Slowing global warming. Mitigation strategy for the developing world

Globally, a range of human activities that characterize modern economic systems are leading to emissions of greenhouse gases. For some activities like the cultivation of paddy rice in flooded soils, there is reason to believe that there are no economically viable or practical alternatives to the current methods which produce these emissions. However, there are several other areas of human activity ranging from the generation of electricity to the provision of passenger and freight transport, in which there clearly exists the potential for preparing the agenda for change which would mitigate global warming. The objective of this paper is to discuss and evaluate a suitable mix of innovative measures which would make efficient use of scarce resources and maximize returns from the resources invested to limit CO2 emissions. In particular, this paper evolves a three phase approach for mitigating CO2 emissions that can be widely applied to reorient economic development policies in the developing world. Comprising an agenda for change, it underlines specific failures in national policies, identifies thrust areas for mitigating CO2 emissions and suggests policy responses in major sectors of the economy. The guiding premise here is simple and straightforward - the energy sector (inclusive of the services provided by energy rather than energy per se) which has been a major cause for invoking the threat of climate change and global warming, must now become a part of the solution. (au) 11 refs