Impact of Malaysian palm oil on sustainable development goals: co-benefits and trade-offs across mitigation strategies

AbstractA more holistic understanding of land use and land cover (LULC) will help minimise trade-offs and maximise synergies, and lead to improved future land use management strategies for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, current assessments of future LULC changes rarely focus on the multiple demands for goods and services, which are related to the synergies and trade-offs between SDGs and their targets. In this study, the land system (combinations of land cover and land use intensity) evolution trajectories of the Luanhe River Basin (LRB), China, and major challenges that the LRB may face in 2030, were explored by applying the CLUMondo and InVEST models. The results indicate that the LRB is likely to experience agricultural intensification and urban growth under all four scenarios that were explored. The cropland intensity and the urban growth rate were much higher under the historical trend (Trend) scenario compared to those with more planning interventions (Expansion, Sustainability, and Conservation scenarios). Unless the forest area and biodiversity conservation targets are implemented (Conservation scenario), the forest areas are projected to decrease by 2030. The results indicate that water scarcity in the LRB is likely to increase under all scenarios, and the carbon storage will increase under the Conservation scenario but decrease under all other scenarios by 2030. Our methodological framework and findings can guide regional sustainable development in the LRB and other large river basins in China, and will be valuable for policy and planning purposes to the pursuance of SDGs at the sub-national scale.

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Quantifying synergies and trade-offs in the water-land-energy-food-climate nexus using a multi-model scenario approach

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-15192 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Doelman ◽

Tom Kram ◽

Benjamin Bodirsky ◽

Isabelle Weindle ◽

Elke Stehfest

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Food Security ◽

Food Production ◽

Large Scale ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Integrated Assessment Model ◽

Assessment Model ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development Goals

The human population has substantially grown and become wealthier over the last decades. These developments have led to major increases in the use of key natural resources such as food, energy and water causing increased pressure on the environment throughout the world. As these trends are projected to continue into the foreseeable future, a crucial question is how the provision of resources as well as the quality of the environment can be managed sustainably.Environmental quality and resource provision are intricately linked. For example, food production depends on availability of water, land suitable for agriculture, and favourable climatic circumstances. In turn, food production causes climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions, and affects biodiversity through conversion of natural vegetation to agriculture and through the effects of excessive fertilizer and use of pesticides. There are many examples of the complex interlinkages between different production systems and environmental issues. To handle this complexity the nexus concept has been introduced which recognizes that different sectors are inherently interconnected and must be investigated in an integrated, holistic manner.Until now, the nexus literature predominantly exists of local studies or qualitative descriptions. This study present the first qualitative, multi-model nexus study at the global scale, based on scenarios simultaneously developed with the MAgPIE land use model and the IMAGE integrated assessment model. The goal is to quantify synergies and trade-offs between different sectors of the water-land-energy-food-climate nexus in the context of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Each scenario is designed to substantially improve one of the nexus sectors water, land, energy, food or climate. A number of indicators that capture important aspects of both the nexus sectors and related SDGs is selected to assess whether these scenarios provide synergies or trade-offs with other nexus sectors, and to quantify the effects. Additionally a scenario is developed that aims to optimize policy action across nexus sectors providing an example of a holistic approach that achieves multiple sustainable development goals.The results of this study highlight many synergies and trade-offs. For example, an important trade-off exists between climate change policy and food security targets: large-scale implementation of bio-energy and afforestation to achieve stringent climate targets negatively impacts food security. An interesting synergy exists between the food, water and climate sectors: promoting healthy diets reduces water use, improves water quality and increases the uptake of carbon by forests.

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Assessing the land resource–food price nexus of the Sustainable Development Goals

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.1501499 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (9) ◽

pp. e1501499 ◽

Cited By ~ 88

Author(s):

Michael Obersteiner ◽

Brian Walsh ◽

Stefan Frank ◽

Petr Havlík ◽

Matthew Cantele ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Sustainable Consumption ◽

Food Prices ◽

Environmental Conservation ◽

Land Resource ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Sustainable Consumption And Production ◽

