On Demand Webinar: Climate Policy and Vulnerable Countries (2009)

Climate Change and the Other Developing Countries: Implications for Climate Policy

Presenter: Dr. Richard Klein

Date: This webinar was recorded on June 30, 2009 at 10:30am Pacific Time.

Cost: $25, free for members

When we talk about developing countries and what part they could play in climate policy, we usually refer to China, India and other rapidly industrialising countries. These countries have gone through a phase of strong economic growth and, as a result, have become major greenhouse gas emitters in their own right. However, they are the exception rather than the rule: the majority of developing countries still have very low emissions. For example, all of Africa produces around 3% of the total global emissions, while the United States alone is responsible for almost 30%. But it is these African countries, as well as other poor nations including small island states in the Pacific, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, that are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

This injustice is the reason climate policy is not only about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. An equally important objective of climate policy is to provide financial and technical support to the vulnerable countries in the developing world, to help them prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This webinar will discuss why this second objective can no longer be overlooked in discussions on a new global climate deal, to be agreed in Copenhagen in December this year.

About the Presenter

Dr Richard Klein is a Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute in Sweden. His research interests include methodological aspects of vulnerability assessment, societal adaptation to climate change, and integration of climate and development policy. He has been involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 1994 and is thus a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He also contributed to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, to the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change and to Tony Blair's report "Breaking the Climate Deadlock". He is the editor-in-chief of the new academic journal Climate and Development (http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=29957 ).