Working Paper #2014-002
Diverse and uneven pathways towards transition to low carbon development: The case of diffusion of solar PV technology in China
Transition towards low carbon development (LCD) is an urgent challenge
for the global community. As increased economic activities usually
result in more carbon emissions, this challenge is particularly crucial
for rapidly growing emerging countries. For these countries, reducing
carbon emissions means taking one or more of the following actions: (1)
reducing energy intensity; (2) increasing the use of renewable energy;
and (3) introducing systemic change. The above actions call for a strong
role of policy and government intervention, as observed in the existing
literature based on experiences in developed countries. Emerging
countries also need to follow the example of advanced countries with
regard to LCD; however, the conditions and pathways for emerging
countries may differ greatly. This paper reviews the literature that
deals with sustainable transition from a systemic perspective to
understand existing frameworks and to identify challenges in using them
for observing the transition process in developing countries. It looks
at the case of Chinese solar PV technology to link theoretical
discussion with practice in order to substantiate the arguments.
- Keywords
-
- Sustainable transition
- Low carbon development
- Renewable energy
- Environmental leapfrogging
- Solar PV
- Developing and Emerging countries
- China
- JEL codes
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- Q42
- Q55
- Q56
Cite this as
APA 7th ed.Iizuka, M. (2014). Diverse and uneven pathways towards transition to low carbon development: The case of diffusion of solar PV technology in China (UNU-MERIT Working Paper No. 2014-002). UNU-MERIT. https://unu-merit.nl/publications/working-papers/abstract/?id=5344