Stop Playing The Blame Game
The Western World created the Global Warming problem so there is no point in pointing our fingers at India and China because they have huge populations who aspire to the western lifestyle. While the west squirms and blames, we also do very little.
The irony is that most of the west agreed in 1997 to make a small cut in their huge emissions, in the interest of us all. Nobody agreed to cut as much as we need to but most of these countries have done nothing to contain emissions. Between 1990 and 2005, when they agreed to cut emissions, rich country emissions have gone up by 11 per cent; emissions from the growth-related energy sector increased by 15 per cent.
It is the world’s need for energy that is the cause of climate pain. The fact also is that after years of talk, no country has been able to de-link its growth with the growth of carbon dioxide emissions. No country has shown how to build a low-carbon economy.
A low carbon economy is the challenge. At present the proportion of new renewable energy wind, solar, geothermal, biofuels comprises just about 1 per cent of the world’s primary energy supply. It is old renewable hydroelectric power which makes the world light up.
The rich world must reduce emissions drastically and we can do that by reducing waste energy and not drastically changing our lives. There is a stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, built up over centuries in the process of creating nations wealth. It is a natural debt that has already made climate unstable. The developing nations are adding to this with a serious bid for economic growth. In fact the rich must cut back and allow the developing world to develop but we all need to uses carbon efficient energy.