Proposals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions must balance with development needs

On an early stage, developing countries tend to rely on fossil fuels to achieve their development targets. In a world of limited technology transfer, cumulative CO2 emission necessary for development are between 20 and 30% of previously calculated budges to keep global temperature below 2 C target.

The authors of the recent report, led by Luis Costa of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, propose a new allocation framework that reserves individual emissions paths for the Development As Usual (DAU) of current developing countries until certain development standards - in the form of long, healthy life, access to knowledge, and decent living standards - are reached, at which point the countries become responsible for reducing their emissions.

Diego Rybski, a co-author, cautions that the results should not be considered predictions but rather as a possible future. Nonetheless, Juergen Kropp concludes that an integration of fair a CO2 allocations and individual carbon budgets considering development dynamics might have a better chance for acceptance in climate negotiations.

More information: Costa L, Rybski D, Kropp JP (2011) A Human Development Framework for CO2 Reductions. PLoS ONE 6(12): e29262. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029262

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