Making our mark – ecological footprints
Box 3 | What difference can we make?
You will often hear people say that Australia is a small player in the carbon emissions that are threatening our global climate. They argue that the USA, China and India produce a lot more greenhouse gases than we do, so it is useless us trying to make a difference by cutting down our emissions.
Not necessarily so. Those countries have a bigger impact because they have more people. Our impact is driven by lifestyle, whether it be in Australia or in a country like India. Every year each Australian burdens the atmosphere with as much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as the average American (about 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide) due to the high standard of living. Average emissions for an Australian are much higher than for the average person in India or China; of course wealthy people in these countries emit more carbon, but on average their standard of living and therefore their impact is lower. To address the current lack of equity between countries, the Garnaut Report discusses a scheme where emissions entitlements per capita decrease for countries above the global average, and increase for countries below it, so that we all converge on a similar per capita value globally
Advanced nations like Australia have been pouring out large quantities of greenhouse gases for many decades, while India and China have begun more recently. Most of the current burden of carbon dioxide came from chimneys in Europe, North America and Australia, not in Asia. Since we own most of the problem, we should be willing to take the lead to find solutions.
This is more than a symbolic gesture. We could really make a difference if we tried. Let's look at the figures. Global emissions of carbon dioxide are about 30 billion tonnes, or about 5 tonnes per person every year. In Australia, we release about 560 million tonnes or about say 28 tonnes a head (nearly six times the global average). China emits about 5 billion tonnes or 4 tonnes per head (still below the global average). Every year their emissions increase by about 9 per cent or 450 million tonnes, due to China's growing economy.
Suppose you, as the average Australian, cut your emissions by only 10 per cent. That would save about 55 million tonnes a year, the amount China's emissions increase every month or so. That sounds like a waste of time.
But suppose that, spurred by our example, we were joined by other people who live in developed countries, say 10 per cent of the United Kingdom, the USA and Japan. That would save almost 900 million tonnes, well above the annual growth not only in China but in all the rest of the world. This would buy time for the developing nations to refine their technology, make the right sort of investments and ultimately rein in their emissions.
We could not do that overnight, but we could do it over, say, a decade if we were serious. Apart from helping with the immediate problem, it would help us get ready for the really serious cuts, 60 per cent or more, that we need to make by 2050 to help maintain our climate.
Boxes
Box 1. Sustaining our forests
Box 2. Tell me about carbon offsets
Related sites
Consuming Australia: Main findings (Australian Conservation Foundation)
Why bother going green? (New Scientist, 17 November 2007)
Climate Change 2007: Synthesis report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
National greenhouse gas inventory 2006 (Department of Climate Change, Australia)
Posted December 2008.