Description
The climate crisis has brought to light the startling divide between the Global South and Global North. While the South, despite having small historical emissions, experiences terrible climate impacts ranging from rising sea levels to extreme weather events, the North, which is responsible for the majority of emissions, struggles to balance responsibility with economic considerations. The South demands reparations and rapid carbon reductions, citing the grave threat climate change poses to its communities and economies. They emphasise the burden of limited resources and little financial support as they try to adapt. The debate extends to include the concept of climate justice. Climate justice proponents claim that the most vulnerable communities, particularly those in the Global South, bear a disproportionate share of the impact of climate change. As a result, these communities confront significant environmental degradation, loss of livelihoods, and greater vulnerability to natural catastrophes, prompting them to migrate in quest of safety and security. Climate migration is a looming consequence. Millions of people who have already been displaced by climate disasters are seeking asylum, prompting concerns about mass exodus and resource scarcity in the South, as well as ethical and legal quandaries in the North about how to manage climate refugees. The paper will analyse this global divide and try to answer the question: How do historical and contemporary circumstances, as well as varying stakeholder viewpoints on reparations, emissions reductions, and climate migration, contribute to the complex and shifting climate divide between the Global South and North?