Population, Affluence or Technology? An Empirical Look at National Carbon Dioxide Production

Abstract

65:41353 Moomaw, William R.; Tullis, D. Mark. Population, affluence or technology? An empirical look at national carbon dioxide production. In: People and their planet: searching for balance, edited by Barbara S. Baudot and William R. Moomaw. 1999. 58-70 pp. St. Martin's Press: New York, New York; Macmillan Press: Basingstoke, England. In Eng.The extent to which population growth is a factor in the growth of global environmental problems is examined using the example of carbon dioxide emissions. The results reveal a surprising diversity in patterns of carbon dioxide emissions among countries. The results "clearly show that population growth by itself is an important driver of [carbon dioxide] emissions mainly for low-income countries, and that it is rising affluence that correlates most strongly with carbon emissions in most other countries. The debate over what drives pollution therefore needs to be recast to recognize that it is not only the quantity of people, but also the quality of their development choices that is important. Furthermore, the relative significance of [these] factors can change over time, a finding that does not appear to have been previously recognized."Correspondence: W. R. Moomaw, Tufts University, Global Development and