How can research serve international policymaking towards low-carbon development path? Looking forward

P.R. Shukla, M. Pathak
DOI:  10.12910/EAI2015-023

Low carbon development pathways research aims to delineate climate change policies that are aligned with the wider global sustainable development goals. The global assessments, e.g. IPCC reports, offer birds-eye view that shed light on aggregate themes and issues. But, low carbon development research requires being specific, practical and granular, besides being holistic and integrative so as to delineate policies that align with the development agenda that vary across spatial and temporal scales. Given the complexity and speed of shifting global dynamics, low carbon research now demands durable political cooperation amongst nations, collaboration among stakeholders within and across nations and persistent interface between scientists and policy makers. Looking forward, this paper argues to: i) rethink the current research perspective; ii) make research cooperative and community-driven; and iii) orientate research to deliver the insights as well as numbers with end-to-end solutions.