Global warming is a price worth paying to raise the majority of humanity out of poverty. Discuss.

In this paper, you have to make a report carrying the topic of international economics relation in which you are required to cover the essential elements such as:

• The concept of development
• The elements required to lift the poorest out of poverty
• The export-driven strategies followed by the newly industrialised countries, such as South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, etc., and more recently by countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia.
• Explain the resources, funding, and technology of industrialised countries
• The consequences of climate change
• The relation of poverty with global warming  

Instructions 

International economics relation

Question: Global warming is a price worth paying to raise the majority of humanity out of poverty. Discuss. (2000 word and Harvard reference)

Things to include

-  What is `development`? What is needed to lift the poorest out of poverty? What sort of strategy should be followed? You could look at the export-driven strategies followed by the newly industrialised countries, such as South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan etc., and more recently by countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia. Those countries have seen rapid economic growth - but would the same sort of strategy work everywhere? You could link this in to theory - e.g. Liberal ideas around the free market and free trade as the most efficient way of producing growth, vs Protectionist arguments and maybe dependency theory perspectives.

- In pursuing a development strategy, should these countries follow the same path as followed by the older industrialised countries - i.e. one based on fossil fuel energy - or are viable alternatives possible?  Can `sustainable development` strategies work? Where will the resources, funding and technology come from? Does the Global North have a responsibility to pay and provide clean technology to the developing world (especially since the Global North has caused most of the carbon emissions to date, and got rich doing so)? 

- What are the consequences of climate change? How bad will it be? Could climate change itself exacerbate poverty, e.g. by destroying food production capacity, desertification, extreme weather events etc?

- Ultimately the answer to this question won`t be a simple `yes` or `no` and you need to analyse and question the fundamental assumptions made by the question - i.e. that poverty reduction cannot be achieved without global warming. You may ultimately conclude that development / poverty reduction will inevitably produce further global warming - and if so you will have to make a value judgement about whether it`s a price worth paying - or you may conclude that sustainable development is possible without producing further global warming. Either way, you need to explore these questions and look at all sides of the debate.