November 20, 2009
Yesterday I sent this letter to CGD contacts who have expressed an interest in our work on development and climate change. But it really should be of interest to all in the development community. If you share my view that climate and development are inextricably intertwined, please read on, take the survey, and tell your friends to take it, too!Thanks!
November 19, 2009I am writing to invite you to participate in a new Center for Global Development survey on how to design a climate agreement that is environmentally effective, economically efficient, and fair.There have been numerous opinion surveys on climate change. Most ask participants about their understanding of the scientific evidence, or their views about specific domestic legislation.Our survey has a different focus. It presents you with some of the same choices that global leaders will face at Copenhagen and beyond. We hope to discover on which issues there is agreement among people who share a commitment to development but come from different backgrounds, and on which issues a consensus has yet to emerge. We believe that this can be an important contribution to a successful climate regime.The survey is anonymous. It has just 14 questions related to global climate policy and is designed to take you no more than 15 minutes to complete. We aim to analyze the responses and post the results to the CGD web site before the conclusion of the Copenhagen conference.Even if you track climate change issues closely, you may be surprised to find questions that you have not previously considered. I know Jan von der Goltz and I, who worked together with Lawrence MacDonald to develop this survey, both learned a lot in the process of creating it. I hope that you will find it a thought-provoking learning opportunity in addition to providing us with the data we seek! (To this end, we have included “learn more” links with several of the questions.)We hope to collect several hundred responses from members of the international development and climate communities by the end of November. I encourage you to take the survey now and to share it with others who share our interest in a timely, effective and fair climate agreement by forwarding this letter.Thank you for your time.Sincerely,Nancy BirdsallPresidentCenter for Global DevelopmentPS: The survey is part of our larger effort here at CGD to find common ground between the rich and poor worlds in addressing major global challenges. You can learn more about our work on climate change, access recent publications, and sign up for our free bi-weekly climate and development newsletter here. For an entirely new way of thinking about the climate equity that could untangle the current gridlock, see my paper with Arvind Subramanian, Energy Needs and Efficiency, Not Emissions: Re-framing the Climate Change Narrative
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CGD blog posts reflect the views of the authors, drawing on prior research and experience in their areas of expertise. CGD is a nonpartisan, independent organization and does not take institutional positions.
