As climate change negotiations intensify in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, there is determination that a post-Kyoto climate change regime should be development-friendly. Such a regime would:
- recognise the responsibility of developed countries for historic emissions;
- give developing countries the space they need for economic growth;
- help with technology development and transfer; and
- provide significant funding for forest protection, disaster preparedness and other items on the agenda of mitigation and adaptation.
The journey from Bali to Copenhagen is, in many important ways, one of great opportunity for developing countries. However, it is also a journey beset by risk. Will the special vulnerabilities and needs of the poorest berecognised in the negotiations? Will the negotiators have the incentives and the will to forge a new model of collective action? Will the recession make it more difficult to find the funding needed? And will aid be raided to fundmeasures to address climate change? It is clear that it will be difficult for developing countries to manage both climate changeand the negotiations around the subject.
This series of meetings brought together political leaders and world-class policy analysis. The aim was to accelerate consensus-building on this important issue, and give renewed impetus to efforts to ensure development-friendly outcomes in Copenhagen.
UK leading the way: Moving forward in international climate change policy
At this final event of the ODI/DFID climate change speaker series, we considered the UK’s pivotal role in International Development and Climate Change, its leadership and ongoing challenges.
Adaptation: Hitting a moving target
The goals and processes of adaptation are not agreed. Is the aim to save lives and livelihoods, to promote long term development, or to curtail conflict and international migration? Should adaptation be pre-emptive or responsive? And at what scale should...
Can developing country needs for energy be met without causing climate change?
Can developing country needs for energy be met without causing climate change? How can developing countries be incentivised to adopt cleaner energy? And what steps do developed countries need to take to facilitate this?
Climate change and water: Understanding impacts, formulating responses
In this, the eigth meeting in the ‘Climate Change and International Development’ Series, Professor Nigel Arnell and Dr Margaret Catley-Carlson discussed the scientific evidence linking climate change and water in developing countries, and the threats and...
Financing climate change
The UN say $50 bn - $70 bn will be needed each year to help poor countries adapt to a changing climate, but so far pledges made to the international climate funds have been very low. So, as governments worldwide debate on how best to respond to the many...
The humanitarian implications of climate change
The growing awareness of climate change and its implications has also served to highlight the issue of disaster risk reduction and its relationship to climate change adaptation. The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the Hyogo Framework for...
Forests in a future climate regime
The inclusion of avoided deforestation (‘reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation’ or REDD) was an important achievement of the UNFCCC Action Plan agreed at Bali in 2007. But what will this mean for the 1.5 billion people in the developing...
Planning for the future: can climate change be brought into development planning through scenarios?
In this meeting, the fourth in the Climate Change and International Development series, speakers will discuss climate change issues from the perspective of science and in terms of application to the world of planners in business, government and across global...
The challenge of growth: Can economic growth be compatible with climate change mitigation targets?
This meeting explored the compatibility of economic growth and climate change mitigation targets.
Brokering a global deal on climate change
This meeting will focus on the current status of climate change negotiations after Poznan and look at the critical challenges to be faced over the next year, focussing on the implications for developing countries and the poor.
Challenging development: Will climate change hold back poverty reduction?
This opening event for the Climate Change and International Development speaker series, led by Douglas Alexander, began to address and unpack the key issues to be covered during the series.