Newton’s famous third law of action and reaction states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This law truly applies to the essence of physics, but when implemented in the relationship between human actions and environmental consequences, it fails. In such a relationship, so many other aspects play a role. Climate change is a perfect example to study the relationship between human actions and their environmental consequences. So, Newton’s third law of action and reaction crumbles in the case of climate change due to global carbon inequality.
Climate Injustice:
The reports show that the actions taken by industrialized and developed nations have been responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, which are the leading cause of climate change, but do not result in similar consequences for their people. Instead, the catastrophic impacts of climate change are disproportionately faced by underdeveloped countries like Pakistan. So many other developing countries like Pakistan are suffering from climate change, though they did not create it, and this phenomenon is known as climate injustice.
Overview of Carbon Inequality:
Carbon dioxide is the main contributor to greenhouse gases and driver of climate change. Since industrialization, the developed countries are the primary contributors of CO2 to the global greenhouse gas emissions. According to the report of 2024 GHG emissions of all world countries by The Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research, global greenhouse gas emissions have followed an increasing pattern since the beginning of the 21st century. The United States, China, India, the EU27, Russia and Brazil were the world’s largest GHG emitters in 2023, accounting for 62.7% of global GHG emissions, where China is the world’s largest emitter, contributing 30.10% of the global GHG emissions while the United States, India and Russia respectively emitted 11.25%, 7.80% and 5.05% of the total global GHG Emissions in 2023.
On the other hand, rest of the world contributed only 37.3% of the total GHG Emissions in 2023. These countries are primarily underdeveloped countries, such as Pakistan. According to the report, Pakistan emitted 1.01% of the total GHG emissions in 2023. However, regarding climate change impacts, Pakistan is ranked among the top ten most climate-vulnerable nations. According to the 2018 Long Term Climate Risk Index report, Pakistan is ranked among 7th most affected countries by the impacts of climate change.
The Disproportionate Impact on Developing Nations: A Case Study of Pakistan
This disparity highlights that the impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed. Climate change doesn’t obey any territory or borders. According to the CRI 2025 ranking and results by Germanwatch, Pakistan was ranked first among the top ten most affected countries in 2022. Despite not being a leading emitter of GHGs, Pakistan faces severe climate change impacts. The 2019 Inform Risk Index ranked Pakistan 18 out of 191 countries regarding the highest disaster risk levels.
The catastrophic floods of 2022 in Pakistan, which affected 33 million residents and caused more than $15 billion in damages, are a tragic illustration of climate injustice. The floods hit 90 districts and displaced 8 million people. According to a report, 1700 people lost their lives, and more than 12000 people were injured. These floods are not only an isolated climate change impact Pakistan faces. Moreover, Pakistan is ranked 14 among the 17 ‘extremely high water risk’ countries. In May 2024, the temperature in Pakistan rose above 52 degrees Celsius, leading to the death of over 568 citizens. These extreme weather events are happening because of climate change, which disproportionately impacts an already struggling nation like Pakistan, pushing it further into economic hardship.
The Moral and Ethical Imperative:
This inequity of climate change is not just about the physical impacts. Still, it is also about the moral and ethical implications of who is creating the problem and who faces the consequences. Therefore, this concept of ‘carbon inequality’ highlights this injustice. The developed nations are getting wealthier by emitting vast amounts of carbon from their factories. The underdeveloped countries, already struggling for survival, face the consequences of the problem to which they have contributed the least. Hence, this is unfair and unjust to these underdeveloped countries.
Moreover, no significant effort is happening regarding the international response to this crisis. Even the pledge of $100 billion by the developed countries in 2009 at the Copenhagen climate summit hit the target two years later in 2022, showing their insincere attention to this crisis. According to the Climate Finance Shadow Report 2023, the donors’ claim of mobilizing $83.3 billion in 2020 was overestimated, while the actual value of their spending was at most $24.5 billion. It is also estimated that the costs of loss and damage in underdeveloped countries could reach $290 billion to $580 billion a year by 2030. Although COP 27 established a dedicated loss and damage fund to help developing countries cope with climate change and build resilient infrastructure, the implementation mechanisms are still under discussion. This lack of attention may lead to more disproportionate impacts of climate change on vulnerable, underdeveloped countries.
Why Newton’s Third Law Fails:
In light of the facts and figures mentioned above, it is clear that Newton’s third law of action and reaction does not apply to the relationship between human actions and environmental consequences. The impacts of climate change are not equal to the actions that cause them, nor do they follow a fair pattern. Instead, the planet Earth is witnessing an extreme injustice, where those underdeveloped countries that have emitted the least GHG are suffering the most from climate change.
Potential Solutions:
We require a fundamental shift in how we approach climate change to address this injustice. Addressing climate change is not only the responsibility of climate activists, researchers, and policymakers; we all should play our role in reducing our carbon footprint and contributing to a more sustainable future. However, it is not enough to reduce carbon emissions; we must also address the inequalities that make underdeveloped countries more vulnerable.
Therefore, we must strive for a just and equitable system where the most vulnerable countries get financial and technical support from the highest emitters of GHG, helping them manage climate-related disasters, building resilient infrastructure and transitioning to sustainable development pathways, thereby promoting a more equitable and climate-resilient future for all. It also means holding the biggest GHG emitters responsible for the climate-related disruptions in developing countries, asking for reparations and their fair share in mitigating climate impacts.
Last year, COP 29, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, agreed to triple climate finance for developing countries to $300 billion annually by 2035, a significant increase from the $100 billion goal set in 2009. But still, this mobilization of finance fell short of the $1.3 trillion annual requirements estimated by experts and demanded by developing states. Some critics argue that this new goal is a betrayal of developing countries as it does not fulfil their climate justice demands. Hence, there is an underlying gap of moral responsibility expected from the high GHG emitters to provide reparation and finances to the developing countries vulnerable to climate change, which is questionable.
Conclusion:
The fight against climate change is very similar to the fight against injustice. Only by accepting and recognizing the underlying inequalities can we hope for a better world where all the impacts of climate change are felt equally. We can also hope for a world where the crisis actors are more accountable for their actions and willing to lead the charge to solve them.
