world leaders, delegations, activists, businesspeople, and media personnel to discuss solutions to the climate crisis.
Glasgow (UK) = Reuters·Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] India, which had not disclosed a carbon neutrality target, is ultimately driving the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) to a crisis.

Bloomberg reported on the 1st (local time) that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised all COP26 participants by announcing a plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070.

The year 2070 is 10 years later than China and Russia, which have set 2060 as their carbon neutrality target and have been criticized by the international community. Compared to the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), Japan, and South Korea, which have set 2050 as the target, it is 20 years later.

On the same day, Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the chair country of COP26, announced the opening of COP26 with an urgent warning that "the Doomsday Clock is one minute to midnight, and we must act now." Johnson insisted, "We must defuse the climate change bomb," but Modi effectively threw a bomb instead.

This confirmed a clear difference in stance between developed countries advocating for 2050 and developing countries saying it is difficult before 2060. The fundamental reason for such a clear difference between developed and developing countries is the enormous cost involved in responding to climate change.

Developing countries view that developed countries accumulated wealth by recklessly emitting greenhouse gases during industrialization. Developing countries argue that although countries like the United States, China, India, and Russia currently emit a lot of greenhouse gases, the real culprits of global warming are the developed countries that emitted large amounts of greenhouse gases during industrialization. This is partly accepted by developed countries as well. Therefore, at COP15 held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009, developed countries promised to provide $100 billion annually to help developing countries respond to climate change. However, this support promise has not been fulfilled.

As a result, developing countries are revealing accumulated dissatisfaction by not readily agreeing to the United States and Europe’s 2050 carbon neutrality goal. Prime Minister Modi pointed out that India accounts for 17% of the world’s population but only 5% of carbon emissions, targeting the past greenhouse gas emission behavior of developed countries.

Modi went a step further, stating, "Developed countries must quickly gather $1 trillion for climate change response." He pressured developed countries by demanding an amount ten times the $100 billion annually promised to developing countries. Modi added, "Developed countries have not kept their support promises, and therefore justice will pressure them."

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that India’s announced 2070 carbon neutrality aligns with the 2019 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) under the United Nations. At that time, the IPCC analyzed that to limit the global temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, carbon neutrality must be achieved by 2050 for carbon dioxide and by 2070 for all greenhouse gases.

Unlike India, Brazil announced a 2050 carbon neutrality plan.

Joaqim Leite, Brazil’s Minister of the Environment attending COP26 on behalf of President Jair Bolsonaro, presented the goal of "reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% compared to 2005 by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050." Minister Leite added, "The greenhouse gas emission reduction target by 2030 has been raised from the previous 43%."

However, Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 9.5% last year compared to the previous year, and environmental groups are questioning the Brazilian government’s commitment to emission reduction goals due to the Bolsonaro administration prioritizing economic development benefits and damaging the Amazon rainforest.

Nepal and Thailand also announced carbon neutrality targets for 2045 and 2050, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.