What's new

China, India Become Climate Leaders as West Falters

patman

BANNED
Joined
Feb 16, 2017
Messages
784
Reaction score
-2
Country
India
Location
France
Less than two years after world leaders signed off on a historic United Nations climate treaty in Paris in late 2015, and following three years of record-setting heat worldwide, climate policies are advancing in developing countries but stalling or regressing in richer ones.

In the Western hemisphere, where centuries of polluting fossil fuel use have created comfortable lifestyles, the fight against warming has faltered largely due to the rise of far-right political groups and nationalist movements. As numerous rich countries have foundered, India and China have emerged as global leaders in tackling global warming.

Nowhere is backtracking more apparent than in the U.S., where President Trump is moving swiftly to dismantle environmental protections and reverse President Obama’s push for domestic and global solutions to global warming.

The U.S. isn’t alone in its regression. European lawmakers are balking at far-reaching measures to tackle climate change. Australian climate policy is in tatters. International efforts to slow deforestation in tropical countries are failing.

4_24_17_upton_world_whip_around_720_492_s_c1_c_c.jpg


Click to jump to your region: United States | Canada | EU | Australia | Russia | India | China | Amazon |
Southeast Asia | Congo Basin


While global emissions of heat-trapping pollution appear to be stabilizing, they have not shown any signs of decreasing, which would be necessary to slow climate change. Rising temperatures are worsening floods, storms and wildfires around the world.

“Right now, when you sum the actions of all countries, even under the Paris agreement, it’s insufficient to mitigate dangerous, human-caused climate change,” said Matto Mildenberger, a political scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“Different countries move forward on climate issues with their own rhythm in response to domestic political factors,” Mildenberger said. “It’s naive to think that pro-climate forces will be in power across the world at the same time.”

Here’s a trip around the world, assessing how pro-climate and anti-climate forces are faring in key nations and regions and showing how recent developments are affecting the languishing fight against global warming.

United States
Dire. Trump moving to end climate regulations, research and spending.

No country has turned as sharply as the U.S. Since President Trump’s inauguration, America has gone from being a champion of global climate action to aggressively pushing to end environmental regulations and throatily advocating for fossil fuels. Scott Pruitt, who had been one of the nation’s most fierce opponents of federal environmental regulations, now leads the EPA, the very agency charged with overseeing federal environmental rules.

Trump has moved to eliminate any spending on global climate programs and to roll back any regulations that hamper the fossil fuel sector, which is the main source of greenhouse gas pollution. Many uncertainties over the future of U.S. climate policy remain, including its potential role in United Nations climate talks, and whether supporters of climate action can slow the reversal of national policies.

“The momentum that came out of Paris is still there,” said Harvard economics professor Robert Stavins. “But it has to be admitted that because of the election of Mr. Trump in the U.S., the overall global pace of action is now, and likely will be for the next few years, less than it otherwise would have been.”

Democratic-run states, of which there are just a dozen or so, and environmental groups are fighting Trump’s deregulation drive in public campaigns and in the courts. Trump’s Republican Party has slim majorities in Congress, and some Republican lawmakers have begun voicing support for climate action, making it unlikely that the Clean Air Act will be amended to ease the legal requirement that the federal government must regulate greenhouse gases.

RELATED We Just Breached the 410 Parts Per Million Threshold
Trump Order Targets Local Efforts to Adapt to Warming
New Posters Imagine National Parks in 2050; It’s Not Pretty
Despite most Americans being supportive of climate action, recent Quinnipiac University polling showed half of Republican voters think Trump should remove climate regulations. It also showed that half of Republican voters think it’s a good idea for Trump to significantly fund research on the environment and climate change.

Canada
Concerning. Canada is moving to nationwide carbon pricing but is sending mixed messages on tar sands mining.

Canada flipped in late 2015 from refusing to act meaningfully to slow global warming under conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to becoming an advocate for climate action after liberal Justin Trudeau’s party won the national election. But the prime minister has been sending deeply mixed messages about the future of the country’s heavily polluting tar sands oil industry.

