Yeah But… What About China’s and India’s Emissions?

Let’s talk about China and India for the fifth post in my “Yeah But…” series where I dismantle common and lazy arguments used by climate denialsts. If you’re just joining, check out my earlier posts here.

So this is one of the biggest, broadest, and most misused: “Yeah but… what about China’s and India’s massive emissions?”. It usually goes like this: “Australia’s emissions are tiny. If China and India keep polluting, what difference does it make what we do?”

So let’s break that down - fact by fact.

1. China and India are acting on climate. Fast.

🔋 China is the world’s largest investor in renewable energy, building more wind and solar than the rest of the world combined. It dominates EV production, batteries, and clean tech innovation. And while yes, it still builds coal plants, it is also rapidly reducing coal as a share of its energy mix.

🌞 India has the fastest-growing solar market in the world and is aiming for 500 GW of non-fossil energy by 2030. That’s six times Australia’ total electricity generation capacity and ten times what we are producing in solar energy. India has slashed solar costs and installed capacity at breathtaking speed, even while managing extreme poverty and development pressures.

China and India are both doing more than many rich nations give them credit for.

2. Per person, Australia pollutes far more.

Let’s talk fairness. Australia has just 0.3% of the world’s population, but we’re consistently in the top three countries for per capita emissions. When you count our coal exports, it gets even worse - we’re the world’s second largest exporter of emissions and one of the biggest climate polluters on the planet.

China’s per capita emissions are lower than Australia’s, and India’s are a fraction of ours. So when we say, “what about them?” we’re actually deflecting from our own outsized role in the crisis.

3. Leadership matters - especially from wealthy countries.

If every country waited for someone else to act, nothing would ever happen. But more than that: the world expects wealthy, developed countries like Australia - which have benefited from a century of fossil-fuelled growth - to lead the transition. We have the wealth, the technology, and the responsibility to do so.

Saying we won’t act until China and India do is like saying you won’t stop littering until everyone else cleans up their rubbish. It’s childish, self-defeating - and morally indefensible.

4. Climate change is a global problem. There’s no opt-out.

The climate doesn’t care where carbon is emitted - it all heats the same planet. We’re in this together. The only path forward is global cooperation, mutual effort, and leadership at every level. And that includes us.

Bottom line:

China and India aren’t the excuse we think they are. They’re building a clean energy future. And we should be too.

Let’s stop using other countries as an excuse to do nothing. Let’s lead, not lag. And let’s stop pretending that our relatively small population gives us a free pass on a global crisis.

What “Yeah But…” should I do next?

• “Yeah But… We’ve Always Had Fires and Floods”

• “Yeah But… Net Zero is a Scam”

• “Yeah But… It’s Too Expensive”

Drop me a comment or message to let me know.