Brazil
As one of the global stewards of the Amazon Rain Forrest, the debate over industrialization and carbon emissions has made global warming a salient political issue in Brazil for several years now. It has also served as a potent rallying cry for the developing world. Addressing the issue from the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Conference, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on the industrialized nations of the world, the so-called Global North, to take on the burden of halting the advances of global warming. "It is beyond doubt," argued da Silva, "that both the benefits of economic development as well as the costs of environmental degradation over the past decades have been unevenly distributed both among and within countries. While some profited and continue to profit from the irrational exploitation of natural resources and unsustainable levels of consumption, the vast majority of the world's population has little to show for it." Global Top 5s is a monthly feature by RealClearWorld.com powered by Gallup's worldwide research. Learn more at Gallup.com.
