The Great Climate Debate – A Developing Country Perspective

For over two decades, scientific and political communities have debated whether and how to
act on climate change. The present paper revisits these debates and synthesizes the longstanding
arguments. Firstly, it provides an overview of the development of international
climate policy and discusses clashing positions represented by sceptics and supporters of
action on climate change. Secondly, it discusses the market-based measures as a means to
increase the win-win opportunities and to attract profit-minded investors to invest in climate
change mitigation. Finally, the paper examines whether climate protection policies can yield
benefits both for the environment and the economy. The paper suggests the possibility of
building environmental and climate policies around development priorities that are vitally
important for developing countries and stresses the need for using sustainable development
as a framework for climate change policies.