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Publications (24)
Development aid by itself cannot ‘save the planet’. Yet, development aid and institutions have the potential to remain important catalytic actors in achieving developmental and global environmental objectives. Developing countries must be crucial players in successful climate change mitigation as...
Research Brief
pdf
The demand for irrigation is likely to increase in South Africa as a result of increased temperatures and evaporation rates. Rain-fed agricultural crops are likely to experience a decline in average annual yields. This is particularly the case for maize and wheat, which are staple foods. Soybean and...
Research Brief
pdf
– The Role of Land
Land-based services will become increasingly important as global public goods in the context of changing climate, particularly in terms of mitigation and adaptation. Carbon sequestration, irrigation, infrastructure and local environmental services will all need significant investment in order to...
Research Brief
It is a widely accept projection that many low income countries (LICs) will remain low income for some time to come. Consequently, when assessing the policy options available to LICs it is important to take a long-term view. In the WIDER Working Paper ‘Aid, Fiscal Policy, Climate Change, and Growth’...
Research Brief
pdf
The goal of economic growth combined with environmental protection in developing countries requires not just financial and technological resources, but also the local capacity to design and implement successful policies. Aid programmes for capacity-building related to climate change are most...
Research Brief
pdf
The three goals of promoting development, adaptation to climate change, and climate change mitigation are in reality inseparable policy areas and as such there is a compelling case for addressing them simultaneously. Climate finance aimed at helping developing countries to make adaptations to deal...
Policy Brief
pdf
A multidisciplinary research project organized by UNU-WIDER shows that ongoing destruction of the world's forests is greatly contributing to the greenhouse effect. Deforestation is often a consequence of market distortions that hide the real economic value of forests and result in the inefficient...
Research Brief
pdf
– The importance of mitigating emissions
More intense climate changes are expected in South Africa if GHG emissions are not constrained. Increased GHG emissions are likely to result in increases in average annual surface temperatures and higher evaporation rates. Average precipitation levels across South Africa are uncertain, with both...
– The case of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia
Much discussion of climate change in the developing world focuses on if, when, and to what extent developing countries should be subject to any global attempts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Little work has been done on the likely economic impacts resulting from the interplay of climate change...
Research Brief
China is the world’s largest developing country and its huge population requires a similarly large agricultural sector to sustain it. A major challenge for China faces is working out how increasing demands for food can be met at the same time as reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Despite the...
Research Brief
Even the most optimistic analyses accept that many low-income countries (LICs) will remain low income for some time to come. Consequently, when assessing the policy options available to LICs it is important to take a long term view. In the WIDER Working Paper ‘Aid, Fiscal Policy, Climate Change, and...
Research Brief
pdf
– What Works and What Could Work?
Current international agricultural development and food security systems are ill-prepared to address the global agriculture, food and nutrition problems. Structural reforms are necessary to deliver the essential international public goods for improved food security; better co-ordination in the...
Research Brief
pdf
Forest degradation remains a leading environmental problem, given the scale of forest loss and the crucial role of forests to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Initiatives from the climate change policy arena, especially REDD+, are opening new ways for a broader mainstreaming of forest...
Driven by rapid growth in mining and related infrastructure investment, exports of machinery and equipment from South Africa to other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries more than quadrupled from 2003 to 2013. Growth has, however, since slowed due to a more subdued commodity...
– Lessons from international experience
Mozambique has seen a significant expansion of interest and investment in its extractive industries. New gas finds in the past ten years have led to expectations that these industries will contribute very significantly to the country’s future economic development and its long-term structural change...
Research Brief
pdf
Climate change risks for run-off and irrigation demand vary significantly across South Africa, with some regions expected to experience increased drying and others flooding Smaller impacts on water resources by 2050 are expected if global emissions are mitigated Even under strong mitigation policies...
Research Brief
pdf
Development of green cities is one way to help address problems associated with climate change. Curitiba, Brazil, combines integrated sustainable urban planning and strong leadership, resulting in a reduced environmental impact since it began these policies in 1966. Tianjin City, China, emphasizes...
Research Brief
pdf
Over the period 2007–50 climate change is predicted to cause Vietnam’s annual GDP growth rate to fall between 0.02 and 0.10 percentage points. While small relative to GDP, absolute loss levels due to climate change are significant at between US$6-15$ billion (in present value terms using a discount...
Research Brief
Three global crises -finance, environment and food The global economy is currently facing three crises which threaten to undermine the welfare and prosperity of present and future generations. The first is the financial crisis which originated in the north but which has also effected the South...
Climate change is one of the most complex and urgent of global issues due to its potential impacts and the policies and measures needed to address those impacts. Both are potential game changers for the Earth’s biosphere, ways of life, and economic development into the twenty-first century and...
In broad terms, the climate challenge is relatively straightforward. Global average temperatures are rising because of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Continuation of current levels of emissions or (worse) continued growth in emissions throughout the twenty-first century could result in...
Research Brief
pdf
All climate scenarios considered result in reduced national welfare, if no reforms are enacted. If no policy changes are implemented, the present value of climate change costs up to 2050 are between US2 and US7 billion, for the scenarios considered in Mozambique. Climate change damages, while being...
Research Brief
pdf
– Global Issues, Bilateral Delivery
Levels of environmental aid for global issues are increasing. Environmental aid is increasingly allocated through bilateral aid agencies rather than through the multilateral channels created for this purpose. A consistent demand of developing countries has been that any requirement to pursue...
Policy Brief
pdf
The first Millennium Development Goal aims to halve the number of people in the world living in extreme poverty. In this Research Brief, emanating from the UNU-WIDER project on ‘Fragility and Development’, the premise is that we should also be concerned about households who are vulnerable to poverty...
Displaying 24 of 24 results