Presenter(s): Lauren Scott − Political Science
Faculty Mentor(s): Ronald Mitchell, Sarah Crown
Poster 183
Research Area: Social Science
As demonstrated by the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, one of the most adversarial issues in international climate change politics is whether developed countries have the responsibility to assume the global burden of mitigating climate impacts. Without an authoritative body to enforce international law, negotiations have devolved into developing states demanding that developed states reduce their emissions first, whilst refusing to set limits on their own emissions. However, quickly developing states, like China, India, and Brazil, now diverge substantially from their developing peers in their emissions levels and their increasing capacity to lower them. Therefore, the international community must question when a developing country should assume responsibility for its emissions. A dissonance exists between prioritizing fast development and making an effort to mitigate driving factors of climate change. By temporally examining the policies and stances of these quickly developing states versus other developing and developed states involved in climate talks, it becomes increasingly clear that the international community lacks a consensus on a clear responsibility that these states should assume.