As a sibling poster said, I think one of the issues is that the first world countries have significantly improved in many environmental metrics (litter, air, and water quality most of all), so people there have a lived experience which includes things getting better. Meanwhile it’s really hard for us to grasp how much the population of places like Africa, Indonesia, and India have exploded in the last fifty years, nor how much environmental damage has occurred there. Not to mention China.
This is going to be increasingly difficult part of dealing with environmental damage. It will not be enough for North America and Europe to decarbonize. Somehow we have to bring the rest of the world along with us. But they haven’t enjoyed the benefits of all the environmental destruction over the last 200 years, as we have, and (understandably), they are trying to catch up.
This is going to be increasingly difficult part of dealing with environmental damage. It will not be enough for North America and Europe to decarbonize. Somehow we have to bring the rest of the world along with us. But they haven’t enjoyed the benefits of all the environmental destruction over the last 200 years, as we have, and (understandably), they are trying to catch up.