If that was the case, then global GHG emissions would have remained roughly stagnant for over 2 decades. The reality is the world got richer, and households wh

If that was the case, then global GHG emissions would have remained roughly stagnant for over 2 decades. The reality is the world got richer, and households who 30 years ago would have had little access to electricity, finished manufactured goods, and automotive vehicles can now purchase those. Go visit a village in rural China, India, or Vietnam - 30 years ago plastic bags were nonexistent and industrial fertilizers were rationed, and now tetrapaks, plastics, industrial fertilizers, and heavy machinery like tractors and trucks are everywhere. In 2000, China and India's HDIs were comparable to Cameroon and Ethiopia's present HDI. That isn't the case in 2023 (UNDP HDI calculations have a 2-3 year lag because transnational data collection is hard). And large, poor countries like Pakistan (260 million), DRC (100 million), and Ethiopia (139 million) are now hitting developmental indicators comparable to those two in the early 2000s. Most countries have chosen to use both GreenTech and Coal to expand electricity generation from Vietnam [0] to India [1] to Indonesia [2]. You are talking about 3 billion people living in an economic region that is expected to see 6-8% GDP growth rates for at least the next decade. And even countries at the lower end of the developmental cycle like Pakistan [3][4] and Ethiopia [5] are now doing the same. Frankly, it doesn't matter what reduction Europe does (and Europe's GHG emissions reduction has been massive [6]) because India, ASEAN, and LatAm's GHG emissions expansion eats up any reduction from the EU-27 and US. [0] - https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/vietnam-allows-coal-miners-raise-output-meet-power-generation-demand-2026-06-10/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/vietnam-allows-coal-... [1] - https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-fuels-global-growth-planned-coal-mining-capacity-report-says-2026-08-13/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-fuels-global-g... [2] - https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indonesia-coal-power-phase-out-plan-risk-due-stalled-international-funding-2025-11-17/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indonesia-coal-power... [3] - https://www.climatepolicylab.org/climatesmart/2022/1/27/what-drives-pakistans-coal-fired-power-plant-construction-boom https://www.climatepolicylab.org/climatesmart/2022/1/27/what... [4] - https://www.thefridaytimes.com/19-Jun-2026/thar-coal-pakistan-s-imperative-energy-sovereignty-economic-resilience https://www.thefridaytimes.com/19-Jun-2026/thar-coal-pakista... [5] - https://afrinz.ru/en/2026/07/there-is-a-request-to-supply-60-000-tonnes-of-coal-a-month-russian-trade-representative-in-ethiopia-discusses-prospects-for-russian-business/ https://afrinz.ru/en/2026/07/there-is-a-request-to-supply-60... [6] - https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?time=1980..latest&country=USA~CHN~Asia+%28excl.+China+and+India%29~IND~European+Union+%2828%29~RUS~OWID_AFR~North+America+%28excl.+USA%29~OWID_SAM~OWID_OCE https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-...