Climate Changers

The whole debate on climate change and who needs to take responsibility and do what continues to rage with no end in sight. The so called developed countries - mostly in the West - while promising a cut in emissions, have in the past demanded that the developing countries also do the same across the board. This is of course not exactly to the liking of the developing world.

For one, the rapid industrialization of the developing nations is an essential ingredient to their growth and to ensuring that hundreds of millions of people are able to climb out of the poverty hole. Cutting down on emissions would in essence mean fewer conventional industries, etc. - which would mean fewer jobs as well as much less wealth generated by the local consumption and the export of the products generated by these industries.

The second reason is of course, how did our climate get to this point? It would be safe to argue that until very recently the biggest polluters in this world were indeed the most industrialized and developed countries of the world, whose per capita contribution to climate change and global warming is staggering to say the least. It would only be fair that they take the burden of the major changes on themselves, since it was their rapid growth that brought us all here. To now deny the developing world their industrialization and growth, especially without adequate compensation of any sort, is/ would be hypocritical at best. Combined with the crimes of their ancestors during their colonial pasts (forcible occupation, subjugation, colonization and massive exploitation of the people and resources of several developing countries), it alarmingly creates the impression of a new form of repression.

It also hints at immaturity in trying to somehow maintain an extreme consumption based lifestyle that has brought us to this point while requiring the more populated developing world to bear the brunt of the problem. More alarmingly though, it points to a protectionism agenda in trying to maintain their industrialized economies as is and perhaps keep the rapidly gaining competition in particular from Asian nations from achieving parity and overtaking the developed world.

But, while there is some truth to all of the three perspectives outlined in the previous paragraph, the issue is not simply apportioning blame. The fact of the matter is that we are all in this together. Some more than others. But eventually, it will affect most, if not all people on this planet. More populous developing nations with several big cities surviving right by our ever rising seas are in the most danger. Expecting the West to help out before it becomes too late would be rather reactive and wishful thinking too I might add.

While I do believe that global initiatives for climate change action are extremely welcome, the fact that everyone has differing opinions on how to go about doing it and the fact that there are clearly two opposing viewpoints in the whole discussion means that very little is going to be done going forward multilaterally.

Instead of course, we must recognize that rapid industrialization, while improving the economies of many nations and bringing more of their population into prosperity, also brings with it a degradation in the quality of life in terms of health and well being, especially if the western model is to be followed. Smog is a daily feature in many big cities in the developing world (just as the megacities in the developed world). Health problems arising out of carbon emissions, as well as chemical affluents are not desirable on any level as it would add significantly to health costs in the long run and a significant degradation of life as we enjoy it.

Populations in the developing world are not ignorant of these issues, in fact they are probably far more concerned about it than developed countries are. After all, it is the air they breathe on a daily basis. They are also willing to pursue (and in many cases already acting on it them) several options going forward be it wind farming, massive solar energy generation initiatives, implementing high standards for emissions from vehicles and industries, adopting environmentally friendly planning and construction practices among others. In the future, you can expect them to continue to adopt these green options in greater numbers and with ever-increasing pace.

Furthermore, the economies of these countries will probably be boosted by the development and mass production of green technologies including manufacturing of next gen solar power cells, wind technology and the adoption of safer nuclear power production practices and safeguards.

As these populations start becoming more and more affluent, their focus will shift from livelihood to quality of life. Clean air and water, direct results of cleaner energy production, will be up next in their list of wants and demands.

Overall, I remain bullish about the ability of the developing world to make fundamental shifts in tackling climate change.