Developing countries are least responsible for climate change, but are most affected by it. Will COP29 address this injustice?

Since the Industrial Revolution, country after country has turned to fossil fuels to power transportation and industry. Now the bill is due. There are huge volumes of long-stored carbon in the atmosphere that are warming the planet. Climate disasters are becoming more frequent and worse.

But the pain of climate change is not shared fairly. Developing countries are worst off, despite emitting far fewer greenhouse gases. To date, two regions – Europe and North America – have contributed 60 % of total global emissions. This has made them much richer, but at a cost borne largely by those of us in the Global South.

That injustice will be in the spotlight this week when leaders and diplomats gather in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the annual UN climate talks. Climate finance is at the fore - specifically the vexed question of who pays. (Imraan Valodia, Julia Taylor and Katrina Lehmann-Grube, The Conversation)