In the last few years, climate justice activists have been campaigning for the world’s economically developed countries to raise their investments in climate adaptation and mitigation, including paying for other countries’ abilities to deal with the effects of climate change. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia have historically contributed the least to global warming; yet, they are bearing the bigger brunt of climate disasters – both in the form of extreme natural phenomena and debt distress. On the other hand, countries in North America and Europe have contributed and continue to contribute the most, and are also the creditors of the debt crisis.
Chart 1 | The chart shows the carbon dioxide emissions per capita emitted in 1980-2021 by various geographical regions, including Africa, Asia (excluding China and India), and South America, and by some countries. It also shows (as a fixed black line) a baseline target of carbon dioxide emissions (2.3 tonnes per capita) needed to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius, as determined by the Institute for European Environmental Policy.
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The global average emissions per capita are currently double this target and have stayed above 4.7 tonnes per capita since 2010, whereas Africa and India have both been consistently under. China crossed the global average in 2004. It steadily climbed to 8 tonnes per capita in 2021 and joined Europe and Oceania. Notably, while the overall emissions of the UAE and the U.S. have declined, as of 2021 these countries still had the highest emissions per capita (21.8 tonnes and 14.9 tonnes, respectively).
Chart 2 | The chart shows the total investment in climate-related activities by each World Bank region as a fraction of that region’s total GDP in 2019 and 2020. This includes public and private investment in, among others, climate mitigation and adaptation activities, reduction of fossil-fuel use, and reforestation.
In both years, Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest investment fraction in climate finance (1.3% of its GDP), followed by East Asia and the Pacific (1%) and South Asia (0.9%). The U.S. and Canada had the lowest proportionate investment, at only 0.3% of their GDP.
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A large fraction of the funds for climate mitigation and adaptation in the Global South comes from international multilateral climate funds, such as the Green Climate Fund and the Clean Technology Fund. The sources for the Global South are usually economically developed countries.
Chart 3 | The chart shows the total approved funds and the actual funds disbursed towards each region.
Since 2003, for example, $3.3 billion was approved to be disbursed to South Asia, but only $1.3 billion was actually disbursed. Most regions received only 40% of the approved funding for that region, on average.
Chart 4 | The chart shows the climate vulnerability index by country and the risk of debt distress by region.
This index, calculated annually by the Notre-Dame Global Adaptation Initiative, combines a country’s exposure, sensitivity, and capacity to adapt to climate change. The risk of debt distress is based on the International Monetary Fund’s Debt Sustainability Framework reports. As most reports are limited to the Global South, several high-income countries had to be excluded from the analysis. The chart shows that most countries in debt distress or facing a high risk are in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is also the most vulnerable to climate change. Overall, countries at high risk or in debt distress are also more vulnerable to climate change. Three of the eight countries in South Asia are in this group.
Anushka Kataruka is interning with The Hindu Data Team
Sources: the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Our World in Data, Climate Funds Update, Notre-Dame Global Adaptation Initiative, Climate Policy Initiative, and the United Nations Council on Trade and Development
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