[Music] [Music] the motion is this house believes the West has no right to impose environmental standards on developing countries I Look to Jack wet pemr College to open the case for the proposition here here environmental standards are primarily designed to counter climate change yes they're also concerned with the protection of endangered species and areas of natural beauty but I should focus on climate change because without addressing this the other reasons will cease to matter recently the frequency of climate related disasters has increased dramatically we are faced now with 600,000 deaths a year due to these
disasters 95% of those uh who have lost their lives and will lose their lives are citizens of what are commonly known as developing countries climate change will affect everyone on this Earth but it will be and currently is those living less stable lives than most of us in the west will feel its ramifications most keenly those who live lives dependent on the revenue from tourism those economies are heavily dependent on areas of natural beauty and those whose homes and cities are often built on low land in short those people living in developing countries no one
in Bangladesh needs a lecture on a threat posed by climate change with 80% of their country situated on a flood plane they are more than aware of the precarious environmental situation at the end of 2014 China had the highest installed wind energy capacity second place went to America with just over half as much China also has the second greatest installed solar capacity and has expressed its commitment phasing out coal usage and dealing with polluted air they are more than aware however for these countries such as India faced with in issues such as high infant mortality
which stands at 30 in a thousand infants compared to EU levels of 5.7 in a th000 infants in mental issues might not always take priority yet despite this India was ranked 22nd best in the world on the basis of emissions and use of renewable energy in the climate change performance index 2016 where do we find America on this list America with its dominant position in the west its supposedly better developed infrastructure and its assertions of having the right to dictate standards America came 31st we need less imposed financially unrealistic legislation and more financial incentives from
the West to develop sustainably ladies and gentlemen it's an honor to be able to speak to you uh before you this evening furthermore it's an honor to speak against such a competent opposition speaking first for the opposition is a friend of mine and fellow member of the sec's committee Miss Kitty Joshy Kitty um whilst conducting inted all you uh a close friend of yours request that I publicly beg that you please end your beatboxing career this evening as apparently you think you're really good but it's just tragic I'm very sorry however she is also the
only person I know who can persuade Starbucks not to worry because she'll come back and pay later I hope I hope it's her persuasive skills we'll be seeing this evening secondly we'll be hearing from Mr Paul bledo former figure in President Clinton's climate change task force and current uh president sorry a bled Zone Associates a climate change public policy firm I will admit that to get ahead of the game I had a quit browse for your Twitter account um although this is unsuccessful for the debate I do feel far more informed about your views on
minions and Leonardo DiCaprio so I thank you for that last but not least we have Professor Bruce party esteemed author of ecologic he's also a lecturer at Queens University in Canada and before this I stumbled upon one student review calling him distractingly hot I just want to reassure you that I think I'll be able to keep my focus on the debate this evening Mr President these are your speakers and they are most welcome imagine a game involving three cups under one cup is a ball two people each get to pick a cup and both uh
will win if either finds the ball unfortunately the first play goes and doesn't find it the cup is replaced and the second player now has their turn it's in the interest of the first person to tell the second as much as they can in this case the cup the ball was not under about the choice between the two remaining cups should be left entirely to the second play the situation I have just described in this analogy represents the most justified role for the West as we go forward with the climate change unknown there have lots
to show sh starting from the mistakes they've made symbolized by the cup they chose furthermore the West also has lots to offer from the vast costly research it has conducted the whole world is united in the same direction with respect to climate change and no one Authority has got the complete key yet the final choices on climate change should be left to the individual countries just as in the game the second player should be able to decide which cup he finally chooses we all want to go in the same direction but some cultural things may
mean that we want to take different directions and other such factors so let's examine why one body would view uh would view itself as being justified in having a right to impose something on another particularly when as in this case those two bodies are groups of countries at different levels of development problematic due to the dangerous assumption that a developed body would be better placed to solve a problem one body in post opposing something on another thus implies that the former has a superior opinion or position from which to exert its right to oppose this
