The 17 members of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate generate around 80 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. That means they have the power to pull the brakes on the climate emergency. The political leaders from the world's richest countries, after gathering for a US-hosted climate summit on Earth Day (April 22), must now use the occasion to acknowledge their shared responsibility to the planet and everyone on it.
The countries most affected by climate change bear the least responsibility for the problem. Of the 16 most climate-vulnerable countries, 10 are in Asia and five are in Africa, where millions rely on agriculture but lack access to the clean energy that they will need to power a more resilient and profitable future. For these countries, "building back better" will be a stretch. They are already being held back by developed countries' own energy and agriculture sectors, which are the leading sources of GHG emissions.