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Reconsidering development by reflecting on climate change

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  • Harald Winkler

  • Anya Boyd
  • Marta Torres Gunfaus
  • Stefan Raubenheimer

Abstract

Reconsidering development by reflecting on climate change means rethinking development goals, more than pursuing climate targets. Much analysis in the development–climate literature has framed development as a co-benefit, while the objective has been climate stabilization. This misses the point that development drives emissions, not vice versa. A different approach must address low-emission technologies, but also the high-emission parts of ‘development’. Politically, climate change must be understood as a development problem. In this conception, a key task for climate policy is to explore different development paths, with the difference in emissions being a result. Development goals need to be represented as explicit objectives, both in analytical modelling and as political goals. Methods that treat climate policy as a self-control mechanism in the development system, or back-cast from development goals, need to be improved. The article further considers levers to change development paths, considering lessons on how to influence change in complex systems. The obsession of the existing economic order is with economic growth and development; what needs to be considered is the quality of development and what it means to live well. A social contract for low-carbon development requires the rich to pay for mitigation, use less, and assist the poor; lift the poor out of poverty; and change the aspirations of the middle class. Such a contract requires thinking beyond short-term political and economic time frames, with much longer-term thinking and vision. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Harald Winkler & Anya Boyd & Marta Torres Gunfaus & Stefan Raubenheimer, 2015. "Reconsidering development by reflecting on climate change," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 369-385, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ieaple:v:15:y:2015:i:4:p:369-385
    DOI: 10.1007/s10784-015-9304-7
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    2. Gabriela Ileana Iacobuţă & Niklas Höhne & Heleen Laura van Soest & Rik Leemans, 2021. "Transitioning to Low-Carbon Economies under the 2030 Agenda: Minimizing Trade-Offs and Enhancing Co-Benefits of Climate-Change Action for the SDGs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Xin, Baogui & Zhang, Tengda & Santibanez-Gonzalez, Ernesto D.R., 2024. "Synergistic effects of regional environmental governance on alleviating energy poverty and promoting household decarbonization," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    4. Snigdha Nautiyal, 2024. "Building capacities for transformative climate action: lessons from five fields of practice," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(6), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Jean-Charles Hourcade & P.-R. Shukla, 2015. "Cancun’s paradigm shift and COP 21: to go beyond rhetoric," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 343-351, November.
    6. Laurence Delina, 2017. "Multilateral development banking in a fragmented climate system: shifting priorities in energy finance at the Asian Development Bank," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 73-88, February.
    7. Fragkos, Panagiotis & Laura van Soest, Heleen & Schaeffer, Roberto & Reedman, Luke & Köberle, Alexandre C. & Macaluso, Nick & Evangelopoulou, Stavroula & De Vita, Alessia & Sha, Fu & Qimin, Chai & Kej, 2021. "Energy system transitions and low-carbon pathways in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, EU-28, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).

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