International development

... how can international development be sustained in a warming world?

The development strategies of poor countries are fundamental to climate change adaptation and mitigation. Poverty alleviation and human well-being are crucially threatened by climate change in already vulnerable regions of Africa and Asia. Yet the impacts of past emissions by industrialised countries are most acutely felt by poor people, especially in developing countries. Emissions are also rising rapidly in parts of the developing world. There is a need to bring adaptation and mitigation into development policy agendas, and to design, implement and evaluate international development under the constraints and opportunities of global warming.

We have designed this new research programme knowing that it is vital to effectively engage developing countries into international scientific and policy discussions. The goal of such discussions should be to reduce the contributions of development to global warming and ensure that development itself does not increase the vulnerability of the poor to climate change risks.

Africa has special attention in our research because of its particular vulnerability to climate change and to match the priorities of the UK and international initiatives on poverty. A series of seminars and an African regional Workshop will engage scientists, policy makers, and NGOs on issues of implementing effective development in Africa under changing climate conditions, focusing on the design and application of mechanisms to incorporate climate change adaptation and mitigation into development programmes through coordination with donors. We listen very carefully to development agencies, to international donors and to vulnerable people.

Programme Leader: Professor Katrina Brown, University of East Anglia
Deputy Leader: Professor David Thomas, University of Oxford