Development under climate change

The Poverty, Equity and Growth Network's (PEGNET) Annual Conference was held in Johannesburg, South Africa on 2-3 September 2010. The conference brought together researchers from developed and developing countries to exchange ideas and strengthen research cooperation. That year UNU-WIDER was asked to organize a special session entitled 'Development under Climate Change'. This formed part of UNU-WIDER's research project by the same name. Three papers were presented in the special session addressing the uncertainties of climate change, its economic impacts, and its implications for national development strategies. The primary objective of UNU-WIDER's session was to demonstrate the methods currently being used to address the economics of climate uncertainty and vulnerability.

Karl Pauw from the International Food Policy Research Institute in Lilongwe, Malawi presented an integrated hydro-meteorological and economywide modeling framework used to evaluate the growth and poverty impacts of extreme weather events in Malawi.

James Thurlow from UNU-WIDER presented the findings from a recent study combining climate, biophysical and economic models in order to estimate the development cost of climate change for Mozambique, and to identify various adaptation policies to mitigate these damages.

Katherine Vincent from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa presented a survey-based method for identifying households that are vulnerable to climate change and for measuring the effectiveness of policies to address this vulnerability. This approach was applied in a South African case study.