Communist China has emitted more carbon dioxide over the past eight years than the United Kingdom has since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, a report from Oxford University’s Our World in Data project has found.
According to researchers at the University of Oxford, the United Kingdom has emitted 78 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide between 1750 and 2020, however, this pales in comparison to the recent output from Communist China, which has emitted some 80 billion tonnes since just 2013.
The data found that China has accounted for 14 per cent of all global emissions throughout history, a figure that is only topped by the United States, which accounted for one quarter of historical emissions. In contrast, the United Kingdom has emitted just 4.6 per cent of global historical emissions, 80 per cent of which came before the year 1990, The Telegraph reported.
Since 1990, the UK has reduced its carbon dioxide output the fastest among any other industrialised nation, with CO2 emissions falling by 54.8 per cent over the thirty year time frame. This is a steeper decline than those seen in Germany (39 per cent), France (30 per cent), and the United States (8 per cent).
Meanwhile, China has seen its carbon emissions increase by a staggering 329 per cent during the same time period, with the communist country becoming the world’s main industrial hub following pro-market reforms under Deng Xiaoping and the decision by the United States and others to allow it to join the World Trade Organization in 2001.
It was argued at the time that by allowing the country to have full access to global markets, the influx of capitalism would liberalise the communist nation. However, some, including former President Donald Trump, have argued that China only used the West’s trading systems to enrich itself and had no intention of ever becoming a free nation.
Despite the UK’s minimal contribution to global emissions, successive Conservative governments have sought to impose a green agenda on the public. Though the membership of the party backed Liz Truss’ pro-business, and pro-fracking agenda during the race to replace Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak used one of his first acts in office — after the parliamentary party unceremoniously deposed Truss — to scrap her plans to end the ban on fracking.
Sunak, who was essentially endorsed by the Chinese Communist Party during the summer leadership contest, has doubled down on Boris Johnson’s ‘Build Back Better’ green agenda, signalling this week at the United Nations COP27 climate conference that the UK would be open to paying climate “reparations” to nations such as Pakistan, despite the public struggling under the strain of the cost of living and energy crisis.
It is unlikely that the Chinese government would consider joining such a programme, given that Beijing still claims that the nation is still a “developing country” — despite boasting a space programme and the world’s second largest economy by GDP.
In addition to considering reparations, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced on Tuesday that the UK will be sending £200 million in taxpayer money to “support to African countries on the frontline of climate change.”
Speaking from COP27 in Egypt, Cleverly said: “Climate change is having a devastating impact on countries in Sub-Saharan Africa facing drought and extreme weather patterns, which have historically received a tiny proportion of climate finance.
“This new mechanism from the African Development Bank will see vital funds delivered to those most affected by the impacts of climate change, much more quickly.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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