Instead, practical steps to help them grow in an environmentally friendly way should be pursued, such as pricing energy correctly and pursuing sustainable development, he suggested.

PM Lee was giving an Asian perspective on the challenge of climate change at an informal leaders' meeting on the subject. Others on the panel were United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and other Latin American, African and European leaders.

Climate change and the environment have been major topics at this year's meeting, with several panel discussions on how best to fashion a new agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions after the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2010, as well as others on water shortages and poverty alleviation.

As the only Asian leader speaking at Friday's high-level, closed-door discussion, Mr Lee sought to put the region's economic challenges and environmental concerns in proper context.

Economic growth, he said, had helped Asian countries to grow and raise living standards for billions of their people. It had contributed to the stability in the region, as well as prosperity in the global economy.

Should Asian economies falter, there would be political and security implications for the rest of the world, he noted.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times