Existing targets for reducing carbon emissions worldwide acknowledge that the current high levels of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere are an accumulation over many decades that can be directly attributed to today’s developed economies. This situation has led to developing economies like India, China and Mexico having less aggressive targets for emissions reduction than the developed countries. There is concern though that unless these large emerging economies are fully committed to reducing carbon emissions, their desire for rapid economic growth coupled with less stringent emission targets will encourage them to continue to use traditional production methods rather than introduce cleaner and more sustainable technologies. If the reduction of carbon emissions worldwide has any hope of success, the emerging economies must be able to contribute on an equal basis to the decision making processes which will determine how this is to be achieved.

Some commentators argue that in times of global economic uncertainty governments should be boosting flagging economies by investing in major infrastructure projects. Many people are of the opinion that governments should grasp the opportunities presented to tackle global climate change at the same time as stimulating the economy, by using this public sector investment to move towards a new low-carbon infrastructure which would be an effective way of reducing carbon emissions and of ensuring security of energy supplies. They claim investment is needed in projects like renewable energy generation, modernising buildings to be more energy efficient, improving transport networks and even building pipelines to carry captured CO2 to undersea storage facilities. They acknowledge, however, that the political will has to be found and that this has to be done on a global level if positive results are to be realised.