I suppose I should be encouraged by the news that China is becoming more focused on reducing carbon emissions, as reported in this BBC report. So why am I not?

The reason is that it displays the usual self-centred human nature that continues to undermine attempts to save our planet. The only reason that the Chinese government is changing their attitude is that the problem is effecting China itself, and more than the global averages. Still, something is better than nothing, results are probably more important than motives, and China is not significantly worse than other nations in this respect.

Another thing that is shocking is the statistic in the story, that "China and the US together produce around 45% of global carbon emissions". These two nations comprise about 25% of the world's population, yet they account for nearly half of the world's man-made carbon emissions. I think it might be time for China to reduce its dependence on coal, and for the USA to discover energy-efficient appliances and lighting, and energy-efficient house design. My shower gets up to temperature in a few seconds, but a typical shower in the USA takes minutes, simply due to badly designed plumbing.