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Exploring Some Specific Case Studies

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Governance for the Sustainable Development Goals

Part of the book series: Sustainable Development Goals Series ((SDGS))

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Abstract

This chapter contains the four specific case studies for this book:

  1. (1)

    The first case study concerns the decarbonization of the global economy (SDG 13);

  2. (2)

    The second case study is about ways in which energy efficiency can contribute to achieving the SDGs;

  3. (3)

    The third case study is focused on the ‘water–energy–food–climate’ nexus or, in other words, the ways in which the domains of water, energy, food, and climate influence each other and how governance can better address these linkages;

  4. (4)

    The fourth case study is about the rapidly evolving governance of trade in sustainable energy technologies (SETs). The case shows how trade disputes, top-down ambitions and bottom-up initiatives provide the dynamics for a new global agreement that can unlock the forces of globalization in the quest for a low-carbon economy and

A detailed investigation of these cases studies is warranted for the following reasons:

  • These combined fields (e.g. trade and sustainable energy) are examples of dynamic governance areas in search of a sustainable direction;

  • The sustainability challenges addressed in the cases require multilevel governance (this includes taking global perspectives into account);

  • The case studies show that sustainability discourses can be conflicting both with each other and with other economic, political and social discourses;

  • The selected case studies are sufficiently diverse to provide valid but general and preliminary insights into the various dynamics in governance for the SDGs.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    To the surprise of many experts, preliminary data from the IEA show that the growth in global CO2 emissions from the energy sector stalled in 2014 despite global economic growth of 3%. This is significant as it marks the first time in 40 years that CO2 emissions have stalled or fallen in the absence of an economic downturn. The IEA suggests that global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency and renewable energy (particularly in China) may be having a larger impact than previously thought http://www.iea.org/newsroomandevents/news/2015/march/global-energy-related-emissions-of-carbon-dioxide-stalled-in-2014.html.

  2. 2.

    Examples of climate change feedback are the melting of the polar caps which leads to the heating up of sea water, which reflects less heat than ice; methane which evaporates as the tundra permafrost and arctic areas heat up; and increased incidence of forest fires which cause GHG emissions.

  3. 3.

    15–37% of all species may become extinct by 2050 due to climate change (Thomas et al. 2004).

  4. 4.

    Almost all parties to the UNFCCC have now agreed to pursue the aim of limiting global warming to 2 °C above the pre-industrial level at the UNFCCC conferences of parties (COP) in Copenhagen (COP 15) and Cancun (COP 16). It is important to note that the 2 °C target was rather arbitrarily chosen and according to Victor and Kennel (2014), it is both politically and scientifically wrong-headed.

  5. 5.

    See, e.g. WWF’s ‘The Energy Report: 100% Renewable Energy by 2050’, available at https://www.ecofys.com/files/files/ecofys-wwf-2011-the-energy-report.pdf and the Greenpeace ‘Energy [R]evolution’ report, available at http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/climate/2015/Energy-Revolution-2015-Full.pdf.

  6. 6.

    This is mainly due to the intermittent nature and inefficiency of renewables such as solar and wind, and even apart from the lower Energy Return on Energy Investment (EROEI). In terms of biofuel, the current view among the main researchers is that it should be possible to produce about 7 GJ of ethanol from each tonne of biomass. Developed country per capita consumption of liquid fuels represents 128 GJ per year, requiring 16.3 tone of biomass each year. With an optimal biomass yield of 7 t/ha/y, we would need 2.6 ha of land growing biomass to provide for one person’s net liquid and gas consumption. 9 billion people would need 24 billion hectares of biomass plantations. However, the world’s total land area is only 13 billion hectares (Trainer 2007).

  7. 7.

    UNEP’s (2011) idea of the green economy includes the idea of investing in the natural capital base. According to UNEP’s modelling this may lead to lower economic growth in the short run, but higher growth in the long term.

  8. 8.

    If an energy system, in addition to declining EROEI, faces a decline of fossil fuel supply, it may be faced with an ‘energy trap’ as replacing the lost fossil fuel input with renewables will require up-front energy investment to build the renewable energy infrastructure, which multiplies the decline of available fossil fuels. Also see http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/10/the-energy-trap/. The idea of ‘solar breeders’ is intended to overcome this challenge. A solar breeder is a solar power plant that uses its own energy to build more solar power plants. Such a plant could become not only energy self-sufficient but a major supplier of new energy. In theory, it can reproduce exponentially, hence the name ‘breeder’.

  9. 9.

