I often hear the comment “whatever Australia does domestically to reduce its emissions, it will have no real impact on global temperatures” and get asked the question “what are countries like China and India doing to reduce their emissions?”
Now while it’s true, Australia’s emissions are very low on a per country basis (though we are the highest emitter per capita) and whatever we do will not have a significant impact globally, under the Kyoto protocol, we are one of 37 industrialised countries working together and it’s this combined effort that is important as we respond to a changing climate.
As for China, the China Climate Change Info-Net is a good source of information on what China is doing in response to climate change. The website outlines China’s policy on climate change, what action is being taken on the ground to reduce emissions, China’s green energy goals and reports and communications relative to climate change.
India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests Climate Change website lists initiatives such as increasing significantly, the capacity of renewable energy installations, improving the air quality in major cities (the world’s largest fleet of vehicles fuelled by compressed natural gas has been introduced in New Delhi); and enhancing afforestation.