ABSTRACT
Faced with the challenge of achieving rapid sustainable development, countries such as China, India and Brazil are starting to build new low-carbon technologies, and will gain competitive advantages from doing so. Climate change requires urgent action in the short-term, to fulfil long-term goals. Mandatory targets and other government carrots and sticks can stimulate this sense of urgency. Coping with the climate change issue is in many ways a greater challenge than the space race. The challenge in developed countries is in some ways greater because they have so much more already invested in inappropriate and unsustainable infrastructures. With the notable exceptions of the United States and Australia, most of the world has accepted that the Kyoto Protocol is a good starting point in getting greenhouse gas emissions under control. Australia and the US are likely to be involved in any post-Kyoto negotiations and agreements, even if they take a different form to those in the Kyoto Protocol.
