With global population expected to continue growing, coupled with the ever expanding economies of China and India, worldwide energy consumption will double in the next 20-30 years. On the other hand, the world has to reduce/stabilize carbon emissions else there simply wont be a world left for us.
Governments thus have to balance economic considerations against the wider picture. Quite obviously, the easiest thing to do would be to grow your own country while praying that other countries hold back on theirs to save the world. Thus there has to be a global consensus for everyone to slow down, or we will simply end up destroying ourselves.
This where progress has come at the expense of responsibility. By the time we realise that we are in trouble, its almost too late, and no one wants to slow down. Capitalism aka Greed can lead to innovation and technological development, but since it is based on selfishness, it is hard to see what the world will be like decades from now. It is more likely that countries will consume each other to stay alive (energy security) rather than work together to become weaker instead.
On the homefront, Singapore is caught in this situation where it is the 8th largest emitter of greenhouse gases per capita, but if you calculate it based on consumption, we are only at 0.2%. You could mandate companies to keep to a quota, but then they may simply move elsewhere, taking their money and technology with them too.
1 comment:
agree that our strength is small. large economies like china and india are rapidly growing. during this industrialisation stage, these countries place more emphasis on growth than the environment. it's unlikely we can come up with effective agreement on green policies.
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