Notice how the richest countries have the cleanest environments - that's not by happenstance, it's because with basic needs met, people are willing to spend effort on the environment.
This is like how the British lamented about the abject poverty in India after raping the country for hundreds of years. "willing to spend effort on the environment" my ass. Move the production chains back into those countries. We'll see how long the air remains clear despite temperate latitudes having the benefit of better weather systems.
Ultimately, any piece of trash or a dangerous chemical can be separated into atoms (e.g. with a plasma burner) that can be separated into pure chemical elements that then can be used to create products or chemically neutralized. The problem is only in the cost of energy, and that's, again, a question of tech. With fusion reactors, we'll have a way to solve world's pollution problems easily. So yes, developed countries ARE moving towards a clean environment. The solution is to move faster, not try to slow down the progress in economy, industry and technology with greenie measures that achieve only temporary pollution slow-down while postponing the real future solutions.
Trade agreements will eventually have to capture externalities like pollution to ensure fairness. Otherwise, capitalism will simply not work when different companies get to play by different rules based on their location.
Per capita rich countries produce much higher CO2 though.
I take it this means headlong consumerism? If so, I think this is could be a net positive for Humanity, and perhaps a pause in the order of things to re-evaluate one's value system.
I'd prefer to be healthy and of sound mind, which requires the planet no descend into an uninhabitable wasteland, than to continue and have every trinket factory come from China come back online.
The ones wasteful is still mostly us, the rich Western countries (not to mention the Emirates & similar oil countries). Yes we should give up some of our consumerism. You don't need that 2nd TV or new car. But can you tell the Chinese migrant worker that he can't buy a washing machine for his mom? Or the Bangladeshi call centre agent that she can't have a new apartment with warm water and electric sockets?
And much of that machinery may be subsidized by economy of scale that's driven largely by people's fascination with buying unnecessary shiny objects, the same way ads make free search and TV possible. Without that subsidy, the machinery to support life would be more expensive.
Our population may not be sustainable if there's a sudden dramatic and long-lived shutdown of this machinery. Maybe in the short term, sure. But over the long term even a minor shutdown could have big repercussions. Or maybe not. Interesting thing is, this whole covid episode, if it lasts a while, will help shed light on those questions.
