7.6 - Superpowers and the environment

• Chinese superpowered demands

  • Consumes half of the world's coal but only has 20% of the world's population
  • Largest producer and importer of iron ore (used for steel)
  • Mined 1.5b tonnes in 2014 - wasn't enough for demand, imported 993m tonnes
• Superpowered environmental degradation

  • Urban air quality
  • Transportation of fossil fuels, food, minerals and manufactured goods
  • Land use change and agriculture contribute to 25% of global emissions
  • Increased water pollution from illegal dumping of waste industry
• Air pollution in China

  • WHO estimates air pollution is responsible for 2 million deaths in China per year
  • 1900-2013 global carbon dioxide emissions rose by 53%; China's increased by 286%
• Global willingness to act

  • Poorer countries going net zero won’t offset richer nations' impact
  • High cost of transitioning to renewables
  • Some nations (e.g., India) reject fossil-fuel-based development
  • Lack of funding for green tech in developing countries (e.g., South Sudan)
  • Unfair to demand change when developed nations haven’t
  • Social and cultural resistance to climate action
  • National benefits outweigh action costs
• Superpower attitudes

  • China: Agreed to peak emissions by 2030, committed to targets in 2016
  • USA: Wind power tripled, solar energy grew 10x (2005-15); Obama promoted renewables, Trump disputed climate change and pulled out of Paris Agreement
  • Russia: Signed Paris Agreement, promised 30% reduction in CO2 by 1990 levels, may increase emissions
  • EU: Prioritized climate change, implemented carbon trading and emissions reductions, renewable energy targets (10% by 2010, 20% by 2020)
• China's middle class

  • Poverty in China - 750m on less than $2 a day in 1990, less than 10m in 2020
  • 80m middle class in 2002, 700m in 2020
  • More middle class means more demand on resources, resulting in environmental exploitation to maintain this
• Nutrition transition

  • A change in diet from staple carbohydrates to protein, dairy and fat, often including more processed foods
  • Occurs when people transition from rural poverty to urban middle class - China
• Staple foods

  • Carbohydrates relied on and eaten in large quantities e.g. potatoes, wheat, brean in Europe and North America, rice in Asia
  • Importatnt to regional food security
• Rare Earth Elements

  • A group of metal elements used for modern communication and medical technology
  • Hard to mine
  • Costly and limited supply
• Implications of growing middle-class in China

  • 90% of global growth in sea traffic in the 21st century driven by China
  • China produced 33% of global steel, and copper prices doubled from 2008-10
  • Increased consumption: cereal +364%, meat +99%, coffee +71%
  • Renewable freshwater of 2000 tonnes per capita, double UN water scarcity threshold
  • 70% of water used for farming in Northern China, facing water scarcity
  • 1 billion Chinese own mobile phones, made with non-renewable resources