Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has ranked China as the top global carbon dioxide emitter and it is the third western agency to do so in the recent past. This further increases the discomfort of the Chinese who are already under the scanner especially as they are organizing the summer Olympics this time. The study puts India at the 3rd spot of the same list.
China does have a poor record in environmental aspects. But at the same time we have to note a few things. Considering the sheer size and population of the countries like China and India, it is actually not fair to compare them with tiny European nations. In fact if we see the numbers on a per capita basis, it will still be higher for most of the developed nations. Also nations like China have started heavy industrialization only a couple of decades ago. The western nations went through the same phase several decades ago. But probably environment was not a big issue in those time and probably no such studies were done!
Another noteworthy aspect is that even economic or educational backwardness can also lead to more environmental damage. For example, in India bulk of the rural population use firewood for cooking simply due to lack of other options. LPG or solar panels would have created far lesser emissions. Also the huge livestock in such countries can also lead to a huge amount of emissions.
Having said all these, China or any other country cannot ignore this issue anymore. Situation has become alarming and they don’t have much time to act. Simply because of its absolute size, any positive or negative step by it can make a huge difference to the world. In fact developing better education and infrastructural facility can help in curbing most of the polluting activities. It is just a matter of goodwill and foresight rather than ignorance and reluctance.
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Source Reuters