As the debate over carbon emissions continues one thing the world seems to agree on is that it is primarily rich countries that have been producing the largest amount of carbon emissions.
A concrete plan has yet to come out to deal with global warming, but who is to blame? The wealthy industrialized world responsible for leaving the most footprints on the planet, or emerging nations that are producing increasing levels of carbon emissions?
We’re tracking coverage for you from US sources MSNBC, CNN, China’s Xinhua, the blog Treehugger and the UK’s Guardian. Each has its own view on who should be held accountable, who shouldn’t, and why.
First, MSNBC and CNN both point out why it’s impractical to put the burdens on the less developed nations.
“A lot of those developing countries, particularly in this recession, are having a hard time committing to these kinds of targets, so they didn’t.” (MSNBC)
“There’s another issue when it all comes down to money, developing countries like China make a ton of money off their exports from those factories that spelt out all of those green house gases.” (CNN)
China’s Xinhua criticizes a double standard in what came out of the G8 summit’s climate change talks.
“While being vague about targets for themselves, the G8 leaders took a tougher position against emerging economies, adding doubt to what can be achieved.”
U.S.-based environmental blog Treehugger also thinks developed countries are in a better position and should contribute more to the carbon emissions cuts, …
“We have the technological capability to do so with less impact on our quality of living than in the world’s poor nations. We also have the capability to assist with bringing these technologies to the developing world.”
However, U.K.’s The Guardian takes the opposite view, saying up and coming nations need to get on the right track early.
“… the rich countries no longer have the lion’s share of emissions, and that any action [the G8] take is pointless without the co-operation of developing nations such as China and India.”
So who do you think should bear the burden in cutting carbon emissions to save the world from climate change crisis?
Photo from Flickr user Uwe Hermann and G8 Summit Official Website.
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