The Race To Low-Carbon Economies Has Started

Although international climate negotiations have made little progress since the largely failed talks of Copenhagen in 2009, especially developing countries have started the race towards low-carbon development. Low-Carbon Development Plans (LCDPs) have been developed that describe goals and measures of the respective nation's climate change efforts and lay a foundation for overall development planning.

This paper describes indicators that help to analyze the progressiveness of such LCDPs. With the help of these indicators three representative LCDPs are portrayed in more detail. These countries are: Costa Rica, being among the most ambitious countries with a goal to reshape its economy and society to a carbon neutral one already by 2021, China as the most relevant country when it comes to mitigating global climate change, and Bangladesh as being one of the most vulnerable countries.

These promising examples, if seen in the context of global coalitions, are extraordinarily constructive input for the United Nation's climate change negotiations. They can help to create the momentum that is desperately needed to finally agree to a fair, ambitious and legally binding international treaty in the future. It is therefore vital to recognize these efforts and to develop new and enhance existing means of cooperation to amplify the positive dynamics that these developments have.