The Least Developed Countries Report 2022: the low-carbon transition and its daunting implications for structural transformation
As nations convene for the 27th UN Climate Conference (COP27), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has set out the actions needed to ensure global efforts towards a low-carbon future don’t leave least developed countries (LDCs) behind. UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries Report 2022 says LDCs are the "litmus test" against which history will judge how effectively efforts to make the low-carbon transition consider development needs and countries’ different obligations and capacities to fight climate change. The world’s 46 LDCs, home to about 1.1 billion people, have contributed minimally to CO2 emissions. In 2019 they accounted for less than 4% of total world greenhouse gas emissions. Yet over the last 50 years, 69% of worldwide deaths caused by climate-related disasters occurred in LDCs.