motion is to claim that the West does have such a position of dominance over the developing World any assertion that the West has a right to impose environmental standard standard sorry must necessarily rest on the premise that they have this right because they are in some way justified in exercising control over developing countries countries and as I should go on to explain there are no way justified in exercising such a right because quite simply this right is unfounded sorry um my argument is accumulating I'd rather wait to the end to hear that if I have
time thank you for your troubles there are two bodies under examination here on one side we have the west and on the other the developing countries I do not use these labels without acknowledging the potential ramifications of generaliz izing that this could bring upon but it remains useful for assessing the balance of power and influence between the two in order to assert that one group has the right to impose environmental standards on the other the opposition must prove to all us that the West has some Superior position some greater understanding of climate change some Justified
Authority however as I shall prove this is in fact fantasy the West was originally a theoretical conglomerate based upon the Nations of Western Europe and America today it is seen as a group of developed countries described primarily by their gdps per capita and sharing broadly similar political systems if we take the example of America significant as the most populated and largest of Western countries then it becomes really rather difficult to justify this supposed environmental superiority on the West's part many official statistics on examples of environmental harm such as CO2 emissions do not take into account
varying population sizes America produces the 12th largest amount of CO2 per person in the world uh according to the UN statistics Division if we examine this list um if we examine this list nowhere above America do we find any of the large developing countries people often so quick to blame for climate change indeed India can be found at 133rd and China at 55th CO2 emission statistics alone do not prove overall that the West is more harmful to the environment than these developing countries again sorry I'm but um if I had time I will'll see you
at the end um so just lost my place what they do do sorry is go more than far enough in dispelling the myth that the West can claim some level of superiority to be able to impose impose environmental standards on developing countries as though there are some paternal hand dispensing wisdom and rules to lesser bodies indeed as I opened uh as I mentioned sorry in my opening remarks developing countries are very much aware of the potential ramifications of climate change I'm not seeking to solve the issue of China's large emissions I just need to justify
to you that is not right for the West to dictate the required standards to do so sir again same reasons thank you climate change and harms the environment does and will continue to affect us all that is why with this motion we are not suggesting that the West completely ignore developing countries we as a global Community should very much be working together to conduct research and introduce measures the issue here is with the West asserting that it has a right to impose such measures on developing countries I have proven that such a right is entirely
unfounded instead the West as a body which is generally more able to devote more research to environmental matters due to Greater development in many areas such as Healthcare has a duty to share these resources and research with developing countries a duty a matter then not of right but of an obligation for Humanity I've proven why the West has no right to impose such standards but you may ask what about the continuing problem of climate change and developing Count's role in contributing to it in response to this I return to my earlier analysis of just how
skewed many people's perception of what their proportional environmental harm actually is moreover I would like to highlight the numerous examples of these countries being involved in international forums such as the un's 2015 climate change conference commonly known as cop 21 these countries were heavily over represented at this conference Google the terms developing countries in the environment and you'll find numerous horror stories horror stories sorry of pollution and harm look a little bit further and you'll find the examples I have given you of cooperation of awareness of sustainable energy and growth the stigma towards the developing
world is based around a fear of the future if unchecked where will we be in 20 30 years from now if we will continue the work theun over the last few years primarily I believe we will stop climate change no Western Superior moral platform from which to impose environmental standards can can be found and as I've shown none is needed thus the West has no right no right at all to impose environmental standards on developing countries now as a final thought I'd like to leave you something else well if we give the West the right
to do this we then run the risk of certain things such the abuse of this power take for example nuclear energy nuclear energ nuclear energy is a Force for good look at France they use nuclear energy vastly to deal with less CO2 emissions but America and the West are scared of this technology falling into the wrong hands rightly because the ability to develop nuclear weapons would that then cause the West maybe to form legislations that maybe stop people developing technology such as this for a fear of something else and can we allow that thank you
ladies and gentlemen [Music] yeah
