Insufficient Aid to Developing Countries

Our world is thriving. Our world is falling apart. Both are true. 

Your perception of the world’s state may be dramatically different from someone else’s depending on where you live. Living in a developing country, your perception is probably grim—your life overshadowed by the realities of climate change.

This difference in perception was seen evidently in the 29th Conference of the Parties concluding yesterday (COP29). The conference ended with a deal for developed countries to pay poorer, often still developing, countries $300 billion annually to combat the catastrophic impacts of climate change. 

This sounds like a lot. It’s not. Many of the “rich countries” representatives were “amazed” by the discontent over this deal from developing countries (BBC). For good reason—this number would need to be 4.3 times higher in order to effectively help these countries. 

India’s representative, Chandni Raina, referred to the deal as “abysmally poor”, and called the deal “nothing more than an optical illusion”. China and Saudi Arabia are still classified as developing countries, raising the question of their responsibility in advancing environmental justice efforts of which developed countries cannot currently.

“We have arrived at the boundary between what is politically achievable today in developed countries and what would make a difference in developing countries,” said Avinash Persaud, special advisor on climate change to the President of the Inter-American Development Bank.

This story brings into light once more the importance of our individual efforts against climate change. We, at The Leaflet, want to remind you that by subscribing to this newsletter, you are making a difference. But don’t stop there; don’t stop recycling, don’t stop composting, don’t stop being mindful of your practices, don’t stop educating yourself about what you can do. 

Don’t stop changing the world for the betterment of others and our planet.

~ Seamus Haney

The majority of the information in this article comes from CNN.

Photo credit: Reuters