OSLO, May 20 (IPS) – Politician and diplomat Erik Solheim argues that developed countries should bear responsibility for the environmental damage they cause. Talking about the Loss and Damage Fund, which is critical to bringing climate justice to communities in the developing world, he says it’s important that it become unbureaucratic and focus on climate adaptation.Erik Solheim, a senior internationally renowned politician and diplomat, has long been an advocate for combining development assistance with private investment and better taxation systems in recipient countries.
He has argued that linking international agreements to global taxes, or quotas, combined with private investments in renewable resources would effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To gain further insight into the relationship between politics and climate change, IPS columnist Jan Lundius spoke with Solheim. Solheim served in the Norwegian government from 2005 to 2012 as Minister of International Development; he also took on responsibility for the Ministry of Environment in 2007 and held both offices until 2012.
He later chaired the OECD Development Assistance Committee and served for two years as Under-Secretary of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). He has also been one of the most recognizable figures in peace negotiations in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sudan, and Myanmar. We know that for most of your life, you have been engaged with environmental issues.
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