WASHINGTON, D.C. Dec. 15 (DPI) – Libertarian reformers are calling out the Paris Climate accord for its plan for long-term payments to third-world nations, “pollution reparations” of no-strings-attached cash to political elites in less-developed countries. Critics say such a financial commitment does nothing to limit carbon emissions – and only serves to further strengthen corrupt elites.
According to various news outlets, the landmark climate agreement among nearly 200 nations includes a payment plan to the governments of poor nations beginning in 2020 with annual payments of $100 billion, and increasing annually.
Nick Sorrentino, editor of AgainstCronyCapitalism.org, was skeptical of the ultimate destination of all those funds:
Now let’s just guess whether the crony classes in these poor countries will just happen to pocket all of this “climate mitigation” money. OK, let’s not guess because we know the answer. Of course it’s a scam. But it’s dressed up as “social justice” of course.
Indeed earnest student types will insist (and we saw them in the streets of Paris and elsewhere) that sending bazillions of dollars to the “global south” is the just thing to do. I mean it’s not like that money will just do a giant loop right back up to Swiss bank accounts or anything.
And let’s be clear. Though everyone pays lip service to “the planet” etc., for many the Paris Accords are about getting paid. Simple, crass, crony.
This scheme should not be allowed to happen. (The UN wants to start it up in 2020.) This kind of money will only help to entrench current governments in the developing world. Governments which are often deeply crony – much more so than even our very crony challenged country. The “people” will never see this money.
And by the way, where do you think this money is going to come from so that banana republic “elites” can pad their investment portfolios?
https://reason.com/archives/2015/12/14/a-happy-agreement-in-paris-wont-fix-glob
https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/09/new-paris-draft-climate-accord-unveiled
Even days before the climate accord was reached, the matter of “pollution reparations” to poor countries was a major sticking point:
The holdup is money. Poor country governments want rich country governments to make explicit promises about how much and when climate finance is going to be flowing their way. They don’t want to count loans, export credits, or private investments – climate finance has got to be public money and it’s got to be with no strings attached. As Indian climate negotiator Susheel Kumar explained earlier this week, climate finance is not a donation, it’s an entitlement. Poor countries deserve the money as reparations from rich countries that have wrecked the climate. As it happens, in the current draft of the universal climate accord, rich countries promise to “mobilize” $100 billion annually as climate finance for poor countries by 2020. In fact, they also agree that $100 billion is a floor and that poor countries can expect to get increasingly larger amounts between 2020 and 2030. But that is evidently not satisfactory.
The Times (London) is reporting that poor country negotiators have demanded behind closed doors that rich country governments hand over $3.5 trillion in climate finance, or they will refuse to accept the Paris accord. India alone is seeking $2.5 trillion in climate finance. India’s total GDP in 2014 was just over $2 trillion. This demand may have been sparked by the fact that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry apparently threatened to walk out of conference if the accord was written so as make climate finance a legally binding obligation. He pointed out that Congress would not accept such an obligation. “You can take the U.S. out of this. Take the developed world out of this. Remember, the Earth has a problem. What will you do with the problem on your own?,” Kerry reportedly said.