Recap of previous material

Here is what I have so far, but it doesn't include anything you guys talked about when I wasn't there.

We decided to negotiate along parallel tracks: one concerning the pricing of carbon and the other concerning the creation of a proposed market for natural resource extraction, which almost certainly would require the conferral of property rights that create the incentives both for people to protect resource and a disincentive for irresponsible/unsustainable extraction practices (e.g. pumping highly toxic chemicals into the ground to tap natural gas deposits, then not releasing the details of the chemical to the hospital treating toxic-exposed workers, causing secondary exposure to hospital staff--or so I've heard). The first problem is really timely because it's exactly what their going to be talking about in Copenhagen, and the second is fascinating because it's a really radical, equitable way of encouraging sustainability.

Basically, we're in agreement that the same policies won't be effective or fair for advanced industrialized countries and developing countries. Whereas advanced countries can use enhanced technology to increase fuel efficiency, the measures needed in many parts of the world--particularly sub-Saharan Africa and the subcontinent--would seek to address emissions more indirectly through poverty reduction. Not only does poverty reduction raise people's standards of living, it decreases global income/wealth inequality, which is one of the forces behind pollution, where wealthy but resource-poor countries extract huge amounts of natural resources--not to mention economic resources in the form of cheap labor--from poorer countries. A possible starting point for an agreement would call for wealthy, Northern countries (including Japan) to fairly calculate the extent to which they benefit from the resource trading imbalance, and compensate the poorer, Southern countries in an amount that would rectify this imbalance.

Since you all are authors, you can create new posts and then other people have the option of responding to them in comments. Let's start generating some ideas!