'Problem caused by you': Indian Minister slams EU over climate finance, carbon Tax

India’s Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday criticised the wealthy nations and the European Union for failing to deliver on their climate finance commitments to the Global South. Speaking at the Berlin Global Dialogue, Goyal pointed to the amount of global carbon emissions developed nations emit while reneging on their pledged financial and technological support to developing and vulnerable nations under the Paris Agreement.

He also highlighted that it was India which "brought the Global South together and encouraged countries to commit to addressing climate change at COP21."

"At the Paris climate conference in 2015, when the whole world came together, it was Prime Minister Modi who brought the Global South together and encouraged countries to commit to addressing climate change at COP21," said Goyal.

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"It was agreed that the developed countries, who have enjoyed the fruits of messing up the climate for so many decades, will pay a greater price, and will support the developing and less developed countries, as well as island nations in the Pacific and the Caribbean...Just $100 billion a year. That was the commitment," he added.

He further slammed the European Union for not fulfilling its promises made to the developing and less developed nations in 2015 of supporting them with grants to cut carbon emissions.

"Eleven years later, we haven't seen a nickel or a dime of that. It's all promises. The larger question that the European Union and CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) have failed to answer," said Goyal.

Goyal also spoke about the stark imbalance between the population sizes and emission outputs of the West compared to India.

"Who's responsible for this mess in the first place? Where did the ozone layer get damaged? Who sent all that carbon into the atmosphere? I represent 17% of the world's population, but my contribution to global carbon emissions is less than 3%. You (Europe) represent probably 3% or 4% of the world's population, yet your contribution to those carbon emissions—or this mess—is humongous. The problem was caused by you," Goyal said.