....just a small observation on the issue of "green" and "red" (environmental
sanity and social justice between high-income and low-income countries),
which is also touched upon in the recent special issue of JWSR....
Whereas we should do our utmost to prevent environmental collapse, it is
still true that 5% economic growth by the poor countries is creating less
environmental stress than 5% economic growth by the rich countries. It is
less stressful for Mother Earth to have the poor grow by 5% than to have
the rich grow by 5%.
Why would that be? Simple arithmetic.
The GDP of the rich countries is 80% of global GDP (creating 80% of
global environmental stress). The GDP of the poor countries is 20% of
global GDP (creating 20% of global environmental stress).
5% of 80 is 4
5% of 20 is 1
Thus, if the rich countries grow by 5%, that creates 4 times as much
environmental stress as when the poor countries grow by 5%. As a matter
of fact, all the poor countries would have to grow by 20% [20% of 20 =
4], before they destroy Mother Earth's health as much as 5% growth by the
rich countries does [5% of 80 = 4].
In this sense, economic growth by poor countries is creating
comparatively less environmental stress than economic growth by rich
countries.
Regards,
--GK