Challenging instruments and capacities to engage in sustainable development

Anthropogenic emissions of GHG need to fall to zero by 2100 and be stabilized at 550 ppm by 2030 to prevent the global mean temperature rising from current levels to over 3°C by the end of this century. This will require collaborative action among developed, developing and emerging markets to reduce annual global emissions from 60 GtCO^2e to less than 30 GtCO^2e in the coming decades. The most accepted way to deal with the threat of climate change posed by increased CO₂ and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is a move over time to a Low-Carbon Economy; However, it is clear that developed countries alone cannot sufficiently reduce their emissions to stabilize global GHG concentrations, and then it will be necessary a shift, also in developing and emerging economies, towards a low carbon development path to reduce global GHG concentrations on the required scale, where the use of different instruments and capabilities for adaptation and mitigation discussed in this paper may offer valuable ways of managing climate change issues.