Karachalios, Konstantinos --- "Development strategies of emerging economies in the era of climate change: Do patent statistics tell us anything?" [2013] ELECD 1383; in Abbott, M. Frederick; Correa, M. Carlos; Drahos, Peter (eds), "Emerging Markets and the World Patent Order" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) 119

Book Title: Emerging Markets and the World Patent Order

Editor(s): Abbott, M. Frederick; Correa, M. Carlos; Drahos, Peter

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783471249

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: Development strategies of emerging economies in the era of climate change: Do patent statistics tell us anything?

Author(s): Karachalios, Konstantinos

Number of pages: 12

Abstract/Description:

Emerging or developing countries are being lauded for their contributions to climate change mitigation. This has led some to question the carbon-intensive practices of the dominant Western development trajectory. This trajectory is based on the assumption that the linear path of the ‘developed’ economies is not only natural, but is the only means to achieving ‘development’. It is, as Banerjee argues, a ‘unitary system of knowledge’ that makes the search for alternatives not easy. However, due to the urgency of the climate change problem, the assumption that ‘the benevolent (white) hand of the West will save the Earth’ is being challenged. A key failing of the Western path is that it is dependent on the availability of energy sources and a significant increase in energy consumption per capita. The question this raises is how can emerging or developing countries be expected to follow this trajectory, without making the climate of the planet extremely hostile to humans? This question was at the heart of the very tough negotiations within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The lack of a convincing answer contributed to the failure of the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen (COP 15) in December 2009.