{"id":325465,"date":"2024-05-02T11:50:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T09:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=325465"},"modified":"2024-05-02T11:50:21","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T09:50:21","slug":"developing-nations-reject-western-carbon-colonialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=325465","title":{"rendered":"Developing Nations Reject Western Carbon Colonialism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Vijay Jayaraj<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guyana President Irfaan Ali is the latest leader of a developing nation to publicly note the hypocrisy of those pressuring countries like his to forego wealth in pursuit of a \u201cgreen\u201d agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a fiery response<\/a> to a BBC interviewer\u2019s questioning of Guyana\u2019s \u201cright\u201d to emit carbon dioxide in developing $150 billion of oil and gas reserves, President Ali questioned the reporter\u2019s \u201cright to lecture us on climate change. I will lecture you on climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not new, but still dismaying, that many leaders of developed nations assume a posture of moral superiority in leveling criticisms at countries with expanding economies and increasing emissions of carbon dioxide. Ensconced in seats of power from Brussels to Washington, D.C., they point accusing fingers while overlooking centuries of using coal, oil and natural gas to enrich their own countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The double standard fails to acknowledge the urgent needs of less advanced countries endeavouring to improve the lot of an impoverished citizenry. Such a nation is Guyana, the third smallest South American country in area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guyanese president told the British journalist that it was hypocritical for rich countries to ask poor ones to reduce emissions. President Ali questioned the moral authority of those that benefited from the hydrocarbon-driven Industrial Revolution, whose most notable technological impetus was the coal-fired steam engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world, in the last 50 years, has lost 65% of all its biodiversity,\u201d said the president whose country is home to a large rainforest. \u201cWe have kept our biodiversity. Are you valuing it. Are you ready to pay for it? When is the developed world going to pay for it, or are you in their pockets?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Ali\u2019s comments echo those of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others who have rejected the climate alarmists\u2019 hostility to fossil fuels in favor of exploiting hydrocarbons to support economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the perspective of a developing country, the climate crusaders are particularly annoying when they travel in fuel-guzzling private jets to exclusive locations for United Nations\u2019 climate conferences. The amount of CO2<\/sub> such a flights release surpasses the yearly emissions of an ordinary individual in a developing country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per Capita Emissions and Energy Poverty<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except for nuclear power, fossil fuels are the densest form of energy and so are the most efficient in powering economic growth. Their use \u2014 and their CO2<\/sub> emissions \u2014 have a direct relationship with a society\u2019s wealth. Economies with low poverty rates either have high per capita emissions, or have been through a phase when emissions were elevated, because of the central role that fossil fuels played in their development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, barring a few countries that are blessed with abundant water resources for hydroelectric generation or with nuclear power plants, low per capita emissions equate to poverty. While large developing countries like India produce a significant amount of CO2<\/sub> emissions in total, the per capita emissions of individual citizens are dwarfed by the carbon footprints of people in the developed West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, global per capita CO2<\/sub> emissions in 2022 were just over 4 tons<\/a> while India\u2019s were less than 2 tons. In the U.K. \u2014 the BBC\u2019s home \u2014 per capita emissions were almost 5 tons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The African continent has per capita emissions of less than 1 ton; the Central African Republic, 0.05 tons, with 70 percent of its citizens in extreme poverty, making it the fifth poorest country<\/a> in the world.  Another African country among the five poorest is the Democratic Republic of Congo with just 0.04 tons per capita. According to the World Bank<\/a>, 4.6% of the Congolese people live on less than $2.15 per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doomsday-promoting politicians cling to their luxuries while millions have no access to clean water, modern appliances and automobiles. The Guyanese president and others are quite right to call out the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This commentary was first published at Real Clear Energy<\/em><\/a> on April 24, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vijay Jayaraj<\/a>\u00a0is a Research Associate at the\u00a0<\/em>CO2 Coalition<\/em><\/a>, Arlington, Virginia. He holds a master\u2019s degree in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia, U.K.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guyana President Irfaan Ali is the latest leader of a developing nation to publicly note the hypocrisy of those pressuring countries like his to forego wealth in pursuit of a \u201cgreen\u201d agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":325467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691818076,691828117,691818154,691828440],"class_list":{"0":"post-325465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-co2","10":"tag-guyana","11":"tag-net-zero","12":"tag-president-irfaan-ali","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0kaieteur-falls-guyana-1.jpg?fit=2560%2C1502&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1mFr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":317521,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=317521","url_meta":{"origin":325465,"position":0},"title":"\u201cI Am Going To Lecture You On Climate Change:\u201d BBC Reporter Gets Schooled for Hypocrisy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/04\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On March 28, President Mohamed Irfaan Ali of the South American country of Guyana became an instant hero to many as he refused to take lectures on climate change from a BBC reporter during an interview.","rel":"","context":"In \"BBC\"","block_context":{"text":"BBC","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bbc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0I-Am-Going-To-Lecture-You-On-Climate-Change-BBC.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0I-Am-Going-To-Lecture-You-On-Climate-Change-BBC.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0I-Am-Going-To-Lecture-You-On-Climate-Change-BBC.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0I-Am-Going-To-Lecture-You-On-Climate-Change-BBC.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0I-Am-Going-To-Lecture-You-On-Climate-Change-BBC.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":210083,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=210083","url_meta":{"origin":325465,"position":1},"title":"Guyana, Suriname Oil Bonanza to Boost Economies, Help Meet Global Demand","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Vijay Jayaraj\u00a0 \u201cEquatorial Guyana and Suriname have combined oil reserves estimated to be 17 billion barrels of oil equivalent. 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