The worst thing about it is that we shun and put stipulations on developing nations for trying to raise themselves out of poverty via the same polluting way we did, and yet, we offer no, or very little in the way of helping them develop in a greener direction. The developing nations are merely trying to follow our lead, and become as successful and prosperous as we currently are, and is that so wrong? Unfortunately it is, because if they even come close to reaching the levels of consumption, and therefore pollution that we are at, their would be no way that we would be able to sustain ourselves. And yet, it is happening anyway. The huge amount of population growth that we are having (another problem very much intertwined with this one) is mainly happening in these developing nations and with that, even though per capita consumption is staying relatively low, overall consumption has increased!
So, with this in mind, how do we go about solving this issue? Truth be told, I don't have an easy answer. My preference would be to move the entire populations of these countries into preplanned sustainable cities, but I don't know of anyone who would back this. This would lower consumption and allow for greener development, and since the population is centralized allow for better control and teaching. Some less radical solutions would be having nations invest in low impact solutions for developing nations, or promote green subsides, but unfortunately, there are few organizations going for this, as the most effective way is through local policy, and again, unfortunately, the governments of most of these nations want progress regardless of cost.
Its not all bleak though, our definition of developing is up for debate, and though what is mentioned above is true for most of the countries defined as such, there are others such as Cuba, and Venezuela that are still considering developing even thought they are rather successful. Cuba actually has a lower infant mortality rate than the U.S. though it is still considered developing because of its low GDP.
Another problem with modernizing less developed countries is a lack of access to electricity. The infrastructure for such things does not exist and is unlikely to exist for some time. Access to electricity for light can increase education and eligibility rates as nighttime is some of the only free time for children to learn and yet they have no light by which to read. Also some basic refrigeration could help with food preservation and supplies and help with sanitation. One solution has been solar power. Solar cells do not require connection to a vast network or infrastructure. In a remote jungle or desert solar cells can easily be installed for individual homes or for towns as a whole to slowly bring them into modernization in a completely sustainable way. Though there is the challenge of bringing the solar cells to them and setting them up, it is certainly a solution that can be implemented in a far shorter time period than creating a national power system and infrastructure including regulation and many other factors.
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