Question

What arguments do low-income countries make in international discussions of global environmental clean- up??

Answer 1

Consider the case of global environmental problems that spill across international borders as a prisoner's dilemma of the sort studied in Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly. Say that there are two countries A and B. Each country can choose whether to protect the environment at a cost of 10 or not to protect it at a cost of zero. If one country decides to protect the environment there is a benefit of 16 but the benefit is divided equally between two countries. If both countries decide to protect the environment there is a benefit of 32 which is divided equally between the two countries.

Answer 2

One common argument that low-income countries make in international discussions of global environmental clean-up is that of injustice. Many low-income countries believe that they should not share equal responsibility with high-income countries, as richer countries have been responsible for most of the pollution that exists in the world nowadays. Moreover, they also argue that richer countries were able to reach this level of development due to their use of fossil fuels. Therefore, they believe it is unjust to refuse this opportunity to low-income countries.