A Dangerous Crisis in Climate Governance

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Climate is and should be recognised as a national crisis that is threatening the economy and undermining social indicators, writes Aisha Khan.

The Conference of Parties (COP) is an annual climate conference that has been held under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 1995. It is seen as the most effective forum for negotiations on climate issues that require a global consensus on mitigation, adaptation and finance. Since the beginning of this convention, it has been difficult for countries to agree on a mechanism that is acceptable to all, from the cost of energy transition to strengthening the adaptive resilience of vulnerable countries. Every year, the same contentious issues are discussed with grudgingly slow movement in critical areas, plunging middle- and low-income economies into a debt and poverty trap.

Meanwhile, resentment is on the ascendant, polarisation is becoming more acute and people are losing faith in the multilateral system being the best way forward to find just and equitable solutions to the climate crisis. Hope is the only element that keeps people going, but that too is falling victim to despair and delusion. The vacuum is creating space for populist leaders to use uncertainty to inject fear in the minds of people and attract voter appeal for right-wing agendas. The politics of division are threatening to become the new normal. A world confronted by scarcity, and fear of dwindling access to basic provisions and services, is easy for politicians to exploit without providing a roadmap of achievable solutions.


Seen through a wider lens, global climate politics have a way of trickling down to the country level, presenting the same set of problems on a reduced scale.


At the global stage, countries form blocks to challenge each other’s positions on responsibility (both historical and current) for emissions, fight pitched battles on the cost of transition and lock horns on finance for adaptation, loss and damage. The attribution of responsibility, timelines and bearing the cost of transition remain the most contested discussion points.

However, if the focus is narrowed to the country level, the same issues crop up for debate in varying ways, depending on the prevalent institutional arrangement on climate governance. Generally speaking, countries do not talk about the aspect of equity because the truth is often inconvenient and it is not easy to walk the talk of climate justice.

Pakistan is hard hit by climate change. Broadly speaking, the socioeconomic woes afflicting the country are largely due to issues of governance that have failed to put in place a system built on the principles of socioeconomic equity. The hopes and well-being of the common man are not reflected in the governance paradigm. Unsuccessful attempts to control the population growth rate, societal barriers to gender equality and failure to deliver quality health and education have created a glaring gap between the rich and poor, with huge disparities in income and wealth distribution. Economic divisions with stark social divisions along ideological lines are not a good recipe for good governance, but they assume dangerous proportions for a country that is on the frontlines of the climate crisis. The poly-crisis brewing beneath the surface can become more explosive than the crisis triggered by surface changes in temperature. Both need a balancing act to maintain the equilibrium.

Although the UNFCCC platform for negotiations has not delivered results according to the hopes of the Global South, it nevertheless provides the only convening space where negotiations are possible and commitments are made to take the agenda forward. The process has been slow and lugubrious, but it has produced a workable model that can be replicated by countries to address internal climate approaches.


aisha@csccc.org.pk

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