The recently concluded United Nations (UN) climate summit in New York City embroiled itself in controversies even before it began. Swedish school girl Greta Thunberg’s speech overshadowed these controversies, but their impact will be felt in years to come.

China and India Threaten to Stop Climate Action if Funds Don’t Arrive

On September 17, India and China issued a press release and discussion paper, respectively, on climate action. The highlight of both was the demand for funds promised by developed countries.

As per the on-going Paris agreement, developed countries are required to mobilize $100 billion USD a year to help developing countries carry out climate change mitigation and adaptation.

But the developed countries have so far failed to raise the funds. The United States, the major cash cow, is out of the Paris agreement, and it remains to be seen how the UN will raise the money.

China and India’s demand for the climate fund is a clear message that they will not carry out their climate commitments unless the funds arrive in 2020 as promised.

UN Censors “Coal Nations,” Except China and India

In a surprise move, the UN has censored “coal nations” from speaking at the NY climate summit. Major coal users like the U.S., Japan, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Poland all were muzzled.

But for reasons unknown the UN exempted China, India (ranked first and fourth for emissions), and South Korea. In fact, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the third person to address the gathering.

The censorship and the exceptions surprised many and will have a real impact on the future relationship of the UN with the censored nations.

Ironically, the summit also unintentionally gave a platform to fossil fuel companies. Leading oil companies like BP, Shell, and Chevron held an invitation-only special forum on the sidelines. Senior executives met stakeholders for high-level talks.

The media declared the UN climate summit a failure. Primary causes were the lack of commitments from leading coal consumers, the UN’s dismal censorship act, the demand for climate funds by India and China, and the ironic promotion of fossil fuels at an anti-fossil meet.

The same causes are likely to plague future climate summits, like the annual Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, scheduled for Chile in December.

Photo by Oliver Niblett on Unsplash.