Capitalistic democracies are the only thing likely to solve the problem. The dictatorships are among the worlds worst offenders in terms of pollution and overall environmental protection.
Does anyone have more recent data then this?
Canada, America and Australia were some of the worse offenders back in 2000. It would be interesting to see how this has changed.
Democracy doesn't require capitalism. Even free markets are possible without capitalism (as we currently practice it). I'm not making any argument about whether we want a democracy or a market without capitalism, but it is a false dichotomy to suggest that the alternative to capitalism is a dictatorship.
Liberal democracy requires the availability of liquid capital (and therefore capitalism), because with only illiquid types of capital (land, social ties etc), there is no freedom and mobility. Other types of democracy may not require it, but they are not used much currently.
