Climate justice: progress and setbacks

Abstract

The unfair distribution of the burdens and benefits derived from the exploitation of nature, including the capabilities of the atmosphere, has given rise to important protest movements that fight to compensate for the historical evils caused by developed countries linked to climate change. Given this, multilateralism seemed to be a viable alternative to achieve so-called climate justice. The results, however, have been slow to arrive due to the influence of economic and political power within these organizations, the direction and strength of international agreements to materialize. Despite this, small steps are being observed towards the integration of climate justice in the discourse, through concrete initiatives and the financing of actions in countries of the global south. Although such advances may generate suspicion, it is a difficult path that must nevertheless be followed. With this idea in mind, the objective of this paper is to explore the power relations that occur between governments within international organizations and the influence of political and economic power on decision-making within these organizations, as well as the operation of various evasive mechanisms of climate responsibility by the most developed countries.