Our planet needs help

The carbon-curbing draft deal signed in Lima over the weekend by 194 nations is not ideal. It is too watered down and is at best a compromise. But it is a reasonable starting point to the Paris accord, which should be in by the end of 2015. At the heart of the matter lie two things — one, extreme weather events point to global warming and, against the background of 2014 being one of the hottest years on record, there is a need to do something about it; and two, rich nations tend to resile from financial commitments, which is why climate talks invariably get bogged down.

The developed nations first polluted the world in their Industrial Age while developing nations had only coal to burn for their own progress in the last few decades. Alternative technologies may be available now as also better methods of curbing emissions, but they are expensive and the developed nations must pay for them. $100 billion a year may sound frightening, but, if the planet is to be saved, it stands to reason that the major polluters pay to clean up. In this regard, it is curious to see Europe align itself with the US to get out of commitments made.

The developing countries are expected to be responsible too. India must take the lead in embracing greener technologies, even if it legitimately acts only on the “adaptation component” scale of the draft deal. The deal only “urges” developed countries to provide support, but they must respond proactively. Our planet needs help.