Post-2020 Climate Change Regime Formation

4  Post-Durban prospects for low-carbon green growth

Paul Ekins

Introduction

The point of departure of this chapter is the Climate Summit which took place in Durban, South Africa, in December 2011. The chapter starts by placing this Summit in the context of international action, and action at other levels, to mitigate climate change.

While the Durban Summit had a number of positive outcomes, it remains the fact that developing countries will not embrace the emissions reduction necessary to mitigate climate change if they perceive this likely to have a negative effect on their economic growth. The chapter explores the relationship between economic growth and environmental damage. While it is clear that there has been a trade-off between growth ...