Industrial and Agricultural Pollution Patterns

Abstract

Industrial and agricultural pollution emissions are compared with levels of economic activity as countries move up the per capita income scale. Pollution emissions are found to be concentrated among the lower income countries. Industrial CH4 and both agricultural CH4 and N2O emissions display the highest degrees of concentration among poorer countries relative to their GDP shares. Agricultural CH4 and N2O emissions are more concentrated among the poorer countries than are industrial CH4 and N2O emissions. Little improvement in environmental quality will result from implementing costly emissions reductions in the industrial nations alone. Environmental policies must focus on lower- and middle-income countries. More attention must be devoted to reducing agricultural pollution emissions. Improving the economic activity–environmental tradeoff will require a global approach to reducing greenhouse gases.