“Embedded developmentalism”: normative and institutional responses to the global catastrophic risk of underdevelopment

We examine the enduring legacy of the Founex Report on the Environment and Development, prepared for the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment. Authored by Global South intellectuals, the report argued that environmental challenges in their countries arose from underdevelopment rather than industrial excesses, influencing early environmental debates and shaping calls for a New International Economic Order (NIEO). Commemorating 50 years since the adoption of the NIEO, we demonstrate that the Founex Report – by explicitly linking environmental problems to underdevelopment – has been more influential in shaping the design of international institutions than the NIEO, which largely overlooked this connection. Through case studies of global climate, economic, and financial regimes, we illustrate how “embedded developmentalism”, or the integration of developmental considerations into environmental governance, remains critical yet contested. We conclude that addressing underdevelopment is indispensable for effectively responding to catastrophic climate change.