The United Nations' COP30 climate conference is now happening, in Brazil, at the end of that lovely four-lane highway that was blazed through the precious Brazilian rainforest so that the COP30 attendees could ride in their limousines in air-conditioned comfort from the airport directly to the venue - and no, I'm nowhere near done pointing out the abject hypocrisy of that.
One attendee, though, has been asking a few uncomfortable questions. The questioner, now, is not on the skeptical side of the whole anthropogenic climate-change argument; he's down with the agenda at COP30, for the most part. But this questioner, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, did nevertheless bring up an interesting point:
"How much are we supposed to pay?"
Swedish monarch King Carl XVI Gustaf, well-known for his lifelong environmental engagement, landed in a bit of hot water at COP30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Belém, Brazil, by questioning how much of the world’s climate challenges Europe is supposed to take financial responsibility for.
In an interview with Swedish state broadcaster Sveriges Radio, the monarch said he doesn’t believe the conference will be able to come to an agreement. “We all have to take our own responsibilities and try to do the best we can,” he said, pointing out that Europe is already taking significant steps to limit CO2 emissions.
“Europe produces only 6%,” he said. “And everyone complains that it’s too much. But the rest of the world is much, much worse.”
That 6 percent is Europe's - not Sweden's, Europe's - estimated percentage of global CO2 emissions. Now, I'm not buying into the climate scolds' claims about CO2 being a danger, not when right there in the Amazon, in parts of the rainforest that haven't been bulldozed to build four-lane highways for climate scolds (no, I'm never letting go of that) trees are actually growing larger, healthier, and faster.
But the king has a point. There likely will be no international agreement, not because CO2 is a problem and not because it isn't, but because in issues like this, the United Nations can be counted on to approach Europe and the United States with their hands out, looking for a... handout.
King Carl XVI Gustaf is finally asking the needful question. Who pays? And why? Turns out one of the king's own people, the Swedish Climate Minister, disagrees.
Asked whether it isn’t “fair” that wealthier countries foot more of the bill for ‘climate transition,’ he responded, “You can think whatever you want about this. But how much are we actually supposed to pay? That’s the crucial question.”
Swedish Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari (Liberals) said the 6% still represents “a significant amount,” adding that “If all countries were to think that their percentage doesn’t matter that much, then this issue would end up resting only with China, the USA, and India. That wouldn’t be good.” She also disagreed with the king on questioning the financial burden on Sweden and the EU:
Our prosperity is largely built on a fossil-based economy that other countries cannot replicate. That’s why it’s good that Sweden is one of the largest donors in the world when it comes to climate aid.
China and India are the real concerns here; American CO2 emissions are decreasing, not because we're going all-in for solar panels and windmills, but because a large portion of our electrical generation has transitioned from coal to cleaner natural gas. We could reduce them even further by turbo-charging our efforts towards nuclear power.
Here's the thing, though: The Swedish Climate Minister has unwittingly made a point here. No climate deal will amount to a hill of beans unless China and India promise to dial their carbon emissions back, and neither of those countries is about to do that. And, let's be honest, nobody at the COP30 summit is going to seriously ask them to.
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One complainer has, to put it bluntly, told the king to shut up and mind his own business.
Katarina Eckerberg, professor emerita in political science at Umeå University, thinks the king’s statement is inappropriate. “Commenting on how the negotiations might hypothetically turn out is not something the king should involve himself in, because that is politics,” she said.
The nerve! Talking about the king like that! There is a point here, though; in Sweden, the king, like the king in other countries like the United Kingdom, serves a largely ceremonial purpose. But that doesn't mean they don't still wield some influence.
Royalty expert and journalist Ebba Kleberg von Sydow, however, told Sveriges Radio that not only the Swedish king but also British royalty have a long history of environmental concern and that she found King Carl Gustaf to have been balanced in his statements.
King Carl XVI Gustaf isn't on our side of this issue. Not even a little bit. But it's interesting, nonetheless, to see not just a climate scold, but a royal climate scold (as opposed to normal climate scolds, who are royal pains in the rear) has finally asked the $64,000 question: "How much is all this going to cost?"
That, at least, is good to see. It may be the only thing to come out of COP30 that's good to see. But this is the needful question.
Greta Thunberg was not available for comment.
