With each passing year, nations are becoming sensitive to the fact that climate change is not as dangerous as it was believed to be.

Crop yields continue to increase, life expectancy rates have gone up dramatically, and more importantly the temperature levels failed to follow the lead of carbon dioxide emissions.

As a result, and the responsibility to meet growing domestic energy demands, countries are finding new ways to bypass the climate pressure from international institutions like the United Nations.

The most obvious way to resist coercive climate policies is to pull out of restrictive agreements. Though it rejoined in 2017, the Philippines was the first country to leave the Paris climate agreement, in 2016. By doing so, it set a precedent for others to follow.

The world was stunned when the United States announced its withdrawal in 2017. The U.S. was the climate movement’s cash cow, expected to provide most of the finance required for carbon dioxide emission offsets in developing countries. Moreover, it is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels, and its withdrawal dealt a severe blow to the Paris agreement’s primary emission reduction goals.

Brazil’s new government in 2019 openly remarked that a withdrawal from the Paris agreement was in the cards, as the new administration found the agreement a hurdle to developmental goals.

Though the country has scrapped the idea of pulling out of Paris, it has decided to remain skeptical about the agreement. The nation canceled plans to host the annual UN climate conference and the South American climate conference, both scheduled for this year.

Pulling out of Paris agreement is not easy, especially when you are a developing country and are dependent upon the support of international institutions and developed countries. There is no guarantee that the international community won’t arm-twist you, and you cannot risk being alienated financially.

In order to overcome this, the biggest consumers of fossil fuels have adopted a new strategy. This strategy is to affirm allegiance to the Paris agreement by promising emission reduction and installing a large capacity of renewables, but simultaneously develop the fossil fuel sector.

The nations that appear to be living out this dual life—of superfluous climate mitigation promises and a determined domestic policy to enlarge the fossil fuel sector—are China, India, Japan, Indonesia, Russia, and Brazil, the combined population of which is nearly half of total world population.

Among them, China, India, and Japan have displayed open defiance of emission reduction commitments by announcing new policies that guarantee an increase in the production, consumption, and export of fossil fuel resources.

The international climate community has been powerless when it comes to stopping the development of the fossil fuel sector in these countries. The reason for this is the nature of the Paris agreement.

The agreement has overarching targets to reduce emissions and control the warming rate, but it does not stipulate the emission reduction targets for individual countries. Instead, each participatory country determines its own contribution.

Most of the fossil fuel powerhouses are meeting their commitments through the installation of renewables. However, that does not mean they have to reduce their fossil fuel consumption. This allows them to achieve their domestic energy development goals.

Countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America should follow the example set by the better-off developing countries, all of whom have achieved rapid GDP growth in the past two decades because of their dependence on fossil fuels.

Photo by zhang kaiyv on Unsplash.