ABSTRACT
At the very heart of the climate change debate is the question of developing countries: how they are impacted, what can be expected of them in way of response and what, if any, assistance should they get in dealing with the consequences of climate change. The countries themselves, without exception, take a strong view on the situation from an environmental justice point of view. They say that the present mess is largely the result of the GHG emissions generated by the industrialized countries in the course of the last 150 years.1 It is unfair, therefore, to ask them to pay the price, either in terms of reducing their own emissions if that means reducing their rate of development, or in terms of undertaking expensive adaptation measures, without compensation from the industrialized countries, which they can ill afford in any event. This position is formalized in an economic context in the distribution of ‘emissions rights’. If emissions of GHGs are to be restricted, how much should each country be allowed to emit? Developing countries take the view that such rights are equally shared by all individuals and the allocation should be on the basis of population. Of course that would mean that much more would be allowed to the ‘population rich’ countries and much less to the richer, but relatively less populated ones. This issue is expanded in the next section.2