Development Goals

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for a comprehensive new approach to development rooted in planetary boundaries, equity, and inclusivity. The wide scope of the SDGs will necessitate unprecedented integration of siloed policy portfolios to work at international, regional, and national levels toward multiple goals and mitigate the conflicts that arise from competing resource demands. In this analysis, we adopt a comprehensive modeling approach to understand how coherent policy combinations can manage trade-offs among environmental conservation initiatives and food prices. Our scenario results indicate that SDG strategies constructed around Sustainable Consumption and Production policies can minimize problem-shifting, which has long placed global development and conservation agendas at odds. We conclude that Sustainable Consumption and Production policies (goal 12) are most effective at minimizing trade-offs and argue for their centrality to the formulation of coherent SDG strategies. We also find that alternative socioeconomic futures—mainly, population and economic growth pathways—generate smaller impacts on the eventual achievement of land resource–related SDGs than do resource-use and management policies. We expect that this and future systems analyses will allow policy-makers to negotiate trade-offs and exploit synergies as they assemble sustainable development strategies equal in scope to the ambition of the SDGs.

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Potential Trade-Offs between the Sustainable Development Goals in Coastal Bangladesh

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10041108 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 1108 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Craig Hutton ◽

Robert Nicholls ◽

Attila Lázár ◽

Alex Chapman ◽

Marije Schaafsma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Coastal Bangladesh ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development Goals

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Farmer-Prioritized Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies

Science, Technology, and Innovation for Sustainable Development Goals ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190949501.003.0021 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 423-445

Author(s):

Caroline Mwongera ◽

Chris M. Mwungu ◽

Mercy Lungaho ◽

Steve Twomlow

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development Goals ◽

Smart Agriculture ◽

Study Sites ◽

Context Specific

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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Building Community Resilience Through Environmental Education

10.4018/978-1-6684-3686-8.ch001 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Mphemelang Joseph Ketlhoilwe

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Environmental Education ◽

Development Strategy ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Key Competencies ◽

Building Community ◽

Development Goals ◽

Collaborative Efforts

The call for collaborative efforts to respond to climate change is heeded through bilateral and multilateral agreements. The UN Sustainable Development Goals bears testimony to the call. Environmental education is one of the vehicles to raise awareness, understanding, and assessment of sustainable development goals at a community level to build resilience for sustainability. Environmental education enhances the accomplishment of the key competencies for sustainability. Climate change is a complex environmental problem that is not only naturally induced, but made more stressful by anthropocentric capabilities in the quest for a better lifestyle. Although climate change causes and impacts are known, its mitigation strategies are compounded by human wants at the expense of their own sustainable survival. This chapter explores ways of building sustainable development in communities. Environmental education is a core development strategy in local communities against the adverse impact of climate change, especially in vulnerable areas.

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Avoidance of conflicts and trade‐offs: A challenge for the policy integration of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development ◽

10.1002/sd.1944 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 (5) ◽

pp. 838-845 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ryan Wong ◽

Jeroen Heijden

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

United Nations ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Policy Integration ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development Goals ◽

The United Nations

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The Nexus between the Austrian Forestry Sector and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of the Interlinkages

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10030205 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 205 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Reneema Hazarika ◽

Robert Jandl

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Policy Design ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Opinion Leaders ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Forestry Sector ◽

Development Goals

Since the inception of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, there has been much conceptual progress on the linkages across the 17 goals and their 169 targets. While this kind of conceptualization is an essential first step, action must now move towards systematic policy design, implementation, and multi-stakeholder collaborations that can translate such understanding into concrete results. This study is a reality check of such quasi-political global development agendas by the United Nations and its implications on Austrian forestry. Although forestry is not a goal in itself, forests as an element have been included under SDG15 (Life on Land). In this study, the linkages of forestry with potential synergies or trade-offs within and between the SDGs have been assessed through a literature survey and complemented with the perception of opinion leaders across the Austrian forestry sector on the same. The insights about awareness, design, implementation, and the necessity of mainstreaming the SDGs into the policy structure of Austria were reviewed. Besides facilitating the goals of sustainable forest management (SFM) in Austria, the SDG15 is not only strongly related to, but is likely to aid, the achievement of other SDGs, such as human health (SDG3), provision of clean water (SDG6), affordable & clean energy (SDG7), and climate action (SDG13). The opinion leaders perceive the SDGs as well-placed but broad. Some this broadness is a positive aspect of the SDGs. On the other hand, the 15-year (2015–2030) tenure of the SDGs is perceived to be inadequate to match the temporal scale of forest development. Apparently, the success of the SDGs will strictly depend upon coordination, governance, and most importantly, awareness among all stakeholders. Therefore, in addition to “leaving no one behind”, the SDGs must evidently provide incentives benefitting everybody.

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