NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY PLANS

The report compares the climate change strategies of India, Brazil, China, Mexico, and South Africa, detailing their objectives, development processes, emission scenarios, and specific mitigation and adaptation interventions. It observes that while these plans identify national priorities and visions, they often lack concrete implementation procedures and specific action-steps, particularly regarding adaptation.

• Developing countries' climate plans vary in their framing of emissions; India commits that its per capita emissions will not exceed those of developed countries, while Mexico establishes a specific national GHG reduction target of 50% below 2000 levels by 2050, noting that emissions must peak by 2012 to meet this goal.
• Mitigation strategies across the analyzed countries emphasize energy efficiency and a transition to renewables, with specific examples including India's goal of 1,000 MW of concentrating solar thermal power and Brazil's target to add 7,000 MW of renewable energy from wind, mini-hydro, and bagasse cogeneration.
• Forestry and land use are central to mitigation in several plans, with Brazil aiming to reduce deforestation by 40% by 2009 and India proposing to expand forest cover to one-third of the country's area.
• While India, Brazil, China, and Mexico provide indications of national adaptation needs—such as India's focus on the Himalayan ecosystem and Brazil's vulnerability mapping for coastal zones—the report finds that these documents generally stop short of providing concrete procedures and strategies for implementation.
• The development processes for these plans involved various levels of government and stakeholder engagement, ranging from India's special council appointed by the Prime Minister to South Africa's 'Scenario Building Team' which included business, civil society, and research institutes.
• Financial gaps and international support are noted as critical factors; Mexico explicitly states that reaching its targets depends on international support and identifies a $6.6B funding gap for certain goals.

APA

Fransen, T., Nakhooda, S., Chu, E., & McGray, H. (2009). NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY PLANS. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/developing_country_actions_table_0.pdf

Chicago

Fransen, Taryn, Smita Nakhooda, Eric Chu, and Heather McGray. NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY PLANS. World Resources Institute, 2009. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/developing_country_actions_table_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fransen |first1=Taryn |last2=Nakhooda |first2=Smita |last3=Chu |first3=Eric |last4=McGray |first4=Heather |title=NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY PLANS |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=June 2009 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/developing_country_actions_table_0.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fransen2009national, author = {Fransen, Taryn and Nakhooda, Smita and Chu, Eric and McGray, Heather}, title = {{NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY PLANS}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2009}, month = jun, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/developing_country_actions_table_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }