By Walden Bello
INQUIRER.net

The mid - December summit in Bali to negotiate a new agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol is shaping up to be one of the most decisive events of this generation. The question on everyone's lips is what kind of bargain the developed North and the developing South will strike to deal with the massive threat posed by climate change.

The developing world's stance towards the question of the environment has often been equated with the pugnacious comments of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir, such as his famous lines at the Rio Conference on the Environment and Development in June 1992:

"When the rich chopped down their own forests, built their poison-belching factories and scoured the world for cheap resources, the poor said nothing. Indeed they paid for the development of the rich. Now the rich claim a right to regulate the development of the poor countries…As colonies we were exploited. Now as independent nations we are to be equally exploited."

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Posted by dcjaya at November 17, 2007 1:01 AM