The first world trouble: What does ideal climate leadership look like?
Climate change is a gradual process that has compounded in impact over the years. The solutions to climate change are just as gradual — policy changes, behavioral nudges, and social sanctions take years to embed in the psyche of a population. In this context, climate leadership becomes a necessary tool for success. Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States backtracked on many of its major commitments with regards to climate change, including a formal withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. One may wonder, why does the decision of one country make headlines across the globe? Why would an esteemed science journal like Nature publish an article detailing the damage Trump has done to science in general and why it could take decades to recover? The answer to these questions lies in the position of the US in the development cycle of the world. Before the concerns of climate change, emissions, and depleting water resources became a global concern, countries like the US and Europe remained consistent emitters of greenhouse gasses. Over centuries, the developed countries have benefitted from unbridled use of fossil fuels to achieve high rates of production and export. Experts argue that this position of the developed countries requires them to now lead the fight against climate change. Climate leadership is not just an environmental issue but also an ethical one.
Third world countries require resources, fossil fuel, and other raw material to facilitate their production processes and help their economies grow. Climate related challenges become impediments in this process. Thus, developing countries face the brunt of, and are unfairly impacted by collective action.
Moreover, recent research suggests that the economic gap between rich countries in colder regions and poor countries in hotter portions of the world is widening as a result of climate change. This is caused, at least in part, by the poorer nations’ relative incapacity to pay for the initiatives required to lessen the effects of climate change, such as more extreme weather events and the loss of arable land in subsistence economies.
An ideal state of ‘Climate leadership’ can be achieved by acknowledging these disparities and a “showing by doing” approach to climate action. With the election of President Joe Biden in the US, the country has rejoined the international efforts to tackle climate change — it has an opportunity to bridge the leadership gap. President Biden is now consulting with climate experts
to build a holistic cross-departmental strategy for tackling climate change. It’s commitment to renewable sources of energy and its low-carbon transition can economically and diplomatically incentivize many small countries to do the same.
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