Low-carbon development and inclusive innovation systems

Abstract

Low-carbon development (LCD) is a process of structural change of unprecedented magnitude that includes radical changes in technology, institutions, values and policies. It has been proposed that inclusive institutions are crucial for enabling structural change by facilitating different processes of creative destruction. There are reasons to believe that inclusion is also crucial for achieving LCD. We explore why and how social inclusion may support LCD. In so doing, we bridge a gap between research on social inclusion and innovation, on the one hand, and LCD, on the other. We combine the ideas of systems of innovation and inclusive institutions to propose a new conceptualization of inclusive innovation systems, and we propose six mechanisms through which inclusion enables development. We conclude that the world must attempt to establish an inclusive and low-carbon system of innovation at the global level to achieve LCD.