The recent cheap prices of oil has made it easier for developing countries to rely on this very dirty and heavily gas emitting fossil fuel. The increased use of oil has caused more emissions to be produced by the developing countries.
But why does the United Nations want to reduce emissions? The simple reason is that emissions are negative externalities. Externalities are “spill over” effects that are caused by services and goods. In this case the use of oil by vehicles and other machines creates harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. The effects of these gases include global warming(which leads to destruction of habitats, endangering of species, flooding etc), holes in the o-zone layer (which can lead to negative health effects) and of course the fact that gases like carbon monoxide can have negative health effects on the lungs. A negative externality is simply an externality that creates more social costs than social benefits. By this we mean that society has to pay more for it (e.g health costs) than the benefits that they receive (faster commute etc).
Below is a graph showing negative externalities:
The y axis represents price whilst the x-axis represents the quantity of emissions or oil produced. This means that when the quantity of the emissions/oil is increased, the MSC (marginal social costs) becomes larger than the MSB(marginal social benefit) thus created a surplus of cost which becomes the negative externality. As we can see the MPC (Marginal Private Cost) and the MPB(Marginal Private Benefit) is at an equilibrium. This means that the producers of the oil or the vehicles creating the emissions are not experiencing a negative externality. This shows us that the producers do not take into account the fact that they may be costing the society around them.
In the article, Yvo de Boer, the secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change said the following in how to
The article stated the following:
“De Boer said he hoped that the world would meet its climate goals by "relying on policy actions and not an economic turndown," adding: "I hope never to be in the situation where we say we made our Kyoto target, but everyone is starving." “
Yvo De Boer is the current Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and he stated above that rather than reducing the current economic situation of the country we must creates policies instead. For example, rather than applying protectionist measures against the trade of oil from the developing countries, which will make oil export from the country very difficult and thus reduce amount of capital coming from the oil the UN must create some kind of policy whereby the education system in the country teaches about the negative effects of overusing such heavy gas emitting substances like fossil fuels. The UN could also provide grants or loans to countries in an attempt to allow the country to wean off their dependence on oil by researching alternative sources of energy.