Trudeau has moved to expand programs run by provinces that charge fees on climate pollution into a nationwide system. He has also said that Canada’s highly polluting practice of mining tar sands oil needs to be phased out. Then again, last month Trudeau said during a speech at an energy industry event that tar sands resources “will be developed. Our job is to ensure that this is done responsibly, safely, and sustainably.”

Trudeau released a federal budget last month that includes billions of dollars in spending on clean energy and climate programs, which Mike Wilson, executive director of the Canadian green economy think tank Smart Prosperity Institute, described as “a really positive development.”

“For Canada to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and be economically competitive in a low carbon global economy, we need both a price on carbon and targeted investments and policy directed at stimulating clean innovation,” Wilson said.

European Union
Concerning. Key votes loom as opposition and antipathy toward climate action grows.

The European Union was the first wealthy region in the world to take global warming seriously, but it has recently been floundering in its commitment to climate action, distracted by refugee and other crises and rattled by a surge in far-right parties within some of its member states.

Crucial votes by European lawmakers are planned this year, which will shape its plan for fighting climate action from 2020 to 2030. They have already committed to reducing greenhouse gas pollution by 40 percent by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, which is similar but less aggressive to a commitment made by California, one of the world’s leaders in fighting warming.

“I expect that the EU will stick to its objective to reduce emissions in 2030 by 40 percent, but will not go beyond this,” said Louise van Schaik, chief of the sustainability center at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations. “The opposition by Poland, Hungary and others is quite strong at the moment.”

Australia
Dire. After dumping its carbon tax, Australia may subsidize a large coal mine.

Australia’s commitment to slowing global warming has fluctuated violently in recent years, and it’s currently near rock bottom among developed countries. With little federal leadership, states have been stepping up to introduce their own climate policies.

One of the first major actions by the country’s conservative party after it won power in 2013 was to dump a carbon tax, which had been helping to slow warming. Since then, the ruling conservative party has replaced hard-right prime minister Tony Abbott with the more moderate Malcolm Turnbull.

The change in leader did little to bolster climate policy. Turnbull has been pushing for federal subsidies for a coal mine near the Great Barrier Reef, which is a major tourist draw and a breeding grounds for commercial fisheries that’s being destroyed by climate change — of which coal power is a major cause.

“There seems no political prospect under the present government for systematic climate policy instruments,” Australian National University professor Frank Jotzo, director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, said. “At the right wing of the conservative government, there are those who would like to see a U.S.-style approach.”

Russia
Dire. After declaring climate change a crisis, President Vladimir V. Putin resumes his climate denialism.

Russia is one of the world’s biggest climate polluters, and it continues to rely on fossil fuel sales to Europe and other countries to underpin its economy. It appears to be preparing to ratify the Paris climate agreement, but that means little — Russia’s pledge under the agreement would not require it to take any meaningful steps to slow warming.

In 2015, Putin reversed his long practice of mocking and denying climate science, declaring that climate change “has become one of the gravest challenges humanity is facing.” After Trump won power in the U.S., however, Putin changed his tone again, saying climate change doubters “may not be at all silly” and that warming could boost Russia’s economy.

Vladimir Chuprov of Greenpeace Russia suspects Putin’s recent remarks were a “signal” to Trump, indicating that “we are the same” on climate and fossil fuel policies.

India
Positive. State and local governments boosting efforts to deploy clean energy.

India has developed one of the world’s most aggressive plans for installing solar panels, part of an effort by the large but low-income nation to provide electricity to the hundreds of millions of residents who currently lack regular access to it.

India’s ambitious clean power plans rely heavily on finance and aid from developed countries and experts expect they will be jeopardized by shifts in the U.S. and potentially elsewhere away from providing international assistance.

More recently, state governments in India have begun working aggressively to produce clean power and to help their residents adapt to the impacts of climate change. “This is the right approach, as impacts are understood better at local level,” said Harjeet Singh, a New Delhi-based climate policy lead for global nonprofit ActionAid.

