The argument is about responsibility and fairness , and it turns on the fact that most of the CO2 that is in the atmosphere now ( and it remains for a century or more ) has been put there by the rich countries , who have been pumping the stuff out since the industrial revolution 200 years ago ; but most of the extra CO2 that will go into the atmosphere in the future will be put there by the developing nations , who are now embarked on a period of unprecedented , explosive economic growth , much of it powered by burning coal , with the principal purpose of drawing their peoples out of poverty .