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CHAPTER DIMENSIONS OF
1 LOW CARBON
DEVELOPMENT IN
CHINA AND INDIA
1.1 Emerging Concepts in Global Sustainability
Concepts such as ‘green growth’, ‘green economy’, and
‘low carbon development strategies’ have gained global policy
prominence and are increasingly being discussed among major
stakeholder groups, including national governments, business and
industry, civil society, and research and academia. From a development
policy perspective, it becomes important to understand low carbon
development in relation to the three pillars of sustainable development,
namely, society, economy, and the environment. In the multilateral
fora, ‘low carbon’ development found mention in the Bali Roadmap
and the subsequent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP) documents. Table 1.1
depicts the contextualization of low carbon development in UNFCCC
documents.
It may be said that the concept of ‘low carbon’ has become more
mainstreamed in climate policy since the Bali Roadmap in 2007. It
is also interesting to note the different contexts in which low carbon
development has been deliberated in the international climate discourse.
At Bali, the focus was low carbon technology transfer to developing
countries; at Copenhagen, the context was financial assistance to
developing countries for adaptation and development needs; and at
Cancun, ‘low carbon development’ strategy was discussed as being
indispensable for sustainable development. While COP16 recognized
that developing countries will take a longer time to be able to take on
mitigation targets, it called for scientific identification of a time-frame
for global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions, based on the best
available scientific knowledge and to consider the same at subsequent
climate policy discourses.
Thus, it may be said that the concept of low carbon development
in developing countries has recognized climate change mitigation as
an important aspect but is being (and still has to be) understood in the
context of development and the complexity of issues that arise when
examining low carbon in development policy.
Chapter 1 Dimensions of Low Carbon Development in China and India 3
1 LOW CARBON
DEVELOPMENT IN
CHINA AND INDIA
1.1 Emerging Concepts in Global Sustainability
Concepts such as ‘green growth’, ‘green economy’, and
‘low carbon development strategies’ have gained global policy
prominence and are increasingly being discussed among major
stakeholder groups, including national governments, business and
industry, civil society, and research and academia. From a development
policy perspective, it becomes important to understand low carbon
development in relation to the three pillars of sustainable development,
namely, society, economy, and the environment. In the multilateral
fora, ‘low carbon’ development found mention in the Bali Roadmap
and the subsequent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP) documents. Table 1.1
depicts the contextualization of low carbon development in UNFCCC
documents.
It may be said that the concept of ‘low carbon’ has become more
mainstreamed in climate policy since the Bali Roadmap in 2007. It
is also interesting to note the different contexts in which low carbon
development has been deliberated in the international climate discourse.
At Bali, the focus was low carbon technology transfer to developing
countries; at Copenhagen, the context was financial assistance to
developing countries for adaptation and development needs; and at
Cancun, ‘low carbon development’ strategy was discussed as being
indispensable for sustainable development. While COP16 recognized
that developing countries will take a longer time to be able to take on
mitigation targets, it called for scientific identification of a time-frame
for global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions, based on the best
available scientific knowledge and to consider the same at subsequent
climate policy discourses.
Thus, it may be said that the concept of low carbon development
in developing countries has recognized climate change mitigation as
an important aspect but is being (and still has to be) understood in the
context of development and the complexity of issues that arise when
examining low carbon in development policy.
Chapter 1 Dimensions of Low Carbon Development in China and India 3
