Policies on leadership, design and implementation are needed for climate compatible development that offers a pathway for dealing with climate change, a top development economist has said.
“An entry point to solving the wicked problem of climate change is the model of ‘climate compatible development’ that takes place when three things come together: mitigation, adaptation and transformation,” said Simon Maxwell, executive chair at Climate and Development Knowledge Network and chair of the European Think-Tanks Group.
He was speaking on “Climate Compatible Development: Pathway or Pipedream?” at the CPD Anniversary Lecture 2015 in a city hotel yesterday.
Maxwell, also one of UK’s leading thinkers on international development, said as climate change development comes to the mainstream, issues like policy leadership, design and implementation have come to the fore.
He said it may seem strange to give prominence to the issue of leadership so soon after the apparently successful conclusion of the climate talks in Paris – talks marked by the deep personal engagement of about 150 leaders.
“Some policies will be more appropriate and successful in reducing emissions in some countries than in others. Policy design varies from country to country. But policies’ success depends on implementation,” he said.
Laying emphasis on all stakeholders, including the private sector and civil society groups for climate compatible development, he said: “Successful implementation also depends on strong cross-government coordination, and this in turn has benefited greatly from having sufficient number of people exposed to climate change issues.”
However, he said there is no single blueprint to the challenge of climate compatible development. “Progress at country level, and substantially, will be idiosyncratic, progressive, and probably uneven.”
The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change present a “wicked problem” for researchers and policymakers.
Referring to the SDGs and Paris talks, he said: “Neither is perfect, but both are important, and together they set the stage for a remarkable transformation in the global trajectory.”
Maxwell said: “The adoption of the SDGs and the finalisation of the Conference of the Parties together highlight the urgency of a new approach and open a new chapter.”
Achieving the SDGs will require close integration of poverty, environmental and social action, he added.
