Population Regulation

1) Do you think that currently developing countries have the right to exploit forests (and other natural resources) as Europe and the US did to increase their economic well-being?

In all fairness and equality, yes developing countries have the right to exploit their own resources in their own countries as did Europe and the US. But we, as wealthy and sustainable countries have the responsibility to these developing countries to assist them without forcing them to exploit their natural resources for economic well-being. We are in a time where we realize the importance of these resources, and we have the economic gain (even in our current economic crisis) to assist those around us. If we can create an environment where countries help each other when they really need help, like the creation for UN or other coalitions, we can share resources to save those resources that cannot be recreated.

2) What expectations do you think industrialized nations should have for developing nations in the climate change debate?

General expectations of developing nations would be low considering the desire to gain economic well-being in lieu of global warming reductions. As discussed in the environmental Kuznets curve, development takes priority over pollution abatement until per capita income reaches $5000-8000, and clearly our developing nations are well below this statistic. In order to promote equity between both industrialized and developing nations in the goal of reducing global warming, an economic incentive needs to be produced for the poorer nations to participate. When families and countries have to choose between environmental conservation and feeding their families, clearly their view of the climate change debate will vary drastically from the industrialized nations.
Establishing that equity is not present between industrialized and developing nations, it is the responsibility of the wealthier countries to promote sustainable environments to reduce climate change. Putting a very complex issue in simple context: What’s in it for me? Without this type of incentive, we cannot expect much of developing nations at this time; their choices are far different than ours at this time.