Contributed by Jim Hayes According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), annual investment in clean renewable energy is at last higher than investment on fossil fuel driven energy. Investment in renewable energy is expected to reach a cumulative $US4.3 trillion this year. For every $US1 invested in fossil fuels, $US1.7 is now being invested in renewable energy. But it’s not all good news. Fossil fuel usage continues to rise. Investment in it is expected to rise 6 percent to $US1.45 trillion this year alone. Progress towards reaching zero net emissions is not being achieved, despite the persistent warnings that climate change is already with us and accelerating. Coal use is expected to rise by 10 percent. The bulk of the emissions are coming from advanced economies. There is still a considerable amount being contributed by China. Together, they produce around 90 percent of all carbon emissions. The difference with China is that its per capita amount ranks at 28 in the list of carbon emitters. This 7.38 tons of CO2 emissions per person, compared with 15.52 tons for the United States, according to the Oxford based Worldometer reference website. One reason is China’s large agricultural sector, still involving a large part of the population. Another is government policy and action. Whether the measure should be total distribution or distribution per capita is a hot topic. The west insists on former and many other countries on the other, arguing that the emphasis on national rather than per capita distribution means that pressure is put on poorer nations to shoulder a greater proportion of the burden, despite their having contributed the least to the problem. It allows western nations with smaller populations to evade their own responsibility. Nevertheless, with a population of over 1.4 billion, China’s carbon footprint remains large. On the other hand, China is easily the biggest investor in renewables, accounting... |