What might a developing country climate commitment look like?

This briefing by the World Resources Institute explores alternatives to absolute emission limits for developing countries, proposing greenhouse gas intensity targets as a way to balance common and differentiated responsibilities while decoupling economic growth from emissions.

• Modeling climate commitments for developing countries after those of industrialized countries—specifically using absolute emission limits or 'growth caps'—could jeopardize the environmental integrity of the Kyoto Protocol due to uncertainties regarding future emission levels and international emissions trading provisions.
• Greenhouse gas intensity indicators, which measure emissions per unit of economic output, are proposed as a more suitable alternative for developing countries to address their 'differentiated' circumstances and the challenge of decoupling economic growth from emissions growth. The Clean Development Mechanism is also noted as a tool to help address this challenge.
• The ability to discuss developing country commitments is currently hindered by a lack of comprehensive and accurate greenhouse gas emissions data, including data related to land-use change.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). What might a developing country climate commitment look like? https://www.wri.org/research/what-might-developing-country-climate-commitment-look

Chicago

World Resources Institute. What might a developing country climate commitment look like? n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/what-might-developing-country-climate-commitment-look.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=What might a developing country climate commitment look like? |url=https://www.wri.org/research/what-might-developing-country-climate-commitment-look |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendwhat, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{What might a developing country climate commitment look like?}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/what-might-developing-country-climate-commitment-look}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }