Per capita, China produces less CO2e than the US and this is actually important because by comparison is a "larger" country so you can’t just make a direct comparison of total emissions. China is also likely on track to achieve its (relatively light) emissions targets a decade early. It’s bending the curve on emissions faster than any country in history, just as it ramped them up faster than any country in history. The US is responsible for twice as much CO2e historically in total as China, with only a quarter of China’s 1.4 billion citizens. While China has been catching up and is the leading country by emissions, let’s ensure that we understand that it’s 18% of the world’s population and the second biggest economy in the world after the US. 15% of the world’s GDP is from China right now.
China has over 400,000 electric buses on its roads which are already displacing 270,000 barrels of oil demand a day, and naturally, that means that all-electric bus manufacturers with any global market share that registers are Chinese. Most countries with ‘big’ electric bus fleets have well under 270, three orders of magnitude fewer. China’s citizens also buy 50% of all-electric cars sold in the world every year, and they have more car companies devoted to electrification than any other country or region in the world.
It’s a very interesting perspective and of course, this also means China is incredibly well geared up towards a future low carbon economy and producing products and services that other countries will be needing.
A very interesting read at https://cleantechnica.com/2019/09/16/china-is-doing-a-lot-better-on-climate-action-than-most-people-realize/
#china #environment
#^China Is Doing A Lot Better On Climate Action Than Most People Realize
While a lot of fingers are being pointed at China by people committed to both inaction and action in North America, the actual climate story in China is much different than most people realize.