“State governments as well as several local authorities are currently developing or implementing their plans,” Singh said. “A large part of money to carry the actions out will come from the national and sub-national governments, but international finance is also needed to boost these efforts.”

China
Positive. China views climate action as an economic opportunity.

China releases more heat-trapping carbon dioxide every year than any other country — a consequence of its large size and its role as a global manufacturing hub. Factories shifted away from the U.S. and other developed countries to China in recent decades to take advantage of its lax environmental laws and low wages.

China’s leaders have been toiling in recent years to reverse the policies that allowed wanton pollution of the water and the air, including greenhouse gas pollution. That shift has amplified recently as China has come to view clean technology as a major potential driver of its economy.

China aims to create 13 million clean energy jobs by 2020. In 2015 it overtook the U.S. as the largest market for electric vehicles. The country is delivering on its Paris climate goals far more quickly than it had anticipated, prompting some onlookers to speculate that it may boost its pledge during the years ahead.

“China is seeing climate change as an opportunity,” said Ranping Song, an expert on climate policies in developing countries with the nonprofit World Resources Institute. “China would be in a good position to boost its climate pledge, if the economic transition goes as planned.”

Amazon
Concerning. Deforestation accelerated in 2015 and 2016 following a decade of gains.

After a decade of success by Brazil in slowing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, largely by preventing the conversion of forest into agricultural land for beef and soy, the country reported spikes in forest loss in 2015 and again 2016.

Amazon deforestation increased by about a quarter in 2015 compared with 2014, and them jumped by more than that amount in 2016.

Rachael Petersen of the World Resources Institute described the recent rise in Amazonian deforestation as “disturbing,” possibly caused by lax law enforcement of illegal logging and other factors. But she said it’s too soon to know if it was the start of a long-term trend or just a fluke. “The long-term trend is that it’s still downward.”

In nearby Paraguay, which shares a national border with Brazil and is home to a dryer type of tropical forest that’s not considered a part of the Amazon, Peterson described recent deforestation as “apocalyptic.”

Southeast Asia
Dire. The global hunger for palm oil is causing rampant deforestation in Indonesia.

Natural forests continue to be burned and cleared at astonishing rates to grow palms that produce palm oil in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. Land is also being cleared for timber throughout the region and to produce rubber in countries that include Cambodia.

This is despite a pledge by Indonesia to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly a third by 2030. The country is one of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters, largely because of deforestation. It’s also despite efforts by Unilever, Nestle, Mars and other global corporations to remove palm oil produced through deforestation from their supply chains.

Congo Basin
Dire. Deforestation is accelerating in Africa’s biggest tropical rainforest.

Deforestation has long been a major problem in the swampy Congo Basin in Africa, which traverses a number of poor countries and is home to one of the world’s greatest expanses of carbon-storing tropical forest. Timber is being harvested and trees are being cleared for mines, plantations and grazing.

The problem has recently been getting much worse, with “vast” new logging hotspots identified in an analysis of satellite images published in February in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Researchers found that the rate of deforestation more than doubled in the Democratic Republic of Congo 2011 and 2014.

“There are billions of tons of carbon locked up in those forests,” said Simon Counsell, executive director of the nonprofit Rainforest Foundation UK. “The threats are escalating.”

Norway and other countries have been committing hundreds of millions of dollars to help slow deforestation in the Congo, although the work has been criticized by Counsell’s group and other nonprofits for allowing and promoting commercial logging — something the international financiers regard as potentially sustainable.


http://www.climatecentral.org/news/china-india-climate-leaders-west-falters-21377
 
.
world leader by plans?

seriously guys you praise so much your countrys by "future" plans that may happen or moste likely not...

fact the world leader in solar unit instalation is Germany

world leading nations in terms of installed PV capacity per capita were Germany (474), Italy (308), Belgium (275), Greece (235), Czech Republic (203), Japan (183), Australia (179), Bulgaria (140), Switzerland (133), Slovenia (124), Spain (115), and Denmark (107). For comparison: Canada (48), Chile (20), China (21), France (86), India (2)

The west is miles ahead of solar instalations of China and India per captiva.....
Germany a pretty small country is second by the total ammount of solar units installed...and we keep installing in huge numbers but not money because solar unit prices dropped dramaticly the last years and getting cheap ..

