Championing continuity for graduating LDCs: ensuring a smooth ... - ReliefWeb
Championing continuity for graduating LDCs: ensuring a smooth transition for climate adaptation - Case study November 2023 - World | ReliefWeb
Graduating from least developed country (LDC) status represents a highly symbolic and positive step in a country’s journey towards greater socioeconomic prosperity. However, the resulting fall in international support and loss of LDC benefits also threatens to upend their climate adaptation plans — which are vital for those countries increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts.
The trajectories of countries like Angola and Bhutan, which are set to graduate in the next two years, offer an insight into the complex challenges caused by the loss of LDC benefits. This case study outlines the opportunities and risks faced by graduating LDCs and offers solutions for ensuring a smooth transition in their climate adaptation efforts.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”