LOL.
From Bloomberg:
Richer nations must move faster on zeroing out emissions and do more to mobilize funding to help developing economies meet climate targets, India's Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told the COP30 summit in Brazil.
'Developed countries must reach net zero far earlier than current target dates and deliver new, additional, and concessional climate finance at a scale of trillions, not billions,' Yadav said on Monday at the talks in Belém, according to a statement from the ministry.
India, the world's third-largest polluter, has long argued that industrialized nations should carry a greater decarbonization burden, and that still-developing countries require more assistance to simultaneously curb emissions and drive economic growth.
For context, nearly 50% of all trash in our oceans comes from a handful of countries in SE Asia, including India, which contributes 13% of all plastics in all the world's oceans.
The Asia-Pacific region is also responsible for 80% of all emissions.
India has been made famous for how its citizens nonchalantly toss trash ... everywhere.
Trains:
Hotels:
Rivers:
The Pacific Ocean:
Streets:
Heck, there's even a challenge where you drop a random pin in Google Street View and try to find one place in India without trash!
India, with 1.5 billion people, contributes 13-20% of global pollution annually. While it is below China (32%), rapid industrialization and increased reliance on India for manufacturing is increasing this percentage quickly.
And yet India's environmental minister says "developed nations," which contribute a fraction of global pollution, must spend trillions to offset India's rampant disregard for the Earth?
Notice, no one seems to mean China or the United Arab Emirates or Turkey or Iran when they discuss who should pay the bills.
It is the West, which has instilled robust anti-pollution ethics among the wider public (most of you reading this probably feel guilty if you don't correctly sort your recycling), that is always harassed and lectured.
I'll leave you with this reminder about the COP30 summit in Brazil where these comments were made:
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