Imagine you are a 22-year old Chinese girl, working in an electronics factory in the Shenzhen industrial zone. This is your big chance: you have made it
out of your impoverished village, and maybe, just maybe, if you keep working
your shifts for long enough, you will earn enough money to send your child to
college. Your only hope in achieving that dream is that China’s economy keeps
growing rapidly.
What does this have to do with the climate change negotiations underway in Copenhagen? A lot. Because when it comes down to it, this is a fight about the right to a better life. While there is no question China and the U.S. both need to reduce carbon emissions dramatically if we want to avoid planetary catastrophe, I have a lot of sympathy for China’s position. The US says it won’t subsidize China’s efforts to curb greenhouse emissions. In response, according to an article in today’s South China Morning Post, Chinese negotiators—in high posturing mode— accused developed nations of making "empty promises" and putting impossible demands on their developing counterparts.
What does this have to do with the climate change negotiations underway in Copenhagen? A lot. Because when it comes down to it, this is a fight about the right to a better life. While there is no question China and the U.S. both need to reduce carbon emissions dramatically if we want to avoid planetary catastrophe, I have a lot of sympathy for China’s position. The US says it won’t subsidize China’s efforts to curb greenhouse emissions. In response, according to an article in today’s South China Morning Post, Chinese negotiators—in high posturing mode— accused developed nations of making "empty promises" and putting impossible demands on their developing counterparts.
Understandably, China doesn't want to be penalized for coming late to
the game of modernization. Stephen Dubner, the co-author of
"Freakonomics," has jumped into the discussion,
expressing sympathy for China's view: why does that girl in the factory
have less of a right to a better life than any worker in the
U.S.? And let's keep in mind: on a list of countries by carbon emissions per capita, Qatar is number 1, the US is number 9 and China is number 96. A BBC survey
just out shows that Chinese are more concerned about climate change
than Americans: 57 percent of Chinese think climate change is a very
serious problem, while only 45 percent of Americans think so.
There is, of course, another side of the argument about China's climate change position: you may come to different conclusions if you visit Shanghai. I strongly urge you to go now to witness historic—breathtaking—change. This is the other China, the one that no longer really counts as developing. The city is reclaiming its former grandeur, with glittering restaurants, clubs, and hotels cropping up everywhere. At luxury shopping malls, you can see Shanghainese dropping thousands of dollars on designer-name clothing.
The bottom line: ultimately we in the developed world, be it in New York or Shanghai, all need to start consuming less if we are to solve the climate change crisis. But let's not forget about that girl in the Shenzhen factory.
There is, of course, another side of the argument about China's climate change position: you may come to different conclusions if you visit Shanghai. I strongly urge you to go now to witness historic—breathtaking—change. This is the other China, the one that no longer really counts as developing. The city is reclaiming its former grandeur, with glittering restaurants, clubs, and hotels cropping up everywhere. At luxury shopping malls, you can see Shanghainese dropping thousands of dollars on designer-name clothing.
The bottom line: ultimately we in the developed world, be it in New York or Shanghai, all need to start consuming less if we are to solve the climate change crisis. But let's not forget about that girl in the Shenzhen factory.
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