ODI has reviewed the low carbon growth and climate change response strategies of a range of countries with differing economic characteristics to draw out the policy implications for developing countries at different stages of development. The study, financed by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), selected a cross-section of high-, middle- and low-income countries to conduct a balanced review of low carbon growth policies.

This Background Note pulls together key findings, and concludes that many of these countries are, to some extent, ahead of the game in terms of policies to promote low carbon growth and climate resilience, it is clear that improvements can still be made. Nonetheless, the policies they have set out and the processes they have pursued can provide valuable lessons for other countries only now beginning to think about how they will respond to climate change. While it is too early to judge the efficacy of many of these policies (and indeed many of them are still only being planned), ongoing monitoring of their impact will be important in ensuring that lesson are learned globally, thus speeding up the effective response to this most pressing of problems.