‘phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies’ 25 . This is significant because at previous international climate talks, such multilateral propositions had ‘never been explicitly mentioned’ 26 , never mind agreed upon. Furthermore, the expectations of states participating in COP summits has been raised by their citizens 27 , and thus states have been more receptive to cooperation than in
previous summits.
This trend of states being increasingly receptive to their responsibilities is
demonstrated by the increasing willingness of developed states in the global
North to help fund carbon emission reducing activities in developing countries.
This contemporary position is in contrast with the historical position. At COP 3 in
1997, which produced the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries struggled to
agree on creating the Multilateral Fund which only committed $1 billion of funding to developing countries 28 . This lack of funding was compounded by the statement from a Chinese-Indian led coalition of developing countries in which they ‘refused to accept (any) limits on emissions’ 29 for developing countries.
Eighteen years after COP 3 at COP 21, states’ attitudes towards international
climate cooperation had shifted completely towards greater cooperation. This is
exemplified by the resulting Paris Agreement at COP 21 in which the Green
Climate Fund (GCF) was created with the goal to collect $100 billion every year to fund developing nations’ switch away from carbon emissions 30 , a significant
improvement on the cumulative $1 billion raised at COP 3. Another
25 United Nations , COP26: Together for our planet (2021), https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop26 [accessed 13/11/2022] para. 7 of 21. 26 United Nations, para. 7. 27 Howe, p.208. 28 David G. Victor, The Collapse of the Kyoto Protocol and the Struggle to Slow Global Warming (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004) p. 37. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/swanseaebooks/detail.action?docID=3030297 [accessed 13/11/2022] 29 Victor, p.34. 30 Ross J. Salawitch, Timothy P. Canty, Austin P. Hope, Walter R. Tribett, and Brian F. Bennett, Paris Climate Agreement: Beacon of Hope , 1st ed. 2017. (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017) p.161. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-319-46939-3.pdf [accessed 13/11/2022]
12
Made with FlippingBook HTML5