Developing Countries’ Pollution Accelerates

Vehicle and airplane pollution from developing countries will match the developed world’s by 2015, hindering efforts to curb smog and global warming, a group that includes six of the world’s 10 largest companies said. The amount of energy that developing nations use for transportation will more than double to the equivalent of 23 million barrels of oil a day by 2015 as compared with 11 million barrels in 1999, said a report from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

While tighter environmental rules in the biggest economies are spurring these companies and their rivals to invest billions of dollars in cleaner engines and fuels, developing-world consumers and governments tend to use cheaper, older technology and provide worse roads and infrastructure.