Energy Access, Climate Justice, and Financing Innovation
| Author | Ara Azad & Ava Azad |
| Pages | 85-123 |
85
Energy Access, Climate Justice,
and Financing Innovation
Ara Azad and Ava Azad*
Introduction ...................................................................................................86
I. Developed Countries ..............................................................................90
A. High Historical Climate Change Contributions ...............................90
B. Outlook on Political and Economic Shift Away From
Traditional Fossil Fuel Reliance.........................................................91
C. Case Study: Kemper IGCC ............................................................102
II. Developing Countries ..........................................................................106
A. Low Historical Climate Change Contributions............................... 107
B. Outlook on Curbing Emissions rough Political and
Economic Shifts in Fossil Fuel Reliance ..........................................109
C. Case Studies: Greenpeace in Dharnai and Contrasting
Success Stories ................................................................................112
III. e Future of Global Energy and Climate Change:
Financing Innovation rough Cooperative Partnerships
and a Tailored Approach .......................................................................116
Conclusion ................................................................................................... 123
* e authors would like to thank Ryan Pfa for his helpful review of this chapter. is
chapter was prepared by the authors in their personal capacities. e opinions expressed
in this chapter are solely those of the authors, and do not reect the views of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency or the U.S. government.
Chapter 4
86 Climate Justice
Introduction
e eld of climate justice provides a forum to evaluate the global inequali-
ties resulting from historic contributions to and current and projected eects
of climate cha nge. It is widely recognized that some nations and private
actors are more responsible for human-induced climate change than oth-
ers.1 Climate change equity discussions primarily focus on how to take these
unequal contributions into account in determining who shall pay to mitigate
the harms caused, and who, if anyone, will be subsidized in combating cli-
mate change impacts.
e concept of developed and developing nations’ diering historical
contributions and future responsibilities was a focus of the discussions at
the December 2015 Paris Climate Conference—the 21st Conference of the
Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Cli-
mate Change (U NFCCC).2 e UNFCCC recog nized this idea of “com-
mon but dierentiated ” responsibilities and capabilities of developed versus
developing countries as far back as 1992, ve years before adoption of the
Kyoto Protocol.3
As la nd dries, seas rise, and stor ms cause devastation, developi ng coun-
tries— historically poor and some only recently experiencing economic
growth —face great economic challenges in restoring their communities
in resp onse to t hese acts of nature. Environmental concerns are especially
daunting for these nations as they must simultaneously tend to the separ ate
but related task of continuing to develop their economies, c ommunities,
and governments so t hat their citizens can enjoy privileges t hat citizens of
developed nations have experienced for years.4
1. See generally Hans-Martin Füssel, How Inequitable Is the Global Distribution of Responsibility, Capa-
bility, and Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Comprehensive Indicator-Based Assessment, 20 G
E. C 597 (2010) (nding a “double inequity” between responsibility for climate change
on the one hand and capability to combat climate change and vulnerabilities to food security, human
health, and coastal populations on the other); John Crump, Snow, Sand, Ice, and Sun: Climate Change
and Equity in the Arctic and Small Island Developing States, 8 S D. L. P’ 8 (2008)
(discussing the disproportionate impacts of climate change on the Arctic and small island developing
States despite their limited contributions to anthropogenic climate change); F A
C C (W. Neil Adger et al. eds., 2006) (discussing global fairness considerations in
addressing climate change).
2. European Commission, Climate Action—Paris Agreement, http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/inter-
national/negotiations/paris/index_en.htm (last visited Aug. 21, 2016).
3. U N, U N F C C C (1992) (U.N.
Doc. FCCC/INFORMAL/84), https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf.
4. See Alefu Chinasho, Challenges and Opportunities to the Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change
in Developing Countries: Review, 6 A. J. S. M. S. 34 (2015), http://scihub.org/media/
pdf/2016/02/AJSMS-6-2-34-39.pdf.
Energy Access, Climate Justice, and Financing Innovation 87
Access to energy is one of the most fundamental benets that developed
countries have made universal and that developing countries strive to make
universal.5 Not only does energy access provide for greater comfort and con-
venience by, for example, allowing people to control household temperatures
and use time-saving applia nces, it also equips those who have it with greater
opportunities for professional and personal success. One signicant exam-
ple of this is students’ ability to continue t heir studies after sunset w ith the
availability of electricity.6 e potential for success in education feeds one’s
potential for greater professional opportunities, achieving intellectua l poten-
tial, increased feelings of satisfaction and self-worth, and adopting a lifestyle
choice that translates to fewer births per family, which ultimately mitigates
the dilemma of providing energy acce ss to a growing human population.7
Anthropogenic climate change a nd the urgent need to address its conse-
quences are all but accepted, as evidenced most recently by COP21, during
which 195 countries adopted the rst-ever8 universal global climate deal.9
e undeniable value of access to energy is also relatively uncontroversial.10
Discrepancy and controversy arise where t hese two issues intersect.11 While
5. E.g., G L ., T E A S D C: A
R F L D C S-S A (World Health
Organization & United Nations Development Programme 2009), http://www.undp.org/content/dam/
undp/library/Environment%20and%20Energy/Sustainable%20Energy/en ergy-access-situation-in-
developing-countries.pdf; World Bank, Access to Electricity (% of Population), http://data.worldbank.
org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS?end=2012%start=2012%view=bar (last visited Aug. 21, 2016);
International Energy Agency, Energy Access Database (stating “95% of those living without electricity
are in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia”), http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/
resources/energydevelopment/energyaccessdatabase/ (last visited Aug. 21, 2016).
6. U N D E S A, E E-
: T B, B, R A E
P S S 9 (2014), https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/
documents/1608Electricity%20and%20Education.pdf.
7. U N E, S, C O, F S: G’
E—T F (2013), http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/gem-report/les/girls-factsheet-
en.pdf.
8. While the 1997 Kyoto Protocol w as the rst international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions, developing countr ies were essentially exempt from its targets. UNFCCC, Kyoto
Protocol, http://unfccc.int/kyo to_protocol/items/2830.php (last vi sited Aug. 21, 2016). W hile 37
industrialized countries and the European community commit ted to reducing GHG emissions in
the rst commitment perio d of Kyoto, the 195 countries that came together to adopt the Paris
Agreement in 2015 included developing as well as developed nations, making this the rst universal
global climate deal.
9. Adoption of the Paris Agreement, UNFCC Conference of the Parties, 21st Sess., U.N. Doc. FCCC/
CP/2015/L.9/ (2015), https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09.pdf.
10. E.g., Adrian J. Bradbrook & Judith G. Gardam, Placing Access to Energy Services Within a Human
Rights Framework, 28 H. R. Q. 389 (2006); Stephen Tully, e Human Right to Access Electricity,
19 E J. 30 (2006).
11. See A G, A E H D, U N D
P 12−13 (2007) (arguing that, “While fossil fuel use, exploration, transportation, trans-
formation and distribution have detrimental eects on the world’s atmosphere, any strategies to deal
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