23 February 2009: The UN Industrial Development Organization has launched its annual Industrial Development Report, titled “Breaking in and moving up: New industrial challenges for the bottom billion and the middle-income countries.” Although climate change is not the main focus of report, reference is made to how countries can help address the environmental consequences of industrial growth.

Paul Collier, from the University of Oxford and lead author of the report, notes that awareness of climate change is shifting attitudes to industrialization because of the damage caused by carbon emissions, which can in turn lead to “a misplaced hostility to continued industrialization in developing countries.” It is recognized that, although the world cannot afford to replicate the past industrialization path, industrialization can play a vital role in development and climate change can make it even more essential. The author further suggests that Africa’s adaptation to climate change will require it to shift from agriculture to manufacturing, and stresses the need for incentives to the private sector to induce changes in industrial composition and technology. [The Report]