New Study by Laima Eicke, Silvia Weko and Colleagues Analyzes Framings in UNFCC Negotiations

Climate protection is increasingly framed in terms of green growth, appealing to the mutually beneficial relationship between continued economic growth and climate protection. However, there is no empirical evidence on how widespread the support for this approach is in international climate politics. EIPCC Researchers and PhD candidates at the Willy Brandt School Laima Eicke and Silvia Weko ; along with researcher from the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS Potsdam) Maria Apergi, and independent scholar Leonard Schmidt investigate which countries employ green growth framings at UNFCC negotiations, and whether it relates to domestic factors, particularly, economic structure, level of development or climate impacts.

The team created a new hand-coded dataset of High-level Segment statements at the Convention of the Parties (COPs) from 2010 to 2019 for 151 countries to conduct a panel-data analysis on green growth positions. The research showed that green growth framings are not universally endorsed. Instead, its main proponents are countries with the most advanced national clean energy technology (CET) capacities, as measured by the Green Complexity Index.

Given their findings, the authors state that mechanisms that especially support sustainable development in countries of the Global South should be scaled up, including technology transfer and finance to foster local capacities and human capital. Furthermore, they conclude that emphasis should be placed on additional co-benefits of climate action beyond economic growth, such as food and energy security, adaptation, and resilience-building.

For more information on the study, read the full article here.