“The problem was caused by you”: Piyush Goyal calls out Europe over carbon emissions

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has blamed Europe for the carbon emissions behind the climate crisis, telling a panel at the Berlin Global Dialogue in Germany that India, home to 17% of the world’s population, has contributed less than 3% of that carbon. He shared video of the remarks on X on Thursday, October 22.

Goyal is on an official visit to Germany and the Netherlands from October 22 to 27, leading a delegation of around 100 businesses and startups to expand trade and investment ties, the commerce ministry said. He spoke on a panel at the Berlin Global Dialogue, a forum on the global economy and geopolitics.

When climate change and the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which puts a carbon-related charge on some imports, came up on the panel, Goyal said he had been given “the perfect opening” for what he wanted to say. “Who’s responsible for this mess in the first place? Where did this ozone layer get damaged? Who sent all that carbon up there?” he asked, according to video of the session.

When another speaker replied, “All of us,” Goyal disagreed. “No, I’m sorry. I support 17% of the world’s population. My contribution to that carbon up there is less than 3%. You support probably 3% or 4% of the world’s population,” he said, adding that Europe’s share of the carbon was far bigger.

“So, the problem was caused by you, for good reasons. You were growing your economies. You wanted low-cost carbon-based energy. You blew coal day in and day out so that your energy cost remains low,” Goyal said.

He said the gap remains today. “Even today, as we sit here, my contribution on a per capita basis to the carbon emissions is probably less than 10% or 15% of what you do,” he said, adding that India, which has to meet the energy and food needs of 1.4 billion people, runs one of the fastest-growing clean energy programmes.

Goyal also recalled the 2015 Paris climate talks, where developed countries agreed to support developing nations, including about $100 billion a year in climate finance. “11 years later, we haven’t seen a nickel or dime of that. It’s all promises,” he said. The OECD has reported that developed countries collectively met the $100 billion goal in 2022, two years late, though developing countries have questioned how much of it came as loans rather than grants, India Today noted.

He then turned to the EU’s carbon border tax. “Does CBAM recognise the common but differentiated responsibility? Does CBAM recognise that the less developed countries have a right to offer their children and their families and their people also a better quality of life? I think that’s the larger question which European Union or CBAM have failed to answer,” he said.

“India is conscious of and committed to its role in climate action,” Goyal wrote on X while sharing the clip.

How his figures compare: Carbon Brief’s analysis of cumulative CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, land use and forestry between 1850 and 2021 put India’s share of the historical total at 3.4%, seventh in the world. The US was first with about 20%, followed by China with 11%, while Germany and the UK accounted for 4% and 3% respectively.