    Renewable energy investment ratio is the fraction of the energy which society invests in building renewable energy capital over total available energy.

  10. 10.

    Based on input–output models, Frondel et al. (2010) suggest that energy transitions in Germany may diminish overall employment because of crowding out effects of government subsidies for renewables instead of private investment in cheaper forms of conventional energy generation, lowered purchasing power of consumers and firms, and the indirect impacts of higher electricity prices on upstream industries. Other studies (e.g. Mathiesen et al. 2011; Lehr et al. 2012) foresee positive impacts of renewable energy development on employment in Denmark and Germany, respectively, especially in the export industry related to renewables.

  11. 11.

    Direct subsidies for fossil fuels are about USD 500 billion per year. However, including all externalities including damage caused by climate change and air pollution raises the cost of fossil fuel subsidies to USD 5.2 trillion per year. Total subsidies for fossil fuels are higher than those for renewable energy, but per unit of electricity generated, subsidies for renewable energy are higher.

  12. 12.

    Global subsidies for renewables reached USD 121 billion in 2013. (IEA 2014b) It should be noted that the fossil energy sources that are subsidized most (mainly liquid fuels for transportation) in many cases do not directly compete with the renewable generation of electricity.

  13. 13.

    This would add up to a 5% smaller global economy by the end of the twenty-first century compared with business-as-usual scenarios.

  14. 14.

    Emissions from the USA fell the most: by 3% last year, while its GDP grew by 1.6%. In China, CO2 emissions fell by 1% in 2016, and its economy expanded by 6.7% (IEA 2017c).

  15. 15.

    Renewable energy tends to create more jobs—particularly in the services sector—per unit of generated electricity than traditional fossil fuel-based energy. (Wei et al. 2010; UNIDO and GGGI 2015).

  16. 16.

    There are 1.6 billion people without access to modern forms of energy today.

  17. 17.

    Also the UK’s Committee on climate change shows that decarbonisation would result in substantial cost savings: http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1720_EMR_report_web.pdf.

  18. 18.

    Massive savings to health care spending can be had if governments implement a cap-and-trade carbon reduction program. (Thompson et al. 2014) And in developing countries, according to the IEA (2010), ‘there are more people dying from smoke from biomass for cooking than from malaria or tuberculosis today. By 2030 over 4000 people will die prematurely every day from the effects of indoor smoke’. Better access to modern cook-stoves such as those based on solar or cleaner biomass fuels can reduce mortality from indoor air pollution caused by inefficient firewood or charcoal-based cooking and can also halt deforestation caused by firewood collection.

  19. 19.

    E.g. the USA spends USD 50 billion per year on military to keep access to the Persian Gulf. (Stern 2010) USA interests in the Gulf are expected to decline as the USA becomes less dependent on oil from the Middle East. China’s dependence on oil from the Middle East oil on the other hand is expected to increase sharply.

  20. 20.

    http://www.SEforall.org/.

  21. 21.

    http://www.cleanenergyministerial.org/.

  22. 22.

    Also see: https://www.iea.org/topics/energyefficiency/.

  23. 23.

    Declines in energy intensity (EI) are a proxy of the efficiency with which an economy is able to use energy to produce economic output. EI can indicate efficiency improvements, provided (a) energy intensity is represented at an appropriate level of disaggregation to provide meaningful interpretation, and (b) other explanatory and behavioural factors are isolated and accounted for.

    Energy efficiency refers to the activity or product that can be produced with a given amount of energy. At the level of a specific technology, the difference between efficiency and energy intensity is insignificant one is simply the inverse of the other. At the level of the aggregate economy (or even at the level of an end-use sector) energy efficiency is not a meaningful concept because of the heterogeneous nature of the output.

  24. 24.

    Energy productivity is the total value gained from using a unit of energy. Energy productivity considers the total value proposition to the user and the broader economy by better applying energy, not just the energy efficiency of plant and equipment. While energy intensity considers the energy required for generating one unit of GDP, energy productivity focuses entirely on achieving greater economic output from each individual unit of energy. In this way, energy productivity can serve economic growth and lessen global environmental impact at the same time. (UNEP DTU 2015) Energy productivity can be an integrating concept as it captures total value and, thus, argues for the integration of energy end-use policy with industry/urban/agriculture policy and planning.

  25. 25.

    Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7% gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries.

  26. 26.

    Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors.

  27. 27.

    Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-year framework of programs on sustainable consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead.

  28. 28.

    Target 9.1: Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans-border infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all.