2016 Germany reached 31.7% of the total electric energy consumption from renwable energy

By 2025 Germany will reach 45% of ots electric power from renewable energy

Next nonsens claim in the Article...

Germany has reduced its overall emission from 1990 1.251million tonns to 906million tonnes in 2016... in 2014 the government installed new programs to increase the reduction speed to reach the 751million to goal in 2020 which represtens a reduction of 40% from 1990 to 2020...the CO2² emission already dropped under 800million tonnes in 2016 (1050million tonnes in 1990)


on the other hand...
India has dramaticly increased its emission from 1990 518.4 million to to whopping 2407million tonns in 2013... how on earth will the become a clima leader?

CO2-for-Forbes.jpg


some facts in the face who ever wrote the article..

total emission change from 1990 to 2015

China +355%
USA +5%
EU -21%
Germany -25%
UK -31%
Italy -17%
France -14%
India +272%
Indonesia +214%
Malaysia +345%

trends
wind power production Thw 2010 to 2015
China +15.8% (185Thw in 2015)
EU +23.8% (310Thw in 2015)
USA +5.1% (192Thw in 2015)
Germany +53.4% (88Thw in 2016)
India +11.6% (41.4Thw in 2015)

solar power
China +69.7% (39.2Thw in 2015)
EU +12.6% (109.5Thw in 2015
USA +41.8% (39Thw in 2015)
Germany +6.6% (38.4Thw in 2015)
India +50.9% (6.6Thw in 2015)

biomass, geothermal and other renewable
China +13.4% (52.9Thw in 2015)
EU +4.0% (181.2Thw in 2015)
USA +1.4% (85.2Thw in 2015)
Germany +1.3% (50.2Thw in 2015)
India +9.2% (20.2Thw in 2015)

nuclear power
China +28.9% (170.8Thw in 2015)
EU -2.2% (857.8Thw in 2015)

USA 0% (839Thw in 2015)
Germany -5.8% (91.5Thw in 2015) all are on the way to get phased out
India ---

source for the numbers...

Trends in Global Emission 2016 Report

by

PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
www.pbl.nl/en

and

European Commission
Joint Research Centre
Institute for Environment and Sustainability
 
.
China we can all understand, but India? Don't even make us laugh. India doesn't figure anywhere in climate change. India is a huge contributor of carbon emissions. India doesn't come close to Chinese green energy ambitions. China has invested vast sums in green energy generation. India hasn't even started yet.

China is the real leader as far as climate change is concerned.
 
.
China we can all understand, but India? Don't even make us laugh. India doesn't figure anywhere in climate change. India is a huge contributor of carbon emissions. India doesn't come close to Chinese green energy ambitions. China has invested vast sums in green energy generation. India hasn't even started yet.

China is the real leader as far as climate change is concerned.
China cannot be a leader in so-called 'climate change' enterprise since it is the largest manufacturing base of the world. China's CO2 emission is highest in the world at present. Air pollution is also extreme there.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/poli...tops-world-air-pollution-and-carbon-emissions

Being a leading manufacturing base has its perks but also drawbacks. And Chinese eco-friendly drive is mired in controversy.
 
Last edited:
. .
Theyre both some of the most polluted countries in the world, even if overall they are improving their energy sources are still increasing emissions too.
Surely Pakistan should be amongst them with all its dam and wind turbine building though?
 
.
I don't believe in man made climate change, but we are polluting ourworld like crazy. what is China and India doing to protect their air,land, and water from pollution??

all you hear about is carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide isn't pollution.
 
. .
I don't believe in man made climate change, but we are polluting ourworld like crazy. what is China and India doing to protect their air,land, and water from pollution??

all you hear about is carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide isn't pollution.

Well, This has to be the post of the day!

