Towards zero emissions and zero poverty in the Global South: a comparative analysis of South Africa, India and Mexico's approach to development and climate change mitigation

dc.contributor.advisorWinkler, Harald
dc.contributor.authorMahachi, Heather
dc.date.accessioned2019-02-06T12:33:41Z
dc.date.available2019-02-06T12:33:41Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.date.updated2019-02-06T09:34:54Z
dc.description.abstractAmong the foremost challenges of the 21st century are sustainable development and climate change mitigation. In light of these challenges, this thesis seeks to analyse and compare the extent to which development and climate change mitigation are aligned on a policy level in three countries in the global south, namely South Africa, India and Mexico. These three middle-income countries are plagued by high levels of poverty and large inequality gaps, and address the challenge of reducing GHG emissions in this context. The objectives of this study are fourfold: (1) an analysis of each country’s climate change policies mainly its Nationally Determined Contributions and climate response strategies and assesses to which extent development is addressed; (2) analysis of each country’s national development plans and the extent to which climate change mitigation is addressed; (3) based on the initial analysis, assessing the overall extent to which the development and climate policies are aligned; and (4) a comparative analysis of how each country performed in this regard. The study found that South Africa, India and Mexico are in pursuit of lower carbon development in the years to come. Targets for reducing their emissions in light of climate change considerations have been set and sectoral approaches to low carbon development are illustrated to varying degrees. South Africa was found to have done relatively well in integrating development and poverty alleviation into its national climate policy. The detailed analysis presented in the thesis found this at national scale, while a focus on co-benefits was particularly well integrated in Mexico’s and India’s climate policy. Thus the thesis shows that each country could learn or adopt some approaches to alignment from the other – and that there are several benefits associated with aligning development and climate policies. More research would need to be conducted at a finer scale to identify the trade-offs of certain mitigation actions and this information should be used in future national and sectoral development.
dc.identifier.apacitationMahachi, H. (2018). <i>Towards zero emissions and zero poverty in the Global South: a comparative analysis of South Africa, India and Mexico's approach to development and climate change mitigation</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,African Climate & Development Initiative. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29360en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMahachi, Heather. <i>"Towards zero emissions and zero poverty in the Global South: a comparative analysis of South Africa, India and Mexico's approach to development and climate change mitigation."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,African Climate & Development Initiative, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29360en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMahachi, H. 2018. Towards zero emissions and zero poverty in the Global South: a comparative analysis of South Africa, India and Mexico's approach to development and climate change mitigation. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Mahachi, Heather AB - Among the foremost challenges of the 21st century are sustainable development and climate change mitigation. In light of these challenges, this thesis seeks to analyse and compare the extent to which development and climate change mitigation are aligned on a policy level in three countries in the global south, namely South Africa, India and Mexico. These three middle-income countries are plagued by high levels of poverty and large inequality gaps, and address the challenge of reducing GHG emissions in this context. The objectives of this study are fourfold: (1) an analysis of each country’s climate change policies mainly its Nationally Determined Contributions and climate response strategies and assesses to which extent development is addressed; (2) analysis of each country’s national development plans and the extent to which climate change mitigation is addressed; (3) based on the initial analysis, assessing the overall extent to which the development and climate policies are aligned; and (4) a comparative analysis of how each country performed in this regard. The study found that South Africa, India and Mexico are in pursuit of lower carbon development in the years to come. Targets for reducing their emissions in light of climate change considerations have been set and sectoral approaches to low carbon development are illustrated to varying degrees. South Africa was found to have done relatively well in integrating development and poverty alleviation into its national climate policy. The detailed analysis presented in the thesis found this at national scale, while a focus on co-benefits was particularly well integrated in Mexico’s and India’s climate policy. Thus the thesis shows that each country could learn or adopt some approaches to alignment from the other – and that there are several benefits associated with aligning development and climate policies. More research would need to be conducted at a finer scale to identify the trade-offs of certain mitigation actions and this information should be used in future national and sectoral development. DA - 2018 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2018 T1 - Towards zero emissions and zero poverty in the Global South: a comparative analysis of South Africa, India and Mexico's approach to development and climate change mitigation TI - Towards zero emissions and zero poverty in the Global South: a comparative analysis of South Africa, India and Mexico's approach to development and climate change mitigation UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29360 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/29360
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMahachi H. Towards zero emissions and zero poverty in the Global South: a comparative analysis of South Africa, India and Mexico's approach to development and climate change mitigation. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,African Climate & Development Initiative, 2018 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29360en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentAfrican Climate and Development Initiative
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Science
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherClimate Change and Sustainable Development
dc.titleTowards zero emissions and zero poverty in the Global South: a comparative analysis of South Africa, India and Mexico's approach to development and climate change mitigation
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMSc
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