Whilst, India has contributed 4.8% to the global mean surface temperature (GMST) change resulting from historical emissions of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide (N2O), a new research paper has said.
In comparison, United States contributed to 17.3% of the change – highest globally and China contributed to 12.3%, the paper published in Nature journal on Wednesday said. The largest contributors to warming up to 2021 through emissions of all three gases since 1850 were: US (0.28°C ); China (0.20°C ); Russia (0.10°C); Brazil (0.08°C ); India (0.08°C); Indonesia, Germany, UK, Japan, Canada (each contributing 0.03-0.05°C), authors of the paper said in a statement on Wednesday.
The paper titled "National contributions to climate change due to historical emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide since 1850”, authored by researchers from Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA); CICERO Center for International Climate Research, Oslo, Norway; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria among others said emissions from developed nations have contributed significantly to warming since the industrial revolution. “Tracking national contributions to climate change is thus critical to understanding the burden of responsibility that a country carries for global warming and can further inform the design of international policies that pursue equitable decarbonisation pathways,” it said.
The paper’s findings are consistent with India’s analysis. In response to a question in Rajya Sabha on India’s contribution to climate crisis, junior environment minister, Ashwini Kumar Choubey said in a written response that “India with more than 17% of the global population has contributed only about 4% of the global cumulative greenhouse gas emissions between 1850 and 2019. Reports from various sources, including Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, highlight that the challenges faced due to global warming are mainly due to cumulative historical and current greenhouse gas emissions of the developed countries. Even though, we are not part of the problem, India is part of the solution and is doing more than its fair share.”
“Contributions to temperature change from GHG emissions USA 17.3% contributing to 0.28°C; China 12.3% contributing to 0.20°C; EU 10.4% contributing to 0.17°C; Russia 6.1% contributing to 0.10°C; Brazil 4.9% contributing to 0.08°C; India 4.8% contributing to 0.08°C ;Indonesia 3.4%,” tweeted Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune referring to the paper.
And, the U.N. General Assembly in March this year passed a resolution pushed by Vietnam that requests for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to give opinions regarding climate change.
The resolution was proposed by Vanuatu and a core group of 18 countries, including Vietnam. It would be the first time the ICJ gives its legal opinions on climate change.
Vietnamese ambassador Dang Hoang Giang at a U.N. General Assembly session on March 29, 2023. Photo courtesy of the Vietnamese delegation at the U.N.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Vietnam has promoted the development for a draft resolution through multiple meetings and rounds of consultations. Vietnam’s contribution to the promotion of the initiative reaffirms the country’s international commitments, as well as highlighting Vietnam’s role as a responsible member when it comes to solving global issues.
Vietnam stressed that climate change is happening in a complex manner, and the adoption of the resolution is just the beginning step. Vietnam also called for countries to participate in the ICJ’s process of looking into the issue.
