At the climate summit, leaders need to agree to stricter emission-reduction targets.

There’s a debate about whether historical emissions should be counted towards a country’s total target (which would damage the economies of currently rich countries) or whether only current emissions matter (which would impact China and other emerging economies).

How hard should we push rich countries to pay for climate change?

• We can’t push too hard, or we risk rich countries just pulling out of the process completely.
• This historical emissions proposal sounds ludicrous!
• Let’s push! We have no more time to waste.

Although the whole world suffers because of climate change, some countries are far more responsible for it than others. The US alone has caused 25 per cent of historical emissions. Some believe that historically high-emitting countries should be entitled to a smaller portion of the remaining carbon budget and should compensate low-emitting countries for the damage they’ve caused.