By Binu Mathew
Climate change is a threat facing the whole of humanity. The real generators of this crisis are the developed economies of the Global North. They found a way to circumvent the moral responsibility and it is called ‘Carbon Credit System’.
The global north will go on emitting CO2 without changing their lifestyle and the poor countries in the Global South will offset it with planting trees etc.
Now Indonesia has put forward an ambitious plan to earn $65 Billion by ‘greening’ its economy and landscape by 2028! They will even create a ministry to implement the project!
Yes, the ‘greening’ and the reduction of carbon emissions should happen in every part of the world. Why should Indonesia should take extra effort? It’s called ‘carbon colonialism’!
The global north would emit to their heart’s content but the global south must offset it! Of course by bribing them with precious DOLLARS that’s much needed for their survival as a global economy!
Meanwhile the global south will pay with human lives as climate calamities will hit them the hardest as they don’t have the disaster preparedness of the Global North. An example is what happened in Wayanad recently and in other parts of the world. The victims hardly contributed anything to worsen climate change.
The irony is that ‘ecologists’ like Madhav Gadgil will go on blaming the victims of natural calamities caused by climate change and the local ‘eco-warriors’ will go so far as to demand the depopulation of vulnerable areas like the Western Ghats! I don’t know if they know it or not the idea is an extension of the ‘Carbon Credit’ regime.
The Government of India is not much different from the Indonesian government. They covet the Dollar and will go to whatever extent to please their Western Masters at the cost of the local population.
The Indonesian model is a clear example that ‘Carbon Credit’ is a neo-colonial ‘climate project’.
The jet-setting pop star and climate warrior Taylor Swift’s carbon footprint for 2023 was 1200 tons of CO2. The carbon footprint of the billionaire Elon Musk who built the ‘eco-friendly’ Tesla is around 2000 tons of CO2. Bill Gates even claims he buys carbon credit to offset his profligate lifestyle. The average carbon footprint of an average American is 16 tons per year.
Nigeria is now going through one of the worst floods in decades. Heavy rains and a dam collapse have left more than a million people homeless and caused scores of deaths. The average carbon footprint of a Nigerian is only 0.56 ton/ year!
Last week floods devastated millions of people in Bangladesh, with at least a hundred people dead. The carbon footprint of a Bangladeshi is only 0.65 ton/ year.
The question is why should the global south pay for the profligacy of the likes of Taylor Swift, Elon Musk and the like?
The earth is our only home and we should protect it collectively and not at the cost of vulnerable communities of the global sout
Binu Mathew is the editor of Countercurrents.org. He can be reached at editor@countercurrents.org