  29. 29.

    Target 9.4: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries acting in accordance with their respective capabilities.

  30. 30.

    Target 9.5: Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending.

  31. 31.

    Target 9.b: Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for inter-alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities.

  32. 32.

    Target 11.3: By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.

  33. 33.

    By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.

  34. 34.

    By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels. The Sendai Framework is voluntary, non-binding agreement that recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk, but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders. It aims for the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of people, businesses, communities and countries. The Sendai Framework sets out specific targets and priorities for action with a strong emphasis on disaster risk management, the reduction of disaster risk, the prevention of new risk and on reducing existing risk and strengthening resilience.

  35. 35.

    By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.

  36. 36.

    Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.

  37. 37.

    By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature.

  38. 38.

    Moreover, fossil phosphorus reserves could be depleted within 50 years if the world were to replace 10 per cent of its energy requirements with biofuels.(Davis 2011).

  39. 39.

    Global desalination capacity currently stands at 45 million cubic meters per day, half of which is in the MENA region, where a growth by 500% is projected up to 2030.

  40. 40.

    Whereas the Mebratu’s sustainable development model of concentric circles with the environmental dimension as the overall concern was suggested as the basis for the SDGs, in the adopted SDGs, the social-economic dimensions are connected well with each other but not with the environmental dimension. In other words, the SDGs do not fully appreciate that progress on the socio-economic front eventually depends on the environment.

  41. 41.

    Climate change and sustainable energy are issues that are closely linked with the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainable development, and in fact show that these pillars may conflict with each other. Trying to keep atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels to 450 parts per million seems to be at odds with giving access to electricity to the billions of people that are left without access to reliable sources of energy. Research shows the strong correlation between per capita energy consumption and human development (e.g. Wu et al. 2012, http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/31594.pdf). The ‘access to sustainable energy for all’ discourse argues for a world with accessible, secure low cost energy for all. If fossil fuels cannot deliver such a world, ensuring ‘access to sustainable energy for all’ will bring about decarbonization on a massive scale in the long term as it would have to be based on bringing the price of clean energy down. Thus, framing clean energy as a development opportunity can provide a more acceptable journey to the same objective of lowering emissions. Reframing low-carbon transitions around energy and equity may sound appealing, but it needs to be worked out how it can be driven by effective governance. It will require leadership and able management to use development as leverage for an accelerated energy transition while not allowing carbon-dioxide levels to get much higher.

  42. 42.

    Similarly, Mexico annually saved 65 billion m3, Italy 59 billion m3, China 56 billion m3, and Algeria 45 billion m3.

  43. 43.

    http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news14_e/igo_01oct14_e.htm.

  44. 44.

    WTO-UNEP (2009), Trade and Climate Change, Accessed on 29/09/2015, available at http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/trade_climate_change_e.pdf.

  45. 45.

    The scale effect means that more efficient allocation of resources within countries shifts out the global production possibilities frontier, raising the size of the industrial pollution base, resulting in greater global emissions other things being equal.

  46. 46.

    The composition effect measures changes in emissions arising from the change in a country’s industrial composition following trade liberalization. If, for example, liberalization induces an economy’s service sector to expand and its heavy industry to contract, the country’s total emissions will likely fall since the expanding sector is less emission intensive.

  47. 47.

    The technique effect refers to the numerous channels through which trade liberalization impacts pollution through changes in the stringency of environmental regulation in response to income growth or the political climate surrounding regulation. The technique effect also includes technology transfer facilitated by trade.

  48. 48.

    Direct effects include emissions and environmental damage associated with the physical movement of goods between exporters and importers, resulting for example from international transport.

  49. 49.

    Target 2.b: correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets including by the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round.

  50. 50.

    Target 3.b: support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all.

  51. 51.

    Some of the legal uncertainty around these subsidies could be removed by clarifying key concepts in the SCM Agreement in the context of clean energy subsidies as well as clarifying the applicability of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XX General Exceptions provisions to the SCM Agreement; agreeing on a time-limited and conditional ‘peace clause’ preventing WTO disputes being taken against certain carefully selected categories of climate-related subsidies; and re-introduction of the category of ‘non-actionable subsidies’ under Article 8 of the SCM Agreement to provide leeway to certain types of clean energy subsidies (Das and Bandyopadhyay 2016).

  52. 52.

    Target 8.a: increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, particularly LDCs, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for LDCs.

  53. 53.

    Target 10.a: implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, least developed countries, in accordance with World Trade Organization agreements.

