THE BALI CONFERENCE

Trading for a future

By Mari Pangetsu and Pascal Lamy
Published: December 7, 2007

"So how many planets do you think we'll need, Mari, if climate change continues unabated?"

"Nine, Pascal, or so the United Nations Development Program tells us, if all the poor people on this planet start leading the same energy-rich lifestyle of North Americans. Planet Earth would hardly be able to inhale the emissions. Worse, Pascal, is that 1 person out of every 19 in a developing country will be hit by a climate disaster, compared to 1 out of every 1,500 in a rich country."

This is the backdrop to the Trade Ministers' Dialogue that will take place in Bali Dec. 8-9 on the sidelines of the United Nations climate change conference. The main purpose of the dialogue is to explore the role that international trade can play in the fight against the biggest national security and developmental threat of our times: our changing climate.

At the heart of the climate change negotiations is the following dilemma: The nations of the world produce vastly unequal in carbon dioxide emissions. Africa emits only 1 ton per capita against 7 tons in Asia and 22 in North America. Yet emissions in developing countries are soon expected to overtake those of developed countries because of the overall size of their populations. Hence the very politically and economically-charged question of who should curb greenhouse-gas emissions and by how much.

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