"Irreversible damages" caused by US' emissions of greenhouse gases

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
13 Jul 2022 16:06
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A report issued by the IPCC finds that the US is the number one emitter of greenhouse gases, causing more than $1.9 trillion in damage to other countries.

"Irreversible damages" caused by US's emissions of greenhouse gas

A recent study conducted by the University of Dartmouth reveals that the US has caused the most economic damage to the rest of the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

The US figured on top of the ladder with a wobbling amount of $1.91 trillion in economic damages, followed by China with $1.83 trillion in damages, then Russia with $986 billion. India and Brazil came afterward.

The extent of the harm caused to other countries by the US' unhinged gas emissions since 1990, mostly poor countries, has been so severe as to cost all kinds of environmental disasters, ranging from heatwaves to crop failures and other consequences.

The study is the first to assess the economic impacts that individual countries have caused on other countries through their contributions to global warming. The research draws direct connections between cumulative emissions per nation of heat-trapping gasses to losses and gains in the gross domestic product in 143 countries of which data are available.

The study, published in the journal Climatic Change, provides an essential basis for nations to make legal claims for economic losses tied to emissions and warming.

In November of last year, an agreement was made on the night of the COP26 climate talks regarding pushing forward for the "loss and damage" from climate change up the agenda, as it becomes harder for many people to live safely on a hotter planet.

But after resistance from the US, the EU, and other wealthy nations, the commission failed to secure the establishment of a dedicated new damages fund for vulnerable nations.

In recent years, the US has been a hotbed of climate science denial when compared to other countries, with international polling showing a significant number of Americans do not believe human-driven climate change is occurring.

Two weeks ago, the US supreme court ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Although the Biden administration has vowed to cut US emissions in half by the end of this decade, no efforts were made when attempts to legislate this outcome were floundered with a sweeping climate bill sunk by the opposition of Republican senators and Joe Manchin, the centrist Democratic senator from West Virginia.

Conversely, China has made considerable efforts to alleviate climate change. In 2021, China included the binding target of slashing carbon intensity by 18 percent in its 5-year plan. It has announced the decision to halt the production of new coal-fired power projects overseas. The country has formulated and released a top-level design document for peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality and is working on an action plan for peaking carbon emissions before 2030.