Last week's summit has confirmed that sustainable development will only be achieved through the political leadership of developing countries.

Efforts to promote sustainable development must tap into technologies developed locally, driven by community needs and priorities.

Yet more failure to make much progress on climate change in Durban means that developing countries must exert stronger political pressure.

The Fukushima accident raised questions that must be addressed by developing countries considering nuclear energy.

The world still needs nuclear power — but it must be safer and more transparent.

Clean technology to meet poor communities' needs must lie at the heart of any sustainable strategy to combat climate change.

A commitment to biofuels should be based on a careful assessment of their prospective benefits and costs, not a blind leap of faith.

A combination of factors appears to be pushing the risk-benefit balance back into nuclear's favour as an energy option for developing countries. SciDev.Net readers are invited to comment.