From war machines to waste colonialism: How hypocrisy of West is harming planet's sustainability

On World Environment Day, the US presidential candidate Nikki Haley sparked an internet war. She tweeted - “If we want to be serious about saving the environment, we need to confront India and China. They are some of the biggest polluters.” The West often talks down to us about the environment and sustainability when they, themselves are the worst offenders. For years the United States dragged its feet on the Kyoto Protocol, for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, the US signed it in 1998, but Congress failed to ratify the agreement, which means Washington never really signed it. It is high time we hold the developed world to their word. I give four reasons that highlight western hypocrisy on environment and sustainability.

• US military exemption from declaring carbon footprint

It is estimated the Pentagon War machine pollutes more than 140 countries. A Chinese study claimed that the US initiated 81 per cent of global armed conflict since World War II. A cursory glance at wars over the last few decades confirms that this number is not way off the mark. The US war machine loves wars. The USA and UK have over 900 military bases, which is four times more than the rest of the world combined. Surprisingly, the US military is exempt from declaring its carbon footprint. It is even exempt from declaring its direct fossil fuel consumption, let alone any climate change accounting of the bombs, guns, tanks, and missiles. In addition, war causes desertification and soil erosion of the ravaged land, destroying water bodies, causing air pollution, and further killing more humans, animals, and plant life. The devastation requires additional medicine and healthcare. There is no accounting of any of it. The US Army has made declarations of going green and net zero on emissions. A war machine talking about the environment is itself laughable. But more seriously, when there is no accounting of the carbon footprint, what does net zero on emissions even mean? At least, let us start counting the destruction caused by war.

• Overconsumption by the West ruining the planet

Most Western leaders and voters genuinely believe Asian, Latin American, and African countries with their large populations are wrecking the planet. This is far away from the truth. A study published in Scientific American estimated that a child born in the US, over her lifetime, will cause 35 times more ecological damage than someone born in India. She will consume 53 times more goods and services than her counterpart in China. With 5 per cent of the world’s population, the US consumes 25 per cent of the World’s resources and is responsible for 1/4th of the greenhouse gas emissions. Americans eat five times more than the Indians, use 40 per cent of world medicine and one-third of the world’s paper. If the entire world decides to live the American way of life, we will need four planets. One earth is not enough.

• Waste colonialism

It sounds unbelievable, but Western countries have been shipping trash to countries like Turkey, Vietnam, China, Philippines, and other Asian countries. Out-of-sight and out-of-mind, could not be better executed. The term, ‘Waste Colonialism’ was coined in a UN Environment Convention, in Basel when African countries objected to rich countries dumping hazardous waste in their countries. Importing countries have forever objected to the illegal dumping of waste. After years of humiliation and dispute, the Philippines shipped back 69 containers of rubbish to Canada containing household trash, plastic bottles, bags, newspapers, and used adult diapers. In 2017, China banned the import of 24 kinds of solid waste from foreign countries. While the West talks eloquently about the environment and sustainability, they would rather just offload their waste to another country, rather than sort it out and recycle it. It is elementary, my dear Watson! Manage your waste and stop trashing the planet.

• More colonialism: Carbon footprint accounting

When we manufacture for exports, we suffer environmental damage and pollution. Ironically, emissions from this manufacturing process are added to the producer country and not the final consumer. But we are not consuming these goods, making it an unfair practice. It is often argued that the producer countries earn profits from these export-oriented units, so the emissions should be counted in the producer country. Some argue that they should be shared between the two countries. Such accounting practice itself reeks of modern-day colonialism. It pre-supposes that the rich can pay their way out of ruining the planet. This process is not an error in accounting, but flawed in its objective and negates the principle behind it. The idea of counting emissions, in the first place, is to reduce them, and eventually limit consumption. Until and unless we don’t count the emissions as part of the consumer country, there will never be a pressure to reduce consumption. The West will go about wrecking the planet, with flagrant disregard. The emperor has no clothes According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) data published in 2020, Indian per capita greenhouse gas emissions are 2.4 tons of CO2e, which is far below the world average, of 6.3 tCO2e. The United States is at 14 tCO2e, China at 9.7 tCO2e, followed by 7.2 tCO2e in the European Union. From 1850 to 2019, India contributed just 3 per cent to cumulative Carbon dioxide emissions, as compared to 25 per cent and 17 per cent by the US and the EU respectively, from total fossil fuels. The world needs to tackle the environmental challenge collectively. Rich Western populations need to live more responsibly, limit consumption and manage their own waste. The world needs to call out the war machines and reign them. Sustainability is not just a buzzword; it must be lived. The planet has enough for everyone’s needs, but not enough for even one person’s greed. The author is the founder of YogaSmith and the author of four books. She is a lawyer and has worked in the pharmaceutical and technology industries in Asia, the USA, and Europe. The views expressed are personal.   Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.