Question

what are the challenges facing developing countries in the 21st century?

Answer in a paragraph (at least 200 words)

Answer 1

The twenty-first century's two main challenges are the war against poverty and climate change management. We must act firmly on both now and expect the action to continue for the next few decades. The ongoing financial-market turmoil and the economic downturn are fresh and immediate. These three challenges involve immediate and decisive action, and through committed and coordinated actions around the globe these three can be resolved together. Nonetheless, knowing the complexity and nature of the two long-term problems, and their intimate relationship, is important before we move to the shorter term.

Managing climate change involves reducing GHG emissions. At recent summits, the G8 nations adopted the aim of reducing global emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2050. These reductions are largely in line with a direction that will keep greenhouse gas levels below 500ppm CO2e and then continue to reduce them. In order to meet the global target, few countries should be far above the annual emission level of 2 tons per capita, because there are likely to be none that are well below it. This provides a benchmark against which countries can assess how the sectoral pattern of their emissions may need to change for them to reach this level cost-effectively.

Many of the world's poorest people will be the most disadvantaged and susceptible to the impacts of climate change that will arise in the coming decades. They are also the people who are least likely to bear the adaptation costs, and who have contributed much less to the existing rates of GHGs in the environment than those in the rich world. There is a profound inequity here and a clear need for rich countries to provide more funds to developing countries to offset the extra costs generated by climate change, in addition to the existing development commitments.