Chart of the week
Eyes Wide Shut
The developed world has made lofty commitments to reduce carbon emissions while shipping the most energy intensive and dirty manufacturing tasks to the developing world. Many of the countries that have assumed these tasks rely on coal1 as their primary form of energy consumption. This fact stands as a clear perversion of the commitments made by the developed world and highlights who will ultimately bear the brunt of ambitious promises.
The citizens of developed nations have benefitted from the statistically significant relationship2 between economic growth and carbon emissions. It should come as no surprise that half of U.S News’ top 10 best countries3 are also among the top 15 global leaders in per-capita carbon emissions4. With prosperity secured, the developed worlds’ message shifted to carbon for me, not for thee.
The only way to decouple economic prosperity from carbon emissions is for the developed world to financially support the developing world, as agreed to at the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference. Unfortunately the $100B annual commitment of financial support has fallen woefully short despite being only a small fraction of what is actually required5. With China being the only developing country projected to slow primary energy consumption growth over the next three decades6, a 2050 net zero emissions goal seems far flung at best. The estimated carbon emissions decline required to achieve the 2050 goal is 3.3% annually, over 2x the rate achieved by the UK, the top G7 performer in cutting emissions over the past 30 years7.
Achieving carbon neutrality is a global issue requiring a level of coordination and follow-through that’s proven elusive. The article The dirty road to clean energy does a great job providing perspective around the collateral damage being sustained in the developing world in pursuit of a carbon neutral future.
Chart Source - 2022 Annual Energy Paper, Michael Cembalest
