This is actually an incomplete and wrong argument. Don't look back or at the present, but look at the future, 2050 or 2100. China and India will have far more people, and if they industrialize to the extent of Western countries will produce most of the CO2 of the world. Imagine 2100 where China is producing 60% of the GHG, India is 20%, and Africa is producing 10%. The rest of the world is just producing 10%. The question here is how can these "developing" countries industrialize without destroying the planet. This is the most important question by far. Forget about your personal carbon foot print. It doesn't matter when China is bringing online 20 coal fire plants a year.

This chart show the problem graphically: https://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-worlds-coal-power-plants/