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Motivation
The two challenges of combating climate change and global poverty cannot be discussed separately. Economic growth alone will not overcome poverty and inequality; yet, it can help to bring about substantial improvements.
In the past economic growth has predominantly been associated with the combustion of fossil fuels, including their adverse effects on the climate. The dilemma between economic growth combined with its negative effect on the climate and the need for economic growth in developing countries calls for the identification of opportunities for low-carbon growth. Therfore, decarbonizing developing and emerging countries’ economies is of crucial importance in order to prevent dangerous climate change. For these countries the decoupling of economic growth from carbon emissions has to happen early on, so that they do not repeat the carbon-intensive trajectories through which nowadays industrialized countries have gone in the past. Moreover, a development paradigm based on low-carbon growth paths needs to offer ways to reduce the currently prevailing high levels of poverty.
Goals of the Project
The project investigates how decarbonization in emerging and developing countries can be instigated in a way that is fair and contributes to reducing poverty. Our research is centered around the following research questions:
- To what extent have emerging and developing countries embarked on a development path that is as carbon-intensive as the one through which OECD-countries have gone before? What are characteristics of such a path, and do we find these for emerging and developing countries? What is the role of inequalities with regard to the distribution of domestic income?
- How can energy systems be decarbonized? When can a global carbon market be put into place and how should emission permits be distributed? How can the question of global equity be discussed in the context of climate policy?
- Which policy instruments (such as technology policy, taxes and subsidies, financial transfers) can pave the way for low-carbon growth and development in emerging and developing countries? What context-specific factors and barriers have to be taken into account for their implementation? How can mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions be linked to poverty reduction?
Stakeholder Workshop
A stakeholder workshop to disseminate first results from the research undertaken within the consortium, gather feedback regarding research needs, and provide a platform for discussion took place on 19 April 2012 at the premises of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Attended by policy-makers, civil society, industry representatives as well as applied academia, the workshop featured presentations by Ottmar Edenhofer (PIK), E. Somanathan (Indian Statistical Institute), and Tony Venables (Oxford University) as well as parallel workshops and a panel discussion.
The slides of the presentations can be downloaded from the German version of this page (click on 'Deutsch' in the upper right corner of the screen).
Dialogue Forum
A dialogue forum to present key insights from the project and collect feedback was held at the premises of the Indian Statistical Institute in New Delhi on 21-22 February 2013. Besides the project team, the dialogue forum featured high-ranking researchers, policy makers, and civil society representatives from India as well as the US, South Africa, and Austria.
The slides of the presentations can be downloaded from the German version of this page (click on 'Deutsch' in the upper right corner of the screen).
Publications
Steckel, J, RJ Brecha, M. Jakob, J. Strefler, G. Luderer (forthcoming): Development without energy? Assessing future scenarios of energy consumption in developing countries. Accepted for publication in Ecological Economics
Hübler, M. and J. Steckel (2012): Economic Growth, Decarbonization, and International Transfers. Climate and Development 4 (2), pp. 88 - 103
Jakob, M., M. Haller, R. Marschinski (2012): Will History Repeat Itself? Economic Convergence and Convergence in Energy Use Patterns. Energy Economics 34, p. 95-104. link / pdf(Manuscript Version)
Steckel, J., M. Jakob, G. Luderer, R. Marschinski (2011): From Carbonization to Decarbonization? - Past Trends and Future Scenarios for China's CO2 Emissions Energy Policy 39(6):3443-3455. link / pdf (Manuscript Version)
Project Coordination
Brigitte Knopf
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
P.O. Box 60 12 03
14412 Potsdam, Germany
knopf[at]pik-potsdam.de
Tel: +49-(0)331-288 2631
Michael Jakob
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
P.O. Box 60 12 03
14412 Potsdam, Germany
jakob[at]pik-potsdam.de
Tel: +49-(0)331-288 2650
Jan Steckel
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
P.O. Box 60 12 03
14412 Potsdam, Germany
steckel[at]pik-potsdam.de
Tel: +49-(0)331-288 2693
Project Partners
University of Göttingen, Germany – Chair of Development Economics. Contact: Stephan Klasen, sklasen[at]uni-goettingen.de; Nicole Grunewald, ngrunew[at]uni-goettingen.de
Leibniz Institut for Global and Regional Studies (GIGA) Hamburg, Germany. Contact: Jann Lay, lay[at]giga-hamburg.de; Birte Pohl, pohl[at]giga-hamburg.de
