The 21st century is marked by shifts in global patterns. From traditional security threats to non-traditional security threats, climate change has become a global crisis that has gained prominent attention since the past few years. The changing dynamics of the world requires a pragmatic approach towards dealing with global issues. Yet, the world remains silent when it comes to accountability – who emits what? And to what extent? And who pays the price? And who benefits from all this?
The legacy of colonialism continues to dominate the world. However, its definition has been broadened and has taken on different dimensions. Green colonialism – the idea that developed nations continue to modernize their economies at the expense of environmental degradation thus exploiting the underdeveloped nations. The western centric practices have raised questions about the double standards of the powerful nations. On one side, they advocate for policies to reduce carbon emissions, and on another hand they themselves majorly contribute to environmental loss. For instance, during 1970’s many corporate entities such as Exon, was involved in the climate research. They found out that fossil fuels are severely impacting the planet. Instead of publishing the report, they kept the document confidential for their own interest.
This example demonstrates how powerful entities historically manipulate and dominate the system for the sake of their own benefit.This is manipulation. This is violence. This is harm against both the planet and the people. So, can the climate crisis be tackled while the capitalist system remains dominated? The idea is merely an illusion, because the powerful do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. The developed, industrialized nations use the developing nations as a tool for their development.and their policies often reinforce existing hierarchies of dependency and perpetuate structural inequalities between nations.
The developed countries tend to formulate and advocate climate policies without adequately considering the economic realities and developmental needs of poorer nations. This one-size-fits-all approach disregards the fact that countries are at different stages of industrialization and have varying levels of reliance on fossil fuels. For instance, the renewable energy and green technology sectors—such as solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles—are dominated by powerful economies. As a result, developing states are compelled to abandon their traditional energy sources like coal, oil, and natural gas, even though these resources remain central to their economic growth. The transition towards expensive green technologies becomes less of a choice and more of a compulsion, deepening dependency on the technological monopolies of the Global North. Moreover, they have introduced carbon tariffs that penalizes the imports from the global south – ultimately protecting the western industries and hurting developing economies.
For instance, the European union’s carbon border adjustment mechanism imposes tax on imports of steel, cement and aluminum from countries that don't meet the EU’s carbon emission’s standards. Furthermore, climate finance is another domain where the Global North exercises disproportionate influence. While wealthy states promise billions of dollars to help developing countries, much of this finance becomes a debt trap – worsening the already vulnerable economies. Moreover, access to this funding comes with structural conditions, requiring the states to implement reforms and policy changes. This conditionality limits the policy independence of the Global South and bounds them to the dictated frameworks.
Concludingly, Climate change is a real issue and must be addressed as a first priority. The governments should be less biased in climatic matters and should take into account the voices of the developing nations. They should have equal say in policy matters. Moreover, there should be collaborative efforts by the States, Ngo’s and Civil society to make people aware of the climatic disasters. Public contributions even at smaller levels, will make huge impact on protecting the environment. Furthermore, there should be early warning systems for extreme weather events so that arrangements can be made accordingly. It is an inconvenient truth that if carbon emissions don't stop, climatic patterns will become uncontrollable. Human interference in natural phenomena will only lead to catastrophic outcomes. In this scenario, all the rich and poor are likely to face the same situation and effects. Thus, urgent action on climate conditions is the need of hour.
