How will the economic relationships between developed and developing countries influence the path of climate change? The seventh Yale Development Dialogue focuses on how both rich and poor countries can manage natural capital in order to reverse environmental destruction.
In the quest for net-zero global carbon emissions, will advances in technology suffice or must we make hard decisions that affect economic growth? And if the traditional methods of growth must drastically change, what should we ask of rich and poor countries?
In climate negotiations, lower-income countries have long asserted that they are being asked to sacrifice economic development for a problem largely caused by rich, industrialized nations. Today, Western countries set bold emission targets, even as they continue to import goods manufactured in developing countries at a high environmental cost. And countries like India may increase reliance on coal to help mitigate the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic – even as they set targets for renewable energy production.
How will the economic relationships between developed and developing countries influence the path of climate change? What policies are necessary? And when policy fails, what can citizens do to help reduce carbon emissions?
In the 7th Yale Development Dialogue, Dieter Helm will discuss these topics with Sunil Amrith, Rohini Pande, and Rory Stewart, co-hosts of the series.
Dieter Helm, CBE is Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford and former Independent Chair of the UK’s Natural Capital Committee, providing advice to the government on the sustainable use of natural capital. His most recent book Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change addresses the action we all need to take to tackle the climate emergency.