Residents in North West Canada, parts of the United States’ mainland around Texas, Maui, an island in Hawaii, parts of Spain, parts of Africa, and parts of South Asia, including Bangladesh, have been dealing with a severe climate crisis and ensuing disasters since the second half of July. A few hundred people have died as a result of this scenario, and several homes and infrastructures have been severely damaged.
The Middle East and North Africa, where this year’s summer has been extremely hot, have also been affected by climate change. Many people in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Syria, and Iraq have suffered grave consequences. In the middle of August, temperatures in Iraq have often exceeded 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Iraq is one of the five nations in this region that the United Nations has identified as being most affected by the consequences of climate change. The drought there has now lasted for four years in a row for the people.
Early in July, violent storms hit the northern part of Texas, where residents were already coping with deadly heat waves. Homes had been destroyed by flash flooding a month earlier, which prompted the governor of Texas to proclaim a disaster. In this perspective, it’s important to remember what happened in Texas in 2017, when Hurricane Harvey and severe flooding led to the total destruction of over 15,000 homes and damage estimated at close to US$125 billion.
The state of Vermont saw severe floods at the beginning of July, which severely damaged bridges and roadways. Environmentalists noted that in certain sections of the State, approximately 10 inches of rain fell in a single day. US President Joe Biden declared an emergency as a result of the flooding’s disastrous levels.
In Asia, particularly in the hilly areas of northern India, warming has virtually doubled over the past 30 years, according to careful examination. Inappropriate human activity has also occurred, such as road cutting, terracing, deforestation, and changes in agriculture where foods are cultivated that need more water. Additionally factored into this calculation are concrete structures, hotels with waterfront locations, and bed-and-breakfasts that are encroaching on seashores, mountain slopes, riverbanks, and basins. Not just in India but also in Bangladesh, especially in the southeast, this has come to pass. Massive rainfall has been occurring in several parts of India and Bangladesh since the latter week of July and the beginning of August. This has not only resulted in terrible fatalities and destruction but
It is important to keep in mind that wealthy countries are primarily responsible for the current climate problem. The historical emissions and accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG) during the past 200 years are primarily their fault. On the other hand, developing nations, particularly those in the tropics and subtropics, have been impacted by the present global warming. LDCs and other developing nations with lower incomes require financial support and other resources in order to increase their resilience and advance their attempts to move forward despite the increasing climate issue. The participation of the wealthier nations has been less than ideal, as was made clear at recent international climate change conferences. In the majority of cases, developing countries have been left to better handle the issue on their own.
The scenario where climate finance looks to have grown more commercial than concessional has been brought to light by analysts involved in the field. The necessary steps to improve climate justice are being neglected in favour of not being able to confront the situation in an effective manner. This terrible situation does not imply that wealthy countries are making an attempt to fulfil the vow to have an annual financial contribution of roughly US$100 billion made at the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference. Environmentalists predicted that by 2020, this number would be reached, and that it would then rise much higher. Unfortunately, the most recent conference hosted by French President Macron did not show any forward movement. Instead than providing additional cash for adaptation to assist developing nations in coping,
It is regrettable that the WB has taken its time and is already years behind schedule on climate finance. With new activities only expected to become aligned from mid-2023, it is not even in line with the non-binding 2015 Paris Agreement goals. Analysts have also noted that the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, two WB subsidiaries, will only align in the middle of 2025. Though unsettling, the World Bank’s 2017 Maximising Finance for Development report maintains that commercial finance is the primary source of funding for both development and climate change. This has been taken to mean that the World Bank wants more private commercial financing for development and the mitigation of climate change impacts.
For obvious reasons, leaders of developing nations and members of civil society have expressed opposition to this arrangement. They have indicated that such an effort is likely to make it even more difficult to secure the funding needed to address losses and damages.
Due to its own regulatory and legal structure, the World Bank may find it challenging to take the desired action, but if they are unable to do so on their own, they may consider an alternative course of action. The World Bank may take seriously alternative actions that would enable them to assist the UN in creating and implementing a thorough framework for monitoring and reporting on all development and climate finance, including private finance.
According to JK Sundaram and KW Yang, the World Bank may become far more egalitarian by guaranteeing that all nations develop sustainably while addressing the climate problem by acknowledging the international and intergenerational injustices of global warming. Although such a move may encounter opposition from the UN Security Council, it will serve to highlight the need for polluters to pay in accordance with the principles of shared but differentiated responsibility that are inscribed in global climate agreements. In particular for Africa, the least developed nations, and small island developing states, this is what is needed as a paradigm for climate reparations.