  54. 54.

    Target 17.10: promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the WTO including through the conclusion of negotiations within its Doha Development Agenda.

  55. 55.

    Target 17.11: significantly increase the exports of developing countries, with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020.

  56. 56.

    Target 17.12: Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from least developed countries are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access.

  57. 57.

    www.copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/preliminary-benefit-cost-assessment-final-owg-targets. This assessment claimed to identify the goals in which the money spent would save most lives. Although this sounds like a great idea, the analytical tool and mainstream economic mind-set used is unsuitable for transformational strategies. Overturning deeply embedded path dependencies will always produce higher transaction costs, at least in the short term. And what comes across as objective number-crunching entails massive ethical decisions and weighting (Goepel 2016).

  58. 58.

    E.g. in the WTO-UNEP report on trade and climate change, available at: http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/trade_climate_change_e.pdf. Another, upcoming example of how trade can contribute to sustainable development is through resource efficiencies, especially in water, flowers and meat.

  59. 59.

    Doha Ministerial Declaration, paragraph 31.

  60. 60.

    The main reasons for deadlock in the EGS negotiations was overall lack of progress in the Doha Round (which is negotiated as a ‘single undertaking, meaning that no issue is agreed upon until there is agreement on all topics in the Round), and disagreement over the identification of environmental goods and coverage of the agreement.

  61. 61.

    Imagine for example only harbour systems as good representations of complex systems; harbour governance ‘‘systems encompass local community planning, as global logistical planning. Thus, a considerable number of actors with different stakes, strategies and operating procedures attempt to influence port governance processes’’ (Teisman et al. 2009: 77). Also, the popularity of global value chain perspectives and ‘added value’ in trade shows the need for analysis at the local level (Hoekman 2014).

  62. 62.

    Target 17.7: Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed.

  63. 63.

    The concept of a SETA originates from the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum. Its analytical case has been developed since 2011, primarily by ICTSD and its partners, the Global Green Growth Institute and the Peterson Institute of International Economics. In 2012, a public-private partnership, the SETI Alliance, was launched. The SETI Alliance works constructively to support policy action in trade in SETs to realize benefits for both the public and the private sector. In 2013, the SETI Alliance merged with the Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy (AFASE), creating a network of more than 1800 companies, think tanks and several governments.

  64. 64.

    The fourteen original members are the EU, USA, China, Costa Rica, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong (China) and Singapore. Israel joined the negotiations formally in January 2015 and Turkey and Iceland joined in March 2015.

  65. 65.

    WTO. ‘Trade to remain subdued in 2013 after sluggish growth in 2012 as European economies continue to struggle’.

  66. 66.

    WTO. ‘Trade to remain subdued in 2013 after sluggish growth in 2012 as European economies continue to struggle’ accessed on 09/09/2015: https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres13_e/pr688_e.htm.

  67. 67.

    European Commission (2015), European Semester Thematic Fiche: Green Jobs Employment Potential and Challenges, accessed on 18/02/2016: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/themes/2015/green_jobs.pdf.

  68. 68.

    Included in the study was: Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa and South Korea.

  69. 69.

    UNIDO, GGGI (2015) Global Green Growth: Clean Energy Industrial Investments and Expanding Job Opportunities, p 24.

  70. 70.

    Of the current list of 54 environmental goods, the average current tariff is only 1.8%.

  71. 71.

    It is important that governments and development banks focus on leveraging their financial inputs by reducing risk for institutional investors in renewable energy projects in developing countries instead of spending directly on renewable energy equipment for example. There may be barriers here in terms of public visibility, as donors prefer to support projects where their inputs are directly visible (e.g. in a solar energy project), whereas they could have leveraged much bigger investments by guaranteeing banking loans indirectly. One recent example is the Lake Turkana wind project in Kenya, which was delayed for 6 years because of unclarity over investment guarantees. In the end, the World Bank took on the risk guarantee for this wind power project, which was a good addition to its renewable energy portfolio after the World Bank was criticized for supporting coal fired power plants in developing countries.

  72. 72.

    http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/sppl_e/sppl83_e.htm.

  73. 73.

    The narrative that through trade, more developed countries can focus on R&D in clean energy while the manufacturing takes place in developing countries misses the point that much innovation (particularly in mature products such as solar PV) is a result of manufacturing and other processes and that the two are difficult to separate.

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  1. University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Joachim Monkelbaan

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Monkelbaan, J. (2019). Exploring Some Specific Case Studies. In: Governance for the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0475-0_4

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