In 1928 Gandhi warned that if India took to industrialism after the manner of the West, it would “strip the world bare like locusts”. A century later, fossil-fuel industrialisation has pushed annual CO2 emissions to nearly 40 billion tonnes and warmed the Earth by about 1.3–1.4°C. In September, UNEP warned that crossing 1.5°C is now inevitable within three to four years.
New peer-reviewed research by Chirag Dhara and Shrutee Jalan asks how hot the world would be if all humanity had lived like the average citizen of one country.
Like the average American, about 3.7°C. Like the average Luxembourger, nearly 4°C. Like the average Qatari, 5°C or more. Like the average Chinese, about 1.2°C. Like the average Indian, about 0.8°C.
Fossil-fuelled growth made a minority rich, while the low-carbon lives of the majority kept the damage in check. That same majority now takes the worst of the disasters.
As COP31 meets in Antalya, the rich nations’ debt must be paid through the UN Loss and Damage fund, free technology and grant finance, as compensation and not as charity.
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/climate-change/cop31-what-will-it-take-to-deliver-climate-justice
