Pay up, or perish with us – Malawi president’s blunt message

Malawi’s president has a strong message to the rich, developed nations that are yet to meet a promise to pay £100bn to poorer countries each year to deal with climate change.

As long ago as 2009, the developed world pledged that it would mobilise that sum by 2020 to help less-developed countries deal with the effects of climate change and build greener economies.

But this target has still not been achieved and the UK government, which is hosting this summit, now says it’s unlikely to be until 2023.

For many countries, this is the biggest issue to resolve – and the very poorest are demanding action in Glasgow. They say those who have the most historical responsibility for climate change should pay the most to deal with it.

It a valid call when you consider the fact that Africa has remained largely underdeveloped while the developed nations have agressively pursued industrialisation up till this point.