One of the biggest ideas in the world of climate change today is a very old concept recycled (naturally) to address the times.
It’s “reparations,” the idea/demand that developed nations in the West should pay developing nations for the suffering and damage Western carbon emissions have inflicted on them. The wealth transfer isn’t specifically called “reparations.” Rather it’s called a “loss and damage fund.”
The emotional pitch for this fund is payback for European colonialism:
“The practice of colonialism transferred the rich resources of Asia and Africa to Europe to industrialize their countries, which is also the root cause of climate change — the consequences of which we, the poor countries, are forced to suffer,” President Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka told the gathering this week. “Adding insult to injury, damages caused by extreme weather conditions are increasing and their impact is exceedingly costly.”
This makes grand assumptions about guilt, innocent and restitution. But it also raises very practical questions about old-fashioned, home-grown corruption that resides at the heart of much of the developing world’s problems. As Reason’s Ron Bailey writes:
The proposed system [the loss and damage fund] would channel funds from rich-country taxpayers to poor-country governments. And these governments suffer from pervasive corruption.
In its latest analysis, Transparency International reports that the average corruption perception score index for sub-Saharan countries is 33 out of a possible score of 100. G77 leader Pakistan scores 28. One reason people living in poor countries remain especially vulnerable to climate change is because government thievery and incompetence have held back the economic growth that would enable them to create the wealth with which to defend themselves. Even if rich countries were willing to pony up tens of billions in climate reparations, very little of the money would likely reach the citizens who are suffering the brunt of weather disasters.
No one in the developing world wants to admit they have a kleptocracy problem – that’s both an inconvenient truth and a rotten sales pitch. And so the catch-all reason for all problems, great, small and otherwise, is climate change. Even when it’s corruption layered with incompetence.
The U.S. has not agreed to, nor has any intention, of contributing to a global loss and damage fund. That goes double in the run-up to a presidential election. If the European Union wishes to pay for its colonialist sins through such a fund, then, by all means, pay up. Just don’t be surprised if the reparations do little to nothing to ease climate-induced suffering…but do lead to several autocrats having well-funded escape plans if the water gets too high.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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With that senile old fool we have as president running around the world giving our money away, it’s a good thing that it takes congresses approval for things like that. Thank goodness we have a new team taking over in the House come January, so they will be able to stop the bleeding this senile president is causing.
NOT falling for guilt trip since they who preach climate crisis DONT even drive or own EVs to begin with
Will the reparation money go directly into the Swiss bank accounts of the dictators or will suitcases of $110 bills be dropped off at the presidential palace?
Or will the “Big Guy” get his ten percent?
I call it “stealing my money”.