THE CHALLENGES OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH DEBATE ON CLIMATE CHANGE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The north and south debate on climate change brings us a picture of two disparate regions of the world, the developed north and the developing south. From the outset and up to the current both are at a disagreement over the issue on climate change, particularly on climate finance. Climate finance refers to financing efforts to reduce emission and secure adaptation to climate change. The developing countries however remained skeptical of the developed countries assurances of public funding, and private finance, and the institutional and governance structures for both fundings. (Stewart, Kingsbury and Rudyk, n.d.)
To understand the north and south disparity on climate change particularly over the issue of climate finance brings us to two major critical approaches: Dependency Theory and World Systems Theory. Dependency theory developed during the 1950’s maintains that developed countries exploit a developing countries’ natural resources in exchange of investments or loans through for example, the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the latter of which develops colonial dependency on the developing country and holds them in a subservient position (Mc Guigan, 2011). The World Systems Theory by Wallerstein draws from the idea of dependency theory and divides the world economy into two hierarchies of power, the core and the periphery and into sectors of division of labor with the south as the source of all raw materials for the consumption of the affluent north (Vela, 2001).
The powerful core refers to the developed north that controls most of the world’s resources, the marginalized periphery refers to the developing south that owns the natural resources that are exploited by the capitalistic north. The impasse between the north and south over the issue of climate change and its mitigation and adaptation illuminates the fact that the two disparate regions have different priorities. While the north takes economic development as its overarching goal, the south struggles to push for industrial development while juggling between paying its financial debts to its creditors, which is of course the north’s WB and IMF or overseas development assistance (ODA) agencies, and the serious impacts of climate change on its very vulnerable environmental condition with its already depleted forests. These are reasons enough that developing countries resist proposals of the developed countries. Such as for instance on December 15, 2004, during the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-10), “Argentine President Kirchner accused the north of double standards, noting that while they are relentlessly pursuing the poorer countries of the south for repayment of their financial debts they are avoiding and delaying payment of their environmental debt to the developing world” (Valente, 2004). In February 2008 during a UN General Assembly on climate change, developing countries expressed their views on the 2007 Bali Roadmap. St. Vincent and the Grenadines in particular, raised the issue of developing countries having to shift to climate-friendly technologies while continuing to pay for infrastructure that is no longer viable, which were funded and designed by foreign funders. “It considers ‘illogical and immoral’ for developing countries to continue to pay developed creditor states for these items that are no longer useful.” (Raman, 2008).
The seemingly lack of commitment of developed countries on climate finance makes it obvious that their priorities are a far-cry from the urgency of mitigating the impacts of climate change. While consumption in the affluent societies are fed by the developing countries through exploitation of their natural resources, the exploited south suffers from a very vulnerable environmental condition. While Americans emit more carbon dioxide per capita than anyone on earth, the most Sub-Saharan Africans emit less than a ton per person per year (Mazur, 2010). And yet the environmental conditions of the Sub-Saharan Africa or any developing country for that matter face a greater risk to the effects of climatic changes and its economic repercussions.
The confrontation by the developing south continues until the critical issues are addressed to ensure that the developing south will finally cut the dependency ties it has had developed with the north over the long years of colonization and neo-colonization and free them from the bondage of a subservient role vis a vis the rich countries.
The wariness of the developing countries’ over the issues on climate change is a manifestation that developing countries, aware of their vulnerable position in the hierarchy of power, wants to mitigate the long-term repercussion by coming up with a positive and mutually agreed upon framework of the institutional and governance structure of climate finance and other climate change imperatives that will be mutually beneficial for the north and the developing south in the name of sustainability and equitability.
REFERENCES
Mazur, Laurie, 2010.The World Needs Population Justice: A Reply to Ian Angus on Women’s Rights, Population and Climate Change: The Debate Continues, 7 March. [online] Available at: <http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=1821> [Accessed 23 April 2011].
Mc Guigan, Brendan, 2011. What is dependency theory? Harris, Bronwyn ed.[online] (Updated 22 April 2011) Available at: < http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-dependency-theory.htm> [Accessed 24 April 2011].
Raman, Meena, 2008. North-South differences in UN General Assembly climate debate. Published in SUNS #6415, 15 Feb. [online] Available at: <http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/climate/info.service/climate.change.20080204.htm> [Accessed 23 April 2011].
Stewart, Richard, Benedict Kingbury and Bryce Rudyk, n.d. Climate Finance: Key Concepts and Ways Forward. Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements: Viewpoints. [online] Available at: <http://www.iilj.org/climatefinance/documents/CF-KeyConcepts.pdf> [Accessed 24 April 2011].
Valente, M., 2004. Argentine President Heats Up North-South Debate. ISPS News.Net, 15 Dec. [online] Available at: <http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=26695> [Accessed 23 April 2011].
Vela, Carlos A Martinez, 2001.World Systems Theory. [online] Available at: < http://web.mit.edu/esd.83/www/notebook/WorldSystem.pdf> [Accessed 24 April 2011].
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