โThe Age of Consequencesโ report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the US, predicts that scarcity of resources may โdictate the terms of international relationsโ for years to come as rich countries could โgo through a 30-year process of kicking away from theย lifeboat.โ
Another report says energy needs in 2030 could rise more than 50% above current levels, mainly due to rapid economic growth in China and India. So whoโs going to be kickingย who?
Leon Fuerth of George Washington University in Washington, DC, one of the CSIS reportโs authors and former national security advisor to Vice-president Al Gore, said globalization could end by 2040 due to climate change, causing nations to abandon the drive toward open borders and lower trade barriers and raise the drawbridge to conserveย resources.
Elsewhere, Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said a 50 per cent rise in energy demand would threaten security and accelerate climateย change.
But thatโs okay as it will contribute to โimprovement in the quality of life for more than two billion peopleโ in China andย India.
โThis is a legitimate aspiration that needs to be accommodated and supported by the rest of theย world.โ
Scientific studies suggest the world is already past the tipping point, so the โaccommodation and supportโ called for by Tanaka may not be possible. Perhaps someone should suggest to him that the problem is โglobal warming,โ and greenhouse gas emissions from China and India are as damaging to the planet as those from the U.S.
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