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by willvarfar 349 days ago
World population is still growing; the classic Hans Rosling TED talk is awesome https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_global_population_gro...

Most countries in the global north (who happen to be the big contributors to climate change) are facing an aging and declining population.

Many of those countries over the last few decades have been steadily outsourcing manufacturing abroad and other things that shift where the pollution happens and gets accounted.

Over the last decade or so in response to public pressure many of their governments have been pursuing national green policies that really further offshore their contribution to climate change rather than reduce it. Its a kind of frustrating greenwashing that isn't what the voters imagine is happening. Cue rant.

2 comments

Indeed - people in the West tutting while reading stories on their smart phone about large scale environmental damage due to rare earth mining in China....

For all the talk of net zero the rate of emissions is still going up - ie year on year we are pumping out more than we did the last.

> many of their governments have been pursuing national green policies that really further offshore their contribution to climate change rather than reduce it

That’s my view as well but if I voice it to friends and acquaintances in Western Europe I get angry faces looking back at me. All this talk about green policies whilst electronics waste is burned in Pakistan and India or China dumps huge amount of chemical waste in order to produce the resources for phones and gadgets. Go figure.