scholarly journals Achieving the SDGs in Africa Through South-South Cooperation on Climate Change with China

Author(s):  
Moritz Weigel ◽  
Alexander Demissie

AbstractClimate change poses a significant threat to socio-economic development in Africa. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will not be possible without fostering low-emission development and addressing the adverse impacts of climatic changes on the continent. China has emerged as a key development partner and is increasingly cooperating with African countries on climate change adaptation and mitigation. This chapter looks at the evolution of South-South cooperation on climate change between African countries and China over the past decades. We argue that South-South cooperation with China has a tremendous potential for African countries to realise their climate action priorities, and thus enable the achievement of their SDGs. However, to realise this potential, both sides need a more ambitious and targeted approach.

Author(s):  
John Mubangizi

That National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) play an important role in the protection and promotion of human rights is a well-known fact. This has been widely acknowledged by the United Nations (UN). Also well-known is the fact that several African countries have enacted new constitutions during the last two to three decades. One of the most salient features of those new constitutions is that they establish NHRIs, among other things. Given their unique role and mandate, these NHRIs can and do play an important role in the realisation of the sustainable development goals contained in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Adopting a case study approach, this article explores the role NHRIs have played in the promotion and protection of human rights in selected African countries and implications for sustainable development in those countries. The main argument is that there are several lessons African countries can learn from each other on how their NHRIs can more meaningfully play that role. Accordingly, best practice and comparative lessons are identified and it is recommended that NHRIs can contribute to sustainable development more meaningfully if they can make themselves more relevant, credible, legitimate, efficient and effective.


Author(s):  
Andrew Harmer ◽  
Jonathan Kennedy

This chapter explores the relationship between international development and global health. Contrary to the view that development implies ‘good change’, this chapter argues that the discourse of development masks the destructive and exploitative practices of wealthy countries at the expense of poorer ones. These practices, and the unregulated capitalist economic system that they are part of, have created massive inequalities between and within countries, and potentially catastrophic climate change. Both of these outcomes are detrimental to global health and the millennium development goals and sustainable development goals do not challenge these dynamics. While the Sustainable Development Goals acknowledge that inequality and climate change are serious threats to the future of humanity, they fail to address the economic system that created them. Notwithstanding, it is possible that the enormity and proximity of the threat posed by inequality and global warming will energise a counter movement to create what Kate Raworth terms ‘an ecologically safe and socially just space’ for the global population while there is still time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. 06007
Author(s):  
Elena Korneeva ◽  
Natalia Skornichenko ◽  
Tatiana Oruch

Sustainable development is becoming a very important issue in the 21st century. Facing global changes such as the global warming, global climate change, as well as other pressing issue, all spheres of economy and social life need to take part in mitigating them and preventing disasters from happening. Our article studies the role of the small business in the above processes and the place of the small business in promoting sustainable development through its actions, public and social awareness and responsibility. We show how even small and medium enterprises can become a decisive power in tackling the climate change and promoting green thinking and sustainable awareness. This can be achieved through enhancing social responsibility of business companies which can greatly contribute to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and promoting sustainable economic growth.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Fuldauer ◽  
Scott Thacker ◽  
Robyn Haggis ◽  
Francesco Fuso Nerini ◽  
Robert Nicholls ◽  
...  

Abstract The international community has committed to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and to enhance climate action under the Paris Agreement. Yet achievement of the SDGs is already threatened by climate-change impacts. Here we show that further adaptation this decade is urgently required to safeguard 68% of SDG targets against acute and chronic threats from climate change. We analyse how the relationship between SDG targets and climate-change impacts is mediated by ecosystems and socio-economic sectors, which provides a framework for targeting adaptation. Adaptation of wetlands, rivers, cropland, construction, water, electricity and housing in the most vulnerable countries should be a global priority to safeguard sustainable development by 2030. We have applied our systems framework at the national scale in Saint Lucia and Ghana, which is helping to align National Adaptation Plans with the SDGs, thus ensuring that adaptation is contributing to, rather than detracting from, sustainable development.


Author(s):  
Dr. Basanta Kalita

The SDGs agenda is the outcome of a series of international conferences on the issue of environmental sustainability. A principle of common and differentiated responsibility was endorsed by the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 (2012). The political commitments from the world leaders were confirmed during the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development held in Addis Ababa in July 2015 for a common policy on sustainable development. The goals are broad based and interdependent. Finally the Paris Declaration on Climate Change (2016) paved the way for the adoption of a comprehensive list of goals to be achieved by 2030. Each of the 17 sustainable development goals has a list of targets which are measured with indicators and are interdependent. The present study will be confined to the 6th goal which is ensuring “Clean water and Sanitation” in the Indian context. KEYWORDS: SDGs agenda, Climate Change, employment, sanitation services


2022 ◽  
pp. 273-308
Author(s):  
Mahesh Gangaram Kanak ◽  
Sunita Purushottam

Climate change is a major risk for the global economy. Increased frequency of climatic events coupled with unsustainable economic development without considering environmental & social aspects has resulted in runaway climatic impacts. It became evident for all stakeholders to work in unison; which led to formation of Task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD). Financial quantification of climate risk is a new area to be explored & could be an effective measure to tackle climate change. This chapter provides a general approach for financial quantification of climate change risk for businesses to understand & prioritize climate action. Though the approach is limited to the manufacturing sector, it can be used with some modifications for other sectors. It will help find impacts that climate change could pose to supply chain using various tools & evaluation of its usefulness. As 'Climate Action' is part of Sustainable Development Goals; it will be useful to understand how integrating TCFD could help enterprises tackle climate change by localizing SDG-13 into their businesses.


2022 ◽  
pp. 32-51
Author(s):  
Alex Nester Jiya ◽  
Ernest Roderick Falinya

The chapter seeks to provide insights on the alternatives for financing sustainable development in the Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA). It has been highlighted in the chapter that the region faces the danger of not attaining the SDGs due to poor political systems, climate change, high population growth and restricted economic growth and development. This comes in the midst of declining and unpredictable Official Development Assistance (ODA) plus other domestic and foreign financing instruments. Despite the constraints, the chapter has explored the potential for the region to attain and maintain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) way beyond 2030. Sub-Saharan Africa has a lot of natural resources and a favorable demographic structure. Furthermore, the region has shown some signs of industrial development of late and increasing regional integration which are key to economic transformation. Finally, the chapter has highlighted some policy recommendations in order for the region to realise its potential and attain the SDGs.


Author(s):  
Caroline Mwongera ◽  
Chris M. Mwungu ◽  
Mercy Lungaho ◽  
Steve Twomlow

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) focuses on productivity, climate-change adaptation, and mitigation, and the potential for developing resilient food production systems that lead to food and income security. Lately, several frameworks and tools have been developed to prioritize context-specific CSA technologies and assess the potential impacts of selected options. This study applied a mixed-method approach, the climate-smart agriculture rapid appraisal (CSA-RA) tool, to evaluate farmers’ preferred CSA technologies and to show how they link to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The chapter examines prioritized CSA options across diverse study sites. The authors find that the prioritized options align with the food security and livelihood needs of smallholder farmers, and relate to multiple sustainable development goals. Specifically, CSA technologies contribute to SDG1 (end poverty), SDG2 (end hunger and promote sustainable agriculture), SDG13 (combating climate change), and SDG15 (life on land). Limited awareness on the benefits of agriculture technologies and the diversity of outcomes desired by stakeholders’ present challenges and trade-offs for achieving the SDGs. The CSA-RA provides a methodological approach linking locally relevant indicators to the SDG targets.


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