Climate change is hitting hardest those who have contributed least to emissions of greenhouse gases – the poor men and women of the world. Diakonia wants to see a just sharing of the burden with respect to reducing emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change. The poor should not be footing the bill for the industrialization of the rich countries.

Poverty takes lives

The climate issue is our era’s biggest justice issue. Historically, the rich countries are responsible for the majority of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. But it is in the poor countries that the negative consequences of these emissions are most tangible. The poorest are being hit hardest, and of these people, the greater majority are women.

The consequences of a changed climate directly impact people's survival and livelihood options. To have enough to eat, to be able to drink clean water and have a safe abode are not obvious for the poor. With a greater number of natural disasters, their vulnerability is further increased.

The rich countries’ responsibility

Diakonia sees the climate issue from the global justice perspective: we must both stop climate change and assure the right of poor people to development. Sweden and other rich countries, which bear the greatest responsibility for the greenhouse effect, have the majority of the resources required to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

For this reason, we and other rich countries ought to be drastically reducing our emissions. It is also important to contribute resources and the technological know-how that can help poorer countries to reduce their impact on the climate and give them the opportunity to adapt to the changes in climate that are occurring.

A just climate agreement

At the same time, the rights of poor men and women to raise their standards of living must be assured. Greenhouse Development Rights is a model describing how we can take on the climate challenge while at the same time safeguarding the rights of the poor to development. The model is based on the historical responsibility of the countries of the world, and their capacity to contribute economically, but exempts all those who are living on less than US$20 per day – no matter where they live in the world.