This report explores an approach to climate change policy called Sustainable Development Policies and Measures, or SD-PAMs.

SD-PAMs are policies and measures that are aimed at meeting the domestic objectives of the host country, but that also bring significant benefits to the climate through reduced GHG emissions. This concept offers a potentially less divisive approach to engagement between developed and developing countries in tackling dangerous climate change.

International climate change policy is based on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which emphasizes both the need to avoid dangerous climate change and the special challenges faced by developing countries. This raises a potential conflict: on one hand, meeting the objective of the UNFCCC of preventing dangerous climate change is impossible without limiting emissions in at least some major developing countries.

On the other, these countries face vital and urgent priorities that inevitably trump considerations related to greenhouse gas emissions: the need to reduce poverty, extend the provision of modern energy services, meet citizens’ growing demand for mobility, and many others.

How can these two vital sets of priorities be reconciled? While the concept of combining domestic and climate priorities is firmly embedded in the UNFCCC itself, existing climate agreements have not attempted to systematically foster the integration of climate change and development at the policy level.

This report is an attempt to explore some ways in which this might be done, as well as provide some illustrative examples of the types of policies and measures that might fall under the SD-PAMs rubric and some of the advantages and limitations of this approach.

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World Resources Institute
ISBN 1-56973-601-4

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V
FOREWORD VI
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VII
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO SD-PAMs 1
1. Climate Meets Development 2
2. Development Meets Climate 4
3. SD-PAMS: Breaking the Logjam 6
4. Funding SD-PAMS 10
5. The Limitations of SD-PAMS 11
6. This Report 12
Chapter 2 SD-PAMs AND INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE AGREEMENTS 15
1. Defining and Formalizing SD-PAMs 16
2. Pledging SD-PAMs 16
3. Keeping Track: International Registry 18
4. Assessing Progress: Reporting and Review 18
5. Quantitative Approaches: Accounting for Emission Reductions 20
6. Conclusion 22
Chapter 3 BIOFUELS FOR TRANSPORT, DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE: LESSONS FROM BRAZIL 24
1. Introduction 25
2. Biofuels in Brazil 26
3. Reasons for the Success of Biofuels in Brazil 30
4. The Sustainable Development Benefits of Biofuels 32
5. The Potential for Expansion of Biofuels Use in Brazil 38
6. Biofuels and Climate 40
7. Biofuels in the International Context 41
8. Conclusion 44
Chapter 4 CHINA MOTORIZATION TRENDS: POLICY OPTIONS IN A WORLD OF TRANSPORT CHALLENGES 48
1. Introduction 49
2. Transport Tends and Challenges in China 50
3. China's Transport Related Priorities and Policies 52
4. Future Motorization and Motor Vehicle Use in China: The Scenarios 55
5. Scenario Results 57
6. Policy Options 58
7. Conclusion 62

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