India on Thursday criticized developed countries for creating the climate crisis during a historic hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), saying they exploited the global carbon budget, failed to honor climate-finance promises and are now demanding What we are doing is that developing countries limit their resources. Use.
The court is examining what legal obligations countries have to tackle climate change and what the consequences are if they fail.
Arguing on behalf of India, Luther M Rangrezi, joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said, “If the contribution to the decline is unequal, the responsibility should also be unequal.”
India said that despite contributing the least to climate change, developing countries are most affected by climate change.
“The developed world, which historically contributed the most, is ironically best equipped with the technological and economic means to meet this challenge,” Rangrezi said.
He criticized rich countries for enjoying the benefits of fossil fuels while discouraging developing countries from using their own energy resources.
He said, “Countries that have benefited from development by exploiting fossil fuels demand that developing countries not use the national energy resources available to them.”
India also criticized the lack of action on climate-finance commitments.
India said, “The pledge by developed country parties to double the contribution to the Adaptation Fund and the US$100 billion made at the Copenhagen COP in 2009 has not yet been translated into any concrete action.”
It called the new climate finance package for the Global South agreed at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan “too small, too far” to meet the immediate needs of developing countries.
India stressed the principle of fairness, saying, “If contributions to global environmental degradation are unequal, responsibility must also be unequal.”
India also reaffirmed its commitment to its climate goals under the Paris Agreement, but warned against placing excessive burden on its citizens.
It said, “There is a limit to how much burden we impose on our citizens, even when India is pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals for one-sixth of humanity.”
The hearing is the result of years of campaigning by the Pacific Island countries and Vanuatu, which led to a UN resolution asking for an advisory opinion from the ICJ. Over the next two weeks, 98 countries, including small island nations and major emitters, will present their views.
Although non-binding, the ICJ’s opinion could set a moral and legal benchmark in the global fight against climate change.
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