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Developed Coutries have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change.

My partner and I negate the resolution"Resolved: Developed countries have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change. A Developed Country is a sovereign state which has a highly developed economy and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other `less developed nations or one that is highly industrialized. The term " Developed Countries" is too broad. There is a generalization that every developed country emits a significant amount of CO2 and can afford the taxation costs of mitigation. For example, India, even with advanced technology, is in a national debt of $ 345.8 billion. The World Bank classifies all low- and middle-income countries as developing. We feel it necessary to define the following terms: Moral Obligation- an obligation composed of morals of ethics and injustices. Climate change -the perpetual fluctuation in weather patterns in a particular region or worldwide. However, unlike global warming, which refers to just to the accession in the earth"s surface temperature" climate change refers to alterations in a regions overall weather patterns, including precipitation, temperatures, cloud cover, Contention I : The cost of mitigating climate change in developed countries will negatively affect the economy. b In order to mitigate climate change as a government , the country must raise taxes. In Australia, Carbon is taxed at 23 per ton. According to the Australian government"s modeling, this is likely to cause the cost of living to increase by an average of 0.7 per cent in the first year, and another 0.2 per cent in 2015-16. Every year the price will increase by 2.5% until 2015. Besides Governmental actions, most encouraged ways to control your carbon footprint are inconvenient and expensive. For example, carpooling, hybrid cars, and avoiding reforestation are inconvenient. Most Hybrid cars cost between $2,000 and $10,000 more than a gasoline engine car. To some people, they are not an option because of the higher prices. The average Hybrid has about 15-27 miles per gallon and most new gasoline powered cars get 22-29 mpg. Also, some people cannot lower the amount of gasoline they use. Not all occupants of a country are economically stable and therefore, our economy cannot afford the cost and taxes of mitigation. Contention 2: Certain aspects of climate change are uncontrollable and not caused by humankind. Solar emission and slow changes in the earth"s orbital elements are natural causes of climate change. Solar emission is when magnetic energy in the sun has built up. These are not preventable therefore we don"t have a moral obligation to mitigate it. Also, plate tectonics are not preventable by humans. It is a significant cause of climate change. Certain climate changes are not preventable. For example, during the ice age, the sea level rose 80 meters. Climate on Earth has changed significantly for over 2.4 billion years, even long before human activity could have played a role. According to the National Ocean Service, "Starting with the ice ages that have come and gone in regular cycles for the past nearly three million years, there is strong evidence that these are linked to regular variations in the Earth"s orbit around the Sun." Contention III: The Mitigation of climate change is not a moral obligation. Moral Obligations should not exist. A country must stabilize itself before helping others. The fact is that most developed countries have a high national debt and must work on fixing themselves before fixing the world. For example, even the most developed country in the world, Norway is in a national debt of $644.5 billion. The definition of obligation is "A bond of moral duty." However, with the job of an obligation, our priorities are minimized especially economically. This is not a moral obligation. In fact, saying that developed countries are morally obligated to mitigate the effects of climate change is unethical. The countries should not be morally obligated to mitigate the effects of climate change; it should only be encouraged to people and therefore the responsibility of the people, not the government. Therefore Mitigating climate change in developed countries is expensive, not all developed countries are stable, and the mitigation of climate change is not a moral obligation. In conclusion, climate change should not be dealt with now because we do not have a moral obligation mitigate it