Climate Change

[lookwhaticando]

While I'd agree that concerning future CO2 emissions China and India have worrying prospects, it's worth noting that it is in many cases TNCs from Europe, the NIEs and (mostly) USA that are the reason for the major industrial growth in the two countries you name. 'Normally' in the next 20 years, things will continue to worsen, because better technology costs money and that would effectively reduce firms' competitiveness. It's all very complex, but my point is that it's very misleading to identify the problem as being a nation-divided economic and technologic issue

Indeed.

Obviously in the terms I used to outline the case, it seems like I'm putting everything into the China/India basket. I am aware though, that the developed world which is so intent on using these new economies to their advantage are a large reason for such industrial growth.

To clarify a particular point of mine - I stated that 'someone' could do something. That 'someone' could indeed be the governments of the developed nations whose firms go abroad to China and India, among other states, and invest in manufacturing there. The governments of these developed countries could encourage their firms to behave more responsibly with regards to the environment - both at home and abroad. A few significant tax breaks for firms who deploy cleaner technologies, for example, could set the ball rolling.

Alone, the firms won't make the change - you're right - because to invest in cleaner fuels in a country where they produce their low-cost goods makes no real sense from a business perspective. You can't justify it in your business case. You want to produce goods in China because it's low cost - however you want to do it cleanly so you spend money making your process cleaner. Where's the logic in that?

That's where the developed national governments come into play, or perhaps an aid organisation (The Gates Foundation has the money to make a big impact, although I gather they're more humanitarian). Incentives to encourage firms to go clean even when it makes less than perfect financial sense. Tax breaks to offset financial expenditure related to cleaner fuel deployment, for example.

Alas, it's not all that simple. Foreign firms can be pushed in the right direction - but can the Chinese firms themselves? What encouragement will the Chinese firms be given to go clean? The Chinese government won't spend money going clean - they're desperate for growth of wealth (because the Communist Party could well lose it's grip if the economy sours, for example). Under those conditions, the Chinese government won't waste money going clean - low cost, high volume is their speciality at the minute. If they increase costs, they lose their advantage.

A few incentives in the right places targeting the right industry can make a difference. Unfortunately, the only way to make the biggest possible difference involves everyone pulling together - the EU, NAFTA, Mercosur, ASEAN, and a whole bunch of other bodies and governments. Somehow I think that's highly unlikely in the current scheme of things.

[Strokes]

personally i think global warming is a big con, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do our bit for the planet.

a) we should recycle, nobody wants to live next to a landfill site.

b)car fumes might not warm the earth, but breathing them in doesn't do you any good.

c)by finding an alternative to fossil fuels we won't be held to ransom by unfriendly countries.

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