The latest IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) report published on 2 November 2014 painted a bleak picture of the current state of the climate system: without any immediate action from the global community, the impacts of climate change could become irreversible, with the dangerous 2°C rise in aggregate global temperatures becoming a real possibility. That is why much is expected from the upcoming climate change conferences in Lima (Peru) in 2014 and in Paris (France) in 2015. There, the different stakeholders will come together and try to reach a consensus on sharing the costs and the responsibilities of climate change and finding a balance between mitigating global warming and adapting to its impacts. Unfortunately, diverging priorities ahead of the discussions will make for arduous negotiations. An interesting group to consider are emerging market economies, like China, India or South Africa, who have experienced rapid growth in previous decades and have very different views on how to tackle climate change: what are their concerns and expectations and what elements do they wish to see included in a global agreement? How can all these differentiated positions and stakeholders be reconciled? What are the key issues to be considered in Lima? What outcomes do we need to effectively stop climate change? And what should the global agreement look like if is to succeed?