World Economic and Social Survey 2009. Promoting Development, Saving the Planet

The central message of the World Economic and Social Survey 2009 is that addressing the climate challenge cannot be met through ad hoc and incremental actions. In the first place, it requires much stronger eff orts by advanced countries to cut their emissions. The fact that in this regard more than a decade has been lost since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change1 only adds urgency to those eff orts. However, even if advanced countries begin to match their words with deeds, their eff orts are, by themselves, unlikely to be suffi cient to meet the climate challenge. The active participation of developing countries is now required and such participation can occur only if it allows economic growth and development to proceed in a rapid and sustainable manner.