IT鈥橲 open season on China, newly installed as the world鈥檚 largest emitter of carbon dioxide. Last week the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency said China鈥檚 economy was responsible for two-thirds of the global increase in CO2 emissions last year. The week before, the environment group WWF calculated that China uses 15 per cent of the world鈥檚 resources. It builds two coal-fired power stations a week, manufactures half the world鈥檚 cement and is the world鈥檚 largest importer of tropical timber.
The charge sheet is long, and mostly true. But remember that 1 in every 5 of the planet鈥檚 citizens is Chinese. Looked at in this light, the stats do not look half as bad. On average, the CO2 emissions of a Chinese person are half those of a European and a quarter those of an American or Australian. Per capita, China鈥檚 ecological footprint is below the world average.
Yes, China burns a lot of coal. But last year it also deployed more wind turbines than any other country. Its recycling businesses are among the world鈥檚 largest. It leads the world in aquaculture, helping to protect surviving ocean fisheries.
Advertisement
Should we at least blame China for its huge population? Go carefully. Its population would be much higher but for its sometimes coercive efforts to cut birth rates. Ah yes, China鈥檚 dodgy human rights record. We don鈥檛 like that either. Rightly so, perhaps. But we can鈥檛 have it all ways.