{"id":423699,"date":"2026-01-29T09:53:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423699"},"modified":"2026-01-29T09:53:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:53:58","slug":"chinese-professor-demands-politicians-shut-down-rich-country-high-carbon-industries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423699","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Professor Demands Politicians Shut Down Rich Country High Carbon Industries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Portrait<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 If industries resist, strict regulations may be required to enforce change or even force noncompliant companies to shut shop. \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Time to fix responsibility for climate change
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By Hu Yong | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2026-01-26 06:43<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MA XUEJING\/CHINA DAILY <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global warming is one of the biggest challenges faced by humanity today. As emissions continue to rise, global temperatures keep breaking records and the world\u2019s poorest nations bear the brunt of a crisis they did little to create.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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However, public discourse on climate responsibility remains mired in individualism. Citizens are told to recycle, go vegan and shrink their \u201ccarbon footprints\u201d while systemic sources of emissions- from industrial production to state- backed fossil fuel subsidies- remain largely untouched. It is time the global conversation shifts from personal virtue to structural accountability, from lifestyle tweaks to large-scale political and economic reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carbon emissions are linked to economic activity. Data show that 63 percent of emissions come from poor or developing countries, countries where the people are not rich, but are trying to achieve a middle-class lifestyle.\u00a0In order to become middle or upper-class, lower income countries are forced to emit. Urging a developing country to cut back is an attempt to constrain its development, especially when today\u2019s rich countries emitted freely on their way to prosperity.<\/strong>
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Politicians must understand that addressing climate change can be a decisive factor in their political success or failure.<\/strong>\u00a0They need to tackle climate change substantively- not through symbolic actions like banning plastic straws, but by addressing the largest sources of emissions, such as coal and oil. Policy measures, including support to green technologies and investing heavily in innovations, would help.\u00a0If industries resist, strict regulations may be required to enforce change or even force noncompliant companies to shut shop.<\/strong>\u00a0With adequate funding, this strategy could disrupt the existing cycle and help lower prices.

\u2026Read more:\u00a0https:\/\/www.chinadaily.com.cn\/a\/202601\/26\/WS69769cb4a310d6866eb359f5.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Developing countries like China get a free pass because they \u201care forced to emit\u201d. But rich country politicians \u201cmust understand that addressing climate change can be a decisive factor in their political success or failure\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The absurdity of this thinking is if CO2 was a problem, it wouldn\u2019t matter whether the CO2 was emitted by rich countries or poor countries. It\u2019s like Professor Hu Yong is demanding a free pass for developing countries to wreck the planet, while developed countries cut back to give them space. If the world truly had exhausted its carbon budget, everyone would have to cut back on emissions, developed or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully CO2 is not a problem. By every reasonable measure the global climate is improving, thanks to CO2 fertilisation. The world is becoming more benign for plant life, more able to sustain food production and create prosperity for Earth\u2019s billions of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Global Greening From Higher CO2 Hits \u201cStriking\u201d New Heights \u2013 but the Mainstream Media Won\u2019t Tell You About It<\/a><\/blockquote>