Global Wangsting
God-damnit, China. Okay, let's look at some figures.
Contributor
Population*
Global Emissions**
Global Emissions per Capita (×10-8%)
China1,325,639,98224%1.81
Europe (excl. Russia)688,584,17812%1.74
Russian Federation141,800,0006%4.23
USA304,059,72422%7.24
India1,139,964,9328%0.70
So, per person, we in Europe produce 4% less carbon than the Chinese. We produce 59% less than the Russian Federation, per capita. And a whopping 76% less, per person, than the USA. In fact, it appears the only 'industrialised' block that produces significantly less than Europe, per capita, is India.
That being the case, why is China still considered an 'undeveloped' nation? Why is it clamouring for Europe to cut carbon emissions when it is (slightly) guiltier than we are? The answer is simple: they want an industrial revolution, too. And yes, read that sentence with a petulant voice, elongating the too-oo-oo-ooo as far as you deem proper.
Our industrial revolution, the first carbon-factor step that led to our current technological level, happened before we could even reliably measure air composition. Certainly long before even the most esoteric scientists proposed that emissions from fossil fuels were harmful to anyone but ourselves.
Oh, we knew that they were harmful to ourselves. Read any compilation of miner diaries you care to - the forgotten Victorian classes, the bit people don't talk about when they talk about the perceived 'Golden Age', knew that working with coal dust killed them. They knew that the spread of industry was despoiling the green and pleasent land. But, and this is the important part, there was no inkling whatsoever within the scientific community that the harm was not simply domestic.
Sure, we raped the aesthetic of the country and condemned entire generations to slow, silicosis-related death, but nobody realised the potential scale of the problem on a global level.
Which is rather what China and India are doing now. They're enjoying an industrial revolution, hastened by the advent of 21st century production technology. The problem is that their industrial revolution has coincided with the scientific blunderbuss that is climate change. Right now, China's hiding in the G77 pretending they aren't a major carbon emitter reminds me of the Arsenal game I saw this weekend.
"Well, under the old offside rules, that would definitely have been a free kick - but those rules were changed about eighteen years ago." ***
The so-called developed nations of the world had our industrial revolutions before the rules changed - before we realised the potential impact on our civilisation.
A brief aside, please remember that global warming will not destroy the Earth. Just us, and a few species of mammal and reptile that we'd have wiped out ourselves in any case. Ice age, eradication of human life through intemperate climate, global reset. There is little we can do, short of detonating the combined nuclear stockpiles of the world somewhere inbetween the lower mantle and the outer core, that would leave truly lasting damage to the planet. Earth is a few billion years old. A billion years without man will undo everything we've done to hurt her.
Where was I? Impact on civilisation, that's right. Now we know, so the countries currently going through industrialisation are having to do so in an entirely different geopolitical climate - no pun intended. And that's aside from the other political shifts of the past hundred-fifty years, two world wars, the dissolution of the old European Empires, the rise of the democratic republics, all that jazz.
So when China preaches about Europe not doing enough to stem carbon emissions, it behooves us to remember the backdrop against which they do so. And when they pledge to reduce "greenhouse gas emissions per unit of economic output by 40-45 per cent by 2020"****, we should remember that they do so against a backdrop of economic growth in the region of 8% per annum*****, meaning that to meet their goal they just need to maintain current economic growth, and only increase their carbon emissions by 40% in the intervening 10 years.
I should add a disclaimer here, reiterating my view that I have always believed reliance on limited fossil fuel resources to sustain our energy infrastructure is a bad idea, and the advent of renewable energy resources should be a priority of every governmental administration. And, speaking as a native of an island nation, I'd really like to see us spend some of our Green Tax revenue on flood defenses should the worst come to the worst.
But I do admit to finding it horribly frustrating when the media presents only the facts designed to make me feel guilty about living in a country where I can turn on the shower and get hot water, and access Google, and vote, and ignores the flip side of the coin. Yes, we in Europe could do more to curb our carbon footprint - and I'm sure we will, as renewable technology surfaces over the next few years, given the green drive our politicians on all sides of the spectrum are pursuing. But for China to attempt to place the blame for the future state of the world squarely on our doorstep is, quite literally, the frying pan calling the kettle black.
Hope everyone's keeping well!
-Will
*Population figures referenced from Google, except Europe, referenced from Wikipedia
**Contributors and percentage contributions referenced from this Guardian article.
***Sky Sports Commentary
****Quote from this Financial Times article
*****Figures from the BBC News website