Low-Carbon Development for the Least Developed Countries

The threat that human-induced climate change poses to many of the least developed countries (LdCs) is profound. Greater dependence on rainfed agriculture and forestry as sources of employment and income makes many of them more vulnerable to climatic changes and variability. many LdCs are already subject to climatic stress because of their location in the Tropics and other areas subject to a high incidence of weather-related shocks – storms, drought, flooding and extremes of temperature – and to high temperatures. In poor countries, but not middle-income or rich ones, higher temperatures are correlated with lower subsequent growth of GdP per capita (see dell, Jones & Olken 2008).1 High temperatures can raise mortality in rural areas sharply by reducing agricultural incomes. Low incomes have made it more difficult to recover from past weather-related challenges and to prepare for future disasters. many poor countries have been caught in a poverty trap due at least in part to weather-related disasters, with the high frequency of shocks eroding social and physical capital. Climate change – entailing rising global mean temperatures and major alterations in precipitation, and increases in the incidence of storms, floods