Brazil to rich countries: Pay up, or the rainforest gets it

In the run-up to the big Copenhagen Climate Talks next week, the battle lines are already being drawn as the developed world and developing world square off over who should bear the burdens of slashing carbon output in order to halt the growth of greenhouse gases. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega flatly told the BBC on its Business Daily podcast that if the West wants Brazilian farmers to stop their deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest, the rich world will have to compensate his nation for its idled agricultural capacity.

The logic behind this argument is somewhat clear. Brazil and the other developing nations claim they are too poor to sacrifice local economic development to accommodate global needs. Further, the logic goes, the West and the developed world did most of the damage to the environment by pumping out greenhouse gases during two centuries of breakneck industrial growth. Now, the developing world says, the West needs to realize that it must pay for the lifestyle its hot-shower-taking, SUV-driving citizens consider to be their birthright.