In the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, this year’s energy crisis has intensified the debate over what policies developing countries should be putting first. Some argue that poor countries should focus on development rather than decarbonisation; others advocate “green development”, which would involve leapfrogging fossil fuels altogether. Meanwhile, rich countries, multilateral institutions, and major lenders like China are all phasing out development financing for fossil-fuel projects even as they reopen their own coal-fired power plants. What are developing coun…