What has America & the west been doing for the last 100 years of industrialisation? you lot have been polluting like rampant, unabated to build your infrastructure. Now that its hit saturation and 3rd world countries want to do the same, we become the scapegoat for your misdeeds.

Not very convincing, at least we are doing what we can to minimise the carbon footprint and yet grow. The Americans have no foot to stand on in this debate, and if you don't believe in Global warming and its impacts on the environment - I suggest you seek help!

China we can all understand, but India? Don't even make us laugh. India doesn't figure anywhere in climate change. India is a huge contributor of carbon emissions. India doesn't come close to Chinese green energy ambitions. China has invested vast sums in green energy generation. India hasn't even started yet.

China is the real leader as far as climate change is concerned.

Anything to bash India hey, why don't you give it break and use google to seek the initiatives India is investing in for renewable green energy. Before you start waffling again read the below and enlighten yourself. it's evident you have nothing but sheer hate for US.

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/pr...-bank-india-sign-deal-to-boost-solar-globally

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...e-renewable-capacity-to-175-gigawatts-by-2022

http://www.wri.org/blog/2016/05/india-charts-roadmap-achieve-ambitious-solar-targets

https://www.australianpowerproject.com.au/2017/03/01/boom-time-indias-renewable-energy-sector/

https://futurism.com/india-just-broke-a-world-record-with-its-new-solar-farm/

-VxC2rdYrTQlCTy0IKrJGHX4B2Jsm6Q_yQ6gO1rUmBQ.PNG


https://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/india-national-policies-and-global-commitments.pdf

http://en.hareonsolar.com/index.php?c=content&a=show&id=751

The US and India partnered on new renewable energy initiatives totalling a US$1 billion during prime minister Modi’s visit to the White House on Tuesday.

The partnership for rapidly emerging Indian renewable energy sector paves the way for investment from several US and global equity agencies to enhance rooftop solar and modernise India’s national grid.

The two initiatives for solar power are the US-India Clean Energy Finance initiative (ICEF) and the US-India Catalytic Solar Finance Programme (CSFP). ICEF will deploy up to US$20 million in project preparation support. According to White House reports, this funding is anticipated to leverage US$400 million in investment from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and other investors for solar projects. The CSFP aims to deploy up to US$40 million in high-impact catalytic capital from US organisations and the Indian government; with a particular focus on off-grid and rooftop solar. It is anticipated to raise up to US$1 billion in capital flows, according to White House reports

You want more?
 
.
China we can all understand, but India? Don't even make us laugh. India doesn't figure anywhere in climate change. India is a huge contributor of carbon emissions. India doesn't come close to Chinese green energy ambitions. China has invested vast sums in green energy generation. India hasn't even started yet.

China is the real leader as far as climate change is concerned.


@waz please take care of this troll...

SmartSelectImage_2017-05-01-09-58-59.png


I don't believe in man made climate change, but we are polluting ourworld like crazy. what is China and India doing to protect their air,land, and water from pollution??

all you hear about is carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide isn't pollution.


SmartSelectImage_2017-05-01-09-58-21.png


Ghg contribution from China, India, US... who causing more pollution buddy... you want to say co2 isn't pollution? that's new..
Theyre both some of the most polluted countries in the world, even if overall they are improving their energy sources are still increasing emissions too.
Surely Pakistan should be amongst them with all its dam and wind turbine building though?


see the contribution % by each country..
 
.
I don't believe in man made climate change, but we are polluting ourworld like crazy. what is China and India doing to protect their air,land, and water from pollution??

all you hear about is carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide isn't pollution.

http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/biggest-contributors-to-global-warming-in-the-world.html

Approximately two-thirds of all industrial methane and carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere since 1854 can be traced to burning fossil fuels and producing cement. Over the decades, scientists have succeeded in confidently tracing how much of climate change can be directly tied to human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels. Sadly, the carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are now higher than at any point in human history, further worsening the ‘greenhouse effect’ contributing to global warming and the consequences of climate change. In fact, recent data shows that global carbon dioxide emissions were 150 times higher in 2011 than they were in 1850.

