29 November, 2019

Sustainable development through climate leadership — Opportunities for LDCs

Authors

Anne Zimmer, Claire Fyson, Emily Theokritoff, Ziaul Haque and Tenzin Wangmo

The climate action and sustainable development agendas are intrinsically linked. Limiting warming to 1.5°C will require systemic change that is integrated with sustainable development; at the same time, climate change action is itself one of the sustainable development goals.

Taking these linkages into account can yield important opportunities for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). So-called “co-benefits” arise when climate change mitigation measures create positive synergies with sustainable development. Incorporating these co-benefits when designing NDCs and making climate finance applications could help LDCs to achieve both ambitious climate action and sustainable development.

This briefing identifies areas where such positive synergies exist, and explores the potential for a transition to a more sustainable and efficient energy system based on renewable energy to generate sustainable development co-benefits in the LDCs.

Climate justice

Publications

Climate justice and loss and damage: perspectives from the global south

This article outlines the loss and damage debate through a climate justice lens with particular emphasis on Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries. It examines the latest developments of the new loss and damage fund including operationalisation.

Advisory opinion on "Climate emergency and human rights"

This Amicus Curiae is an advisory opinion requested by the republics of Chile and Colombia on "Climate emergency and human rights". It was presented by Climate Analytics Caribbean to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. It outlines the intricate intersections of climate change, human rights, and state obligations, with a specific emphasis on the unique challenges faced by Caribbean nations.

Uncompensated claims to fair emission space risk putting Paris Agreement goals out of reach

Based on scenarios underlying the IPCC's 6th Assessment Report, in this paper we construct a suite of scenarios that combine the following elements: (a) two quantifications of a moral claim to the remaining carbon space by South Asia, and Africa, (b) a 'highest possible emission reduction' effort by developed regions, and (c) a corresponding range for other developing regions. Our findings raise important questions of perspectives on equity in the context of the Paris Agreement including on the critical importance of climate finance.

Houses built on the mountains just outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Climate justice and loss and damage: Hurricane Dorian, Haitians and human rights

Haitian communities were the locus of the majority of deaths and missing people attributed to the 2019 Hurricane Dorian and faced a series of distributional, procedural and recognition injustices. We investigate the historical factors and contemporary conditions of Haitian communities in The Bahamas that resulted in significant inequities, disproportional impacts and infractions of human rights.

Long term strategies: low carbon growth, resilience and prosperity for Least Developed Countries

Long-term, low greenhouse gas emission development strategies provide a beneficial space for Least Developed Countries to set out a visionary blueprint for a resilient, decarbonised future, compatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C.

Accounting for socioeconomic constraints in sustainable irrigation expansion assessments

This paper provides five scenarios of sustainable irrigation deployment in the 21st century integrated into the framework of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, which account for biophysical irrigation limits and socioeconomic constraints. We find that the potential for sustainable irrigation expansion implied by biophysical limits alone is considerably reduced when socioeconomic factors are considered.

An assessment of the adequacy of the mitigation measures and targets of the respondent states in Duarte Agostinho v Portugal and 32 other states

This report provides an overview of the best available science and other key concepts of relevance to the achievement of the 1.5°C limit – i.e., the long-term temperature goal (LTTG) of the Paris Agreement – and assesses the adequacy of the mitigation measures and targets of the 33 respondent states in Duarte Agostinho v Portugal and 32 other States against the long-term temperature goal.

Zona Colonial, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Debt-for-climate swaps for small islands

Debt-for-climate swaps provide an avenue for small island developing states to address challenges arising from adapting to increasing climate change risk and recovering from the pandemic.

Intergenerational inequities in exposure to climate extremes

New paper finds that children are to face disproportionate increases in lifetime extreme event exposure – especially in low-income countries.

Fair distributions of carbon dioxide removal obligations and implications for effective national net-zero targets

As a growing number of countries bring forward national net-zero targets, questions of how much carbon dioxide removal each nation holds responsibility for, and whether transfers should be possible under the Paris Agreement market mechanisms become increasingly important.

National ‘fair shares’ in reducing greenhouse gas emissions within the principled framework of international environmental law

This article tests fairness justifications offered in 168 nationally determined contributions to the 2015 Paris Agreement against the touchstone of principles of international environmental law and finds some justify their contributions on the basis of indicators not backed by such principles.

Towards a just transition of the workplace: Baseline Analysis for the Electricity and Road Transport Sectors in Antigua and Barbuda

This study aims at analysing the employment implications of Antigua and Barbuda transitioning to a low carbon economy and discussing the various social dimensions of a ‘Just Transition’, with a focus on electricity and road transport.

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Decarbonisation targets and 1.5℃ pathways

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