In this paper, I use the concept of discourse to reflect upon how varying understandings of climate change permeate a certain political arena: international development cooperation. Starting off in the international political context, I move on to focus on Swedish development cooperation politics in the area of climate change, which I argue is much in line with the dominant international discourse. Swedish politicians also like to depict Sweden as an important actor and a forerunner on climate and development. In the final parts I outline the political context and climate discourses in Bolivia, one of Sweden’s partner countries for development cooperation and a country which has lately kept a high profile in international politics of climate change. I sketch out how the climate discourse promoted by the Bolivian government differs radically from the one brought forward by the Swedish development cooperation agency, and argue for further research on these matters to understand how these discourses are formed and reproduced, and what may be the effects when they collide in the context of development cooperation.
