Rich countries got wealthy by burning fossil fuels for 200 years while poorer nations were colonized or blocked from development, so they're responsible for most historical emissions. Now they're asking developing countries to skip the same cheap energy that built their wealth and instead suffer slower growth. That's fundamentally unfair—the countries suffering the worst climate impacts contributed the least, so the ones who profited must pay to help them adapt and transition.
Tying climate funding to historical guilt is impractical and lets current governments off the hook. If rich nations just write big checks, poor countries' leaders have zero incentive to actually build efficient systems or fight their own corruption. Every nation benefits from not getting flooded or starving, so every nation should invest in its own future—funded internally through better policy and attracting private investment, not perpetual dependency on guilt money.
