SciDev.Net

Brazil, India, China and other developing countries, such as South Africa, need to find a way to weigh the risks of inaction against the costs of acting to prevent climate change. They also need to devise policy solutions relevant to their own circumstances.

Solutions that are effective for the European Union may not be as appropriate or politically feasible in other countries. The experience with implementation of existing domestic environmental and other regulations will influence what kind of approaches will be effective in these countries.

Finally, although developing countries have much in common, they also have unique characteristics — too many current approaches lump them unhelpfully together. Little progress is likely to happen until these considerations are acknowledged as the basis of the way forward.