Pakistan flooding highlights climate racism
MSNBCAug 31, 2022
Pakistan Official: Rich Nations Should Pay Reparations for Climate Change
Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The Facts
Pakistan's minister for climate change, Sherry Rehman, stated on Sun. that rich countries should pay reparations for their role in causing climate disasters faced by poorer nations.
In an interview, Rehman suggested, "There is so much loss and damage with so little reparations to countries that contributed so little to the world's carbon footprint that obviously the bargain made between the global north and global south is not working."
The Spin
Left narrative
A third of Pakistan has been submerged by torrential floods, and 33M people are displaced due to the actions of the industrialized world. The global north has so far ignored the humanitarian crises from climate change because of its apathy toward poorer nations like Pakistan. This climate colonialism cannot be allowed to continue, and rich countries must be held accountable for their destruction of the environment.
Right narrative
Committing to climate reparations could see nations like the US on the hook for billions of dollars for decades or even centuries. People need to stop attempting to guilt rich nations into paying outrageous amounts to countries that have failed to adapt and invest in their infrastructure. The US, and its people, are facing enough of their economic challenges without paying unjustified reparations or taking on so-called "climate refugees".
Nerd narrative
There's an 85% chance there will be at least 2˚C degrees of global warming by 2100, according to the Metaculus prediction community.