(These were the glory days in which American was built up) :usflag:


Since burning fossil fuels is usually a sign of heavy industry, carbon dioxide emissions can also serve as method of measuring a country’s economic growth. Nonetheless, a reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions is an important objective of not only environmentalists but of every humanitarian-oriented and environmentally conscious state in the world. At the moment, 192 countries have adopted the Kyoto protocol which, among many other objectives, aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% from the 1990 levels by 2012.

In the world today, established economies have large, but waning, carbon emissions, while new economic giants in the developing world are increasing their emissions rapidly.

China
China emits almost twice the amount of greenhouse gases as the US, which it surpassed in 2006 as the world’s top contributor to atmospheric carbon dioxide. Today, the country accounts for approximately 23 percent of all global CO2 emissions. The United States government estimates project that, barring major reform, China will double its emissions by 2040, due to its heavy reliance on fossil fuels for steel production and electricity. Until recently, China was hesitant to establish targets for emissions, which continue to increase, although at a slower rate.

United States
The US has never entered into any binding treaty to curb greenhouse gases, but has cut more carbon dioxide emissions than any other nation nevertheless. The country is on pace to meet a 2009 pledge by the Obama administration to reduce CO2 emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020.

Unfortunately, CO2 emissions have gone up in recent as the country fights to recover back from the recession that began in 2008. President Obama’s administration has not always gained Congressional support, as means to balance making progress economically and reducing emissions do not always go hand in hand, and different political factions propose markedly different strategies concerning how to best do so. Most “clean air” legislation in this country has focused on improving automobile fuel economy and cutting carbon pollution from existing and new power plants.

India
In coming years, India plans to double its coal production to feed a national power grid that suffers from increasingly frequent blackouts. The nation faces the difficult challenge of curbing its greenhouse gases even as its population and economy continues to grow. In 2010, the country voluntarily committed to a 20-25 percent reduction in carbon emissions from 2005 levels (relative to economic output) by 2020.

In summary, when it comes to pure carbon dioxide emissions today,

  • China emits more carbon dioxide than 2nd Place US and 3rd Place India combined.
  • The US has reduced its CO2 release for two years in a row despite bipartisan political conflicts.
  • India has become the world’s third biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, pushing Russia down to the fourth position on our list.
Biggest Contributors To Global Warming In The World By Country
  • View information as a:
  • List
  • Chart
Rank Country share of global CO2 emissions
1 China 23.43 %
2 U.S. 14.69 %
3 India 5.70 %

4 Russian Federation 4.87 %
5 Brazil 4.17 %
6 Japan 3.61 %
7 Indonesia 2.31 %
8 Germany 2.23 %
9 Korea 1.75 %
10 Canada 1.57 %
11 Iran 1.57 %
 
.
@waz please take care of this troll...

View attachment 393985

polution per captiva is completely useless...

1. it does not take into account if a nation is a production nation like China or Germany were much of the energy went into large scale production.
2. it does not take into account if the nation needs heating in winter time or not
 
.
There are countless scientists who doubt man made climate change but none of them ever gets a fair hearing.
 
.
There are countless scientists who doubt man made climate change but none of them ever gets a fair hearing.

because it is a fact that clima change is human made only idiots like Trump denies this or scientist payed by coal and oil monoplos... there is a reason why nearly all nations agree to change and lower their emission...
 
.
it makes sense for China and India to be the most 'active' party on this pollution thing, as we are sufferring from serious air pollution on daily bases. Lucky for China, our inudstry is at the turning corner from efficiency driven economy to innovation driven efficiency, at this latter phase, renewable energy, clean energy and green technology is going to drive our country's growth. And it makes sense that from state to private entities, have started investing huge money at these fields.

But sad thing is India which is still at factor driven economy phase, still needs decades to transform to efficiency economy (according to WIPO nation's development stages: primitive factor driven economy-transaction to efficiency driven economy-efficiency driven economy-transaction to innovation driven economy-innovation driven economy), I dont know how this is going to play out to planet's scared resources in 30 years time
 
.

Pakistan Affairs Latest Posts

Country Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom