Whose voices, whose choices? Pursuing climate resilient trajectories for the poor

Abstract

Climate Resilient Trajectories are routes to development progress that take into account aspects of climate change adaptation and mitigation in a sustainability context, offering a way to explicitly consider impacts of development and climate change choices on different sectors, scales, and socio-economic effects. Due to their scope and relevance, Climate Resilient Trajectories are of great interest to climate scientists, governments and the private sector, based on the urgent need to consider different strategies to decarbonize the economy. Pursuing such trajectories may also be beneficial in processes to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) up to 2030 and beyond. This Communication describes the concept of Climate Resilient Trajectories and clarifies its relevance, with particular attention to the poor. It also outlines some of the necessary considerations to ensure no one is left behind. It highlights the need for the design of Climate Resilient Trajectories to be flexible enough to accommodate the specific and complex contexts in which poor and marginalized people operate; and that the involvement of all relevant stakeholders (e.g. governments, business and private organizations, policy makers, and whole communities) is necessary in order to ensure such trajectories yield the expected benefits. It further demonstrates that it is critical to consider both short- and long-term time frames when prioritizing and implementing development agendas for the poor.