Big Think

Question: Is it fair to ask developing countries to go green?

Kishore Mahbubani: Not all, I think we all want to live in a world that is green. I mean none of us want to live in the polluted cites or live with global warming, and I think the good news is that the newly developing countries is as committed to the green movement as the west, in theory at least. But, of course, in practice, take global warming, for example, if you want China and India to reduce their flows of new greenhouse gas emissions, then the West must take responsibility for the stock of greenhouse gas emissions that the West has put out in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. But if you don’t responsibility for the stock, and you are only going to tax the new flows, then, come on. They are going to say—China and India are going to say, “come on that’s not fair, you are not putting an economic price and what you put up and you are putting economic price in what I am putting out, and I much poorer than you.” Come on, let’s be fair about this. So, I think, if the West can accept responsibility for what it has done to, you know, create global warming than I think China and India will join the bargain too.