Poor countries should become rich first and reduce CO2 emissions later

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Poor countries should become rich first and reduce CO₂ emissions later. Or should they start to deal with it right now? What is your viewpoint on this issue?

Use your own knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence.

Write at least 250 words.

Sample Answer

While having lifted themselves up from poverty and agricultural economics, the industrialised nations have left many environmental issues caused by the increased amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) they have produced. From the economic perspective, some people are seriously convinced that poor developing countries ought to consider enhancing their economic status first without taking into account the reduction of CO₂ emissions. Nevertheless, this essay will elaborate from both economic and environmental standpoints that developing nations should think about reducing CO₂ emissions now whilst improving their economics.

First, environment issues are more severe than the economic status. As obviously shown by news on CNN or BBC, there are many terrible skin diseases happening in the developed world due to the drastic increase of Ultraviolet radiation that penetrates the Ozone layers–destroyed by greenhouse gases. Without proper management of the CO₂ emissions, the global warming will not only affect locally but also globally. Remarkably, it will cause more much national budgets to effectively tackle the problems than to reduce the CO₂ emissions prior to the occurrence of environmental issues, which certainly is not a benefit for the poor countries.

Second, using technologies that are based on the burning of fossil fuels is not way better than utilising renewable energy sources. Alternatively, to become richer, poor and developing countries do not necessarily need use fossil fuels for energy consumption. A case in point is the use of solar energy and hydroelectric power. These two environmental-friendly options are cheaper than using the petroleum to generate power, which costs much money and, in return, produces CO₂, harming the environment. Furthermore, reducing the emissions of CO₂ will also be a brilliant idea when it comes to developing tourism sector. Tourists are visiting countries which are refreshing and free from environmental problems. No one wants to absorb toxic airs. In this regard, the developing nations who care much about the reduction of CO₂ emissions will be able to efficiently attract people to visit, which also gives rise to the economic growth.

Taking everything into consideration, we can come to a conclusion that the reduction of CO₂ emissions is more vital for developing nations to get rich in a long run than to deal with the far-reaching consequences of the environmental problems later.

[ Written by –  Kakada Kuy ]