New report highlights Sweden's responsibility for climate damage in Latin America and the Caribbean

Sweden, as one of the world's richest countries, bears a heavy responsibility for the climate-related damage affecting Latin America and the Caribbean. The region accounts for only 5% of global emissions but is particularly hard hit by the climate crisis. A new report from Oxfam Sweden shows the huge need for compensation for losses and damages resulting from the consequences of the climate crisis.

Guatemala's dry corridor. Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam Intermón

The climate crisis is no longer a distant threat - it is here, and it is hitting people hard. In Latin America and the Caribbean, a region that accounts for just 5% of global emissions, people are already feeling the consequences in a devastating way. Droughts, storms and floods are not just weather phenomena, but tragedies that destroy lives, families and communities. And Sweden, one of the richest countries in the world, bears a heavy share of the responsibility for this.

In the new report Fair Finance For Loss and Damage - The Case of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sweden's responsibility Oxfam Sweden highlights how Sweden's historical and current emissions have contributed to this climate damage. Between 1990 and 2019, consumption-based emissions from the world's richest 10% have already caused economic losses of SEK 45 trillion in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"These are unimaginable sums. Huge sums that reflect huge losses for people, communities and entire ecosystems. Sweden's share of the responsibility is unacceptably large. With 70 percent of Sweden's population belonging to the world's richest 10 percent, we can no longer stand by and ignore that our lifestyle in Sweden has a brutal, human cost in the form of climate change."

Mira Alestig, report author and human rights and climate equality expert at Oxfam Sweden.

Despite this, Sweden has so far pledged just SEK 200 million to the International Loss and Damage Fund, which is meant to compensate countries suffering the most devastating effects of the climate crisis. This is less than half a percent of what Sweden should be contributing annually - a small gesture compared to the enormous losses people on the other side of the world are suffering every day.

"One in five people already live in poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean and are among the most vulnerable and hardest hit by climate change. For them, every hurricane, every drought, every flood means not only physical damage and economic loss, but a fatal loss of life and future. With each new disaster, recovery becomes more difficult, and the possibility of building something sustainable for future generations feels more distant. The failure to deliver financing for loss and damage at scale will mean that the countries and communities least responsible for the climate crisis will continue to foot the bill."

Mira Alestig, report author and human rights and climate equality expert at Oxfam Sweden.

New analysis from the Stockholm Environment Institute shows that there are concrete and fair ways for high-income countries to generate new and additional finance to help financially compensate countries affected by the climate crisis. There are several innovative financing instruments that governments from high-income countries can implement that are based on the polluter pays principle - that those who emit the most should pay for the costs incurred.

Oxfam Sweden has calculated that, through such innovative financing instruments, Sweden could free up resources equivalent to around 5 to 6 times more than the fair annual share Sweden should pay.

Oxfam Sweden recommends the Swedish government to:

- Introduce a new wealth tax on Swedish multimillionaires and billionaires

- Introduce a temporary tax on companies' extraordinary profits

- Introduce a progressive air tax, where frequent flyers, who are largely the richest, pay more

Oxfam's report is presented today at the seminar Climate Finance: What is a fair contribution, and how can the funds reach the most vulnerable communities in Stockholm. Three of Oxfam's partner organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean will participate and talk about how their communities are affected by the climate crisis, and about the financing needs that exist. Zoha Shawoo, a researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute, will present an analysis of innovative financing instruments that governments from high-income countries can implement to generate new and additional financing based on the polluter pays principle; that those who emit the most should pay for the costs incurred.

About the report:

• The research underlying the report quantifies the responsibility of the world's richest for selected climate damages due to global warming. By combining physical climate models and empirical models that calculate the effect of emissions, we first assess the degree of warming attributable to emissions by the rich and then assess the damage that warming causes. We examine (1) excess mortality due to heat (2) crop losses and (3) economic losses. The research was conducted by researchers from Concordia University, Universitat de Barcelona, Dartmouth College and Columbia University, in collaboration with Oxfam.

• The estimates presented are conservative and based on 2 degrees of warming. The analysis only considers historical emissions over a limited time period (between 1990 and 2019) and only considers the consequences of the temperature increase itself. Consequences caused by other climate-related impacts such as floods, hurricanes and civil unrest are in addition to the damages estimated here. Equally important is the fact that the damages and losses on which the analysis focuses are by no means a complete representation of the many losses and damages experienced by people, which are often not even quantifiable. One can mention, for example, intangible damages such as loss of cultural heritage and traditions.

• The calculation of Sweden's fair share is based on 3 factors: countries' ability to pay, countries' responsibility for emissions and countries' development needs. You can read more about the methodology in the report Sweden's responsibility in the climate crisis.