In November 2021, at COP26, several countries and financial institutions signed a commitment to end public support for international fossil fuel projects. While this agreement was celebrated, it contrasts with the continued use of subsidies by the same countries, not to mention plans for new national projects. The US has at least 24 fossil fuel projects pending, while the UK is licensing new oil and gas fields in the North Sea.

CGD member Vijaya Ramachandran argues that blanket bans on fossil fuel projects in poor countries are “colonial” and entrench poverty while doing little to reduce the world’s carbon emissions, most of which come from high-income countries. Imposing such bans on poor states while at the same time rich ones increase their consumption is rank hypocrisy and devastating for countries that need a wide range of energy to fuel development.

Even now, some 940 million people in the world do not have access to electricity. And the largest share (almost 2/3) lives in sub-Saharan Africa.

Solving the climate crisis in the medium term must primarily be the responsibility of high-emitting countries. The fact that Western countries emit more CO2 in a couple of days than many low- and middle-income countries do in a year is an overwhelming illustration of this and suggests that the chances of reducing emissions in the latter are minimal.

Where there are good opportunities to use aid to promote cleaner energy and fight poverty at the same time, they should be seized. It may be economically and politically difficult, but climate action must take root here first, not elsewhere.

• https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jan/28/west-accused-of-climate-hypocrisy-as-emissions-dwarf-those-of-poor-countries#:~:text=The%20study%2C%20which%20highlights%20the,producing%20585%20times%20as%20much
• https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC?most_recent_value_desc=true
• https://ourworldindata.org/energy-access
• https://www.cgdev.org/blog/new-years-resolution-uk-climate-hypocrisy