The North-South divide

This chapter argues that the climate change issue is a classical North-South issue using a series of arguments. It then submits that the 25-year negotiation history of climate change shows can be divided into five phases. The chapter examines how the North-South dimension in relation to the nature of issues, membership of the two groups, and the coalitions they engage in, has evolved in each of these five phases. It explains that current discussions and frustrations regarding the ability of the international negotiations to address the climate change problem have to be examined in the light of evolving negotiations and the commitments that countries have been willing to adopt in the past. The chapter concludes that although in the initial stages of the negotiations there was more trust between the groups, there has been growing mistrust of the South with regard to whether the North would like to equitably address the problem.