Who Dun It?

by Claire Tighe

To ask the question: “Who is responsible for climate change?” is to open a matrix of complicated answers that only best attempts can really suffice. If climate change is “The Issue of Our Time,” then answering this query might be the “Pending-Question-Upon-Which-Our-Future-Rests of Our Time.” The question “Who is responsible for climate change?” actually assumes two interlocking debates: 1.) Who, which in the frame of international negotiations implies “nation state,” is responsible for the actual global changes in the Earth’s climate and 2.) Who is responsible for fixing the problem? And the answer might sound familiar to members of the Facebook generation. It’s complicated.

At the heart of this question lies the separation of ideologies between the global North and global South, who assume different points-of-view on the responsibility for global climate change. Developed countries of the global North will argue for less responsibility than the global South will let them get away with.

Aggegrate Contributions of Major GHG Emitting Countries: CAIT tool

Are the largest historic emitters of greenhouse gases, the United States and Great Britain, responsible for our current situation? Or the current largest emitters? Should emissions be calculated as an aggregate? Or based upon a number of factors, as suggest in the book A Climate of Injustice by Roberts and Parks. According the authors, states’ contributions to climate change can be statistically calculated by accounting for factors such as “national wealth, trade intensity, population, geography, institutions, and industrial structure.” Scientists, activists, and states could argue without end, tirelessly pointing fingers to solve the greatest “Who Dun It?” mystery of all time.

It is more important that currently, all of the nation-states on the planet are facing one of the largest challenges of all time. Rather than debate whose past is dirtiest (energy pun intended), states might be better off focusing more upon the legality of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change. Article 3 sums up an answer quite nicely. It reads, “the parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities. Accordingly, the developed country Parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof.” Although Article 3 does not cover all of the complexities of the problem, it does provide a starting point. A “framework,” if you will.

Sources:

United Nations Framework on Climate Change, 1992.

Climate Analysis Indicators Tool, http://cait.wri.org/figures.php?page=ntn/2-3.

Roberts and Parks. A Climate of Injustice. 133-184.