“Who’s Responsible for This Mess?”: Piyush Goyal Calls Out West’s Hypocrisy on Climate Change, Says EU and Developed Nations Failed to Honor Their Promises Despite Being Major Contributors to Carbon Emissions

UNION MINISTER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Piyush Goyal on Friday, October 23, 2026, took part in a roundtable discussion at the Berlin Global Dialogue. The leader criticised the developed world for failing to deliver on its promises to the Global South, despite contributing disproportionately to carbon emissions. He called out wealthy nations and the European Union for the climate crisis and pointed out their record on meeting climate obligations.

While addressing the roundtable, Goyal said that developed nations have historically contributed significantly to carbon emissions and ozone layer damage. “Who's responsible for this mess in the first place? Where did the ozone layer get damaged? Who sent all that carbon up there (into the atmosphere)?” Goyal said at the conference.

Piyush Goyal Criticises the European Union Over Carbon Emissions 

Piyush Goyal pointed out the hypocrisy of developed nations questioning the fairness of imposing carbon-related additional costs on developing countries when the promises they made had never been fulfilled. He recalled the 2015 Paris climate conference, where developed countries had agreed to provide financial support and technological assistance to developing countries.

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He first pointed out the differences in population and carbon emissions between India and the West. He said, “I support 17% of the world's population, but my contribution to carbon emissions is less than 3%. You (Europe) support probably 3% or 4% of the world's population, and your contribution to those carbon emissions or this mess…. is humongous…. The problem was caused by you,” He added that the reasons were understandable, as countries wanted to grow their economies.

He said the European Union burned coal day in and day out so that it could keep carbon and energy costs low. Another leader at the table also pointed out that this was not done by the EU alone, but by the United States as well. Goyal then explained that India's per capita carbon emissions are just a fraction of what Europe emits.

“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 yours. Even today, Europe's per capita damage to the ozone layer or carbon emissions—and its per capita environmental impact—is probably seven or eight times that of India. I'm representing 17% of the world's population, and I am more conscious of waste and the circular economy,” he said.

India’s Clean Energy Programme and Per Capita Carbon Emissions 

Goyal highlighted how India is developing its green energy sector while meeting the needs of billions of Indians. He said, “I also have to meet the needs of 1.4 billion people. I have to meet their energy needs, their food needs, and ensure that my nation remains secure. Despite all of that, we have one of the world's fastest-growing clean energy programmes.” He said that India is supporting global efforts towards clean energy and working to address climate change.

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He then went on to mention the promises made first at COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009 and later extended under the Paris Agreement at COP21 in 2015. Goyal said, “At the Paris climate conference in 2015, when the whole world came together, it was Prime Minister Modi who collected the Global South together and encouraged countries to sign at COP 21 to our collective intention to address the climate change problem. 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 nations...only $100 billion a year. That was the only support promised.”

He then mentioned that years had passed. “Eleven years later, we haven't seen a nickel or dime of that. It's all promises. And does the CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) recognize the common but differentiated responsibility? Does CBAM recognize that the less developed countries have the 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 the European Union or CBAM have failed to answer. They have failed to respond to the needs of the less developed countries to support them in their decarbonization efforts.”

[Rh/VP]

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