The Paris climate conference is well underway, and world leaders and environmentalists have never sounded so optimistic about the possibility of battling climate change, reports Laura Payton of Maclean’s.
However, the divide between rich and poor countries has blocked negotiations so far. Payton writes, “Generally, developed countries are responsible for the bulk of the greenhouse gas production that has warmed the world so far, [and] burning fossil fuels got them to where they are. But they tend to have smaller populations and are [now] emitting less than some of the emerging economies with huge populations, like India and China.”
These emerging economies, she adds, “are still building their industries and don’t want to give up a chance at the kind of growth that could put them on par with the developed world.”
Read: Canada commits $2.65B to climate fund for developing countries
Further, she reports, “The world’s poorest countries […] are often the most affected by climate change but less able to afford to mitigate and adapt to [its] effects.” As a result, there have been debates about how to effectively finance these regions.
Read more on climate change talks may affect the global economy.
Also read:
Commodity prices slip in November
Top investors join Gates and government on clean energy initiative