I guess this falls under the category of Every Little Bit Helps.
The odds are few people can find Bhutan on the map. A small country between China and India astride the Himalaya Mountains, it’s strictly third world with an economy of only around $2 billion. B
ut thanks to some enlightened leadership, it’s taking a first-world approach to climate change.
Bhutan is the only nation in the world I’ve heard of that claims to have gone beyond carbon neutral to carbon negative. In other words, it’s responsible to taking more carbon out of the atmosphere than it’s putting in.
How? There are many ways, from planting trees to the government eliminating its use of paper to safeguarding large portions of the environment.
Why? Because Bhutanese can see the effects of climate change firsthand in the melting of their mountain glaciers.
And if you think this is a traumatic change, their Wikipedia entry says that in 2006, based on a global survey, Business Week magazine rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world. Kinda reminds me of The Little Engine That Could!
If you would like more details, there’s a fascinating TED Talk by a Bhutanese, Tshering Tobgay, who explains the entire situation. (www.ted.com/talks/tshering_tobgay_this_country_isn_t_just_carbon_neutral_it_s_carbon_negative)