# Developing countries need fossil fuels to reach the standard of living we enjoy, right?

## Метаданные

- **Канал:** Global Weirding with Katharine Hayhoe
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h687bvUB5jI
- **Источник:** https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/42523

## Транскрипт

### Segment 1 (00:00 - 05:00) []

Poor people in developing countries need fossil fuels to reach the standard of living we enjoy. It's completely unfair to tell them they can't, right? The number of people on this planet has grown steadily over the last few thousand years Thanks to the optimal climate conditions that allowed us to thrive and expand But it wasn't until we figured out how to power our lives with coal and then gas and oil that our population really took off exponentially In 1780 at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution there were around 900 million people on this planet. Today, there's more than 7 billion of us. Fossil fuels have powered the technology that's brought us untold benefits We don't have to walk miles to get our water from the well anymore It's right here when we turn on the tap and purified too We don't have to hunt and gather our food all day every day, and then worry about it spoiling overnight We buy it at the grocery store, and then it sits in our fridge for days or even weeks We used to get around by foot cart or horse, but now we have cars, trains and airplanes that whiz us around town and across the world at what would have seemed like incredible speeds to our great-grandparents. We don't have to go to bed at sunset and rise at dawn anymore either electricity gives us light and much more anytime we want it And modern medicine - that might be the biggest advance of all! I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I'd be dead by now if I were living in the conditions we had before the Industrial Revolution There's no question that fossil fuels have benefitted us enormously They've allowed us to enjoy so many of the modern conveniences we have today So it makes sense to say: "Don't poor countries need fossil fuels too? " Aren't fossil fuels their ticket out of grinding poverty and hunger and disease just like they were for us Now just to be clear No one is saying they can't use fossil fuels Every country was allowed to design their own contribution to the global potluck that is the Paris agreement but even still fossil fuels aren't the answer for most countries that are looking to raise their standard of living. And here's five reasons why: reason number one With a few exceptions Most developing countries don't actually have a lot of fossil fuels of their own, and what we do have is finite anyways According to the BP statistical review of world energy if we keep on using energy at the current rate we have about 50 years worth of oil and natural gas left and about a hundred and fifty years of coal. That's it! And of the world's remaining reserves it's estimated that about 37 percent are in North America, about 20 percent each in Europe and the Middle East 14 percent in Latin America - mostly Venezuela and Brazil, and that means that the remaining 10 percent or so of those reserves are all that's left for the rest of the world, including most of Africa and Southeast Asia So when we say to poorer countries, you should use fossil fuels to develop the same as we did, we're essentially saying, let us help you become dependent on the same energy sources we use, that are finite, and oh you don't have them anyways so you have to buy them from us! That doesn't sound quite so altruistic anymore, does it? Here's reason number two Fossil fuels widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots In developing countries that do have fossil fuel resources kleptocrats often make off with most of the money leaving the masses in poverty In Venezuela for example, it's estimated that the state oil company paid out eleven billion dollars worth of fraudulent contracts from 2004 to 2014 In Nigeria it was recently revealed that Shell paid over a billion dollars for oil rights That the oil minister turned around and awarded to his own company In Brazil an enormous new oil deposit was discovered off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in 2006 Part of the argument for developing this resource were the funds that it would provide for educational and social programs, yet these funds never materialized. Instead, over 2 billion was funneled to Petrobras executives and government officials. And this leads right into the reason number three - the devastated landscape that fossil fuel extraction often leaves behind We're all familiar with the horrifying images from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Yet imagine if that happened in a country that lacked the resources to clean it up Emem Edoho advocates on behalf of children in Nigeria In a report detailing the environmental impacts of oil and gas extraction in one Nigerian province, he said, oftentimes residents of various oil-producing communities in Nigeria live in agonizing conditions

### Segment 2 (05:00 - 09:00) [5:00]

economically and socially, arising from years of neglect and deprivations and severe environmental degradations caused by the production activities of most oil and gas companies in the area Even here in the United States we're affected Mountaintop removal coal mining can poison local water supplies Research shows that people who live in mining areas are at greater risk of cancer, heart disease, birth defects and chronic illnesses Then there's reason number four: air pollution Burning coal gas and oil is responsible for an estimated two and a half million deaths per year around the world 200,000 of those in the United States alone. Who are these people suffering from lung disease and asthma and other related conditions? Often they're those who can't afford to live in a cleaner neighborhood with better air quality As well as children, the elderly and those who are already sick or infirm. What's the fifth and last reason? Why fossil fuels won't solve the world's problems? You probably guessed it: climate change Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, a powerful heat-trapping gas Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are the number one reason why global temperatures are rising today Why does this matter to poor countries? Because the suffering the global warming will cause to our resources, our welfare and our economy is not going to be parceled out equally As temperature increases, global GDP is likely to drop One study forecasted possible decreases of over 20 percent by 2100. So today global GDP stands at around 80 trillion dollars per year Let that number sink in that is 80 trillion dollars per year Compare 20 percent of that - 16 trillion dollars - with the estimated cost of meeting the Paris agreement worldwide Between 40 to 175 billion per year or just 0. 005 to 0. 2 percent of global GDP And the global south will bear the brunt of the economic losses caused by climate change With the poorest 40 percent of countries estimated to experience a 75 percent drop in their average income Any of these reasons alone should be enough to convince us that encouraging poor countries to develop an addiction to the very same energy sources that are responsible for climate change is a bad idea Poor people the world over are already suffering disproportionately due to climate change today, but they still need energy Access to energy is essential to our health, our quality of life and our well-being So that's why I'm so excited by the stories that I'm hearing these days: how pay-as-you-go solar may revolutionize areas of Africa with no electricity grid at all, how India is introducing new trains with rooftop solar panels to provide the power for the coaches, and how Costa Rica got a full 98 point one percent of its electricity in 2016 from renewable sources, including hydropower, solar and wind So let's turn our attention to helping the developing world leapfrog over coal and oil and gas to adopt these inspiring new technologies rather than expecting them to do it the same old way we did 200 years ago. *record scratch* *ding* Thank you for watching global weirding be sure to check out global weirding series. com Every other wednesday for a new episode Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube page, like us on Facebook and follow me on Twitter Have a question about climate change? We want to hear it We'll have a live Q&A on our Facebook page every other Thursday at 7 p. m. Central. See you next time