Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has criticized developed countries for being the biggest climate polluters while at the same time failing to assist small, low-income countries in their struggle to face the devastating results of climate change.
Speaking at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow on Tuesday, Rama argued that Albania is a non-pollutant, as all its energy is produced by renewables, and the country has repeatedly refused lucrative offers to have coal-fired power stations built.
As a result, he added, the country faces financial difficulties, as it often has to buy energy from outside at a high price, while it gets nothing in compensation for doing the right thing at its own expense.
Rama slammed the biggest polluters for failing to properly assist small countries financially.
“[Albania] sees the biggest polluters get also the biggest chunks of money – guess what! – to assist us deal with climate change,” Rama pointed out.
He argued that assistance towards these countries to fight climate change often comes in the form of “endless studies and strategies which impact far less than it costs to pay people from rich countries to draft them.”
The prime minister called on the G20 to help small countries with grants that empower investments, instead of loans that increase their debts.
“We cannot wait around to see if the markets move quickly in the right direction. I hope that here will be delivered on the promises of finance to support low and middle income countries, starting from clean energy role models like Albania,” Rama concluded.
Between October 31 and November 12, the United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow will reunite global leaders, experts, and stakeholders to devise a strategy to combat climate change.
So far, more than 100 countries have pledged to cut down methane emissions and end deforestation by 2030, although scientists warn that these pledges may not be enough.
