Towards an Integrated Framework for SDGs: Ultimate and Enabling Goals for the Case of Energy
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Key Considerations for SDGs: A Three-Tiered Framework
2.1. Tier 1: Pursuing Human Wellbeing
2.2. Tier 2: Developing the Resource Base
2.3. Tier 3: Managing Global Public Goods
2.4. Enabling Goals
2.5. A Generic SDG Framework
3. Energy as a Worked Example of a Sustainable Development Goal
3.1. A: Pursuing Human Wellbeing
3.1.1. Target Area A1: Basic Energy Access
3.1.2. Target Area A2: Energy for Economic Development
3.1.3. Target Area A3: Energy Sufficiency
3.2. Resource Base
3.2.1. Target Area B1: Renewable Energy Supply
3.2.2. Target Area B2: Energy Infrastructure
3.2.3. Target Area B3: Energy Efficiency
3.3. Global Public Goods
3.3.1. Target Area C1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
3.3.2. Target Area C2: Energy Security
4. Enabling Goals: Four Layers of Interventions to Get Us There
4.1. Capacity & Knowledge
4.2. Institutions & Governance
4.3. Public Policy
4.4. Investment & Finance
5. Examining SDG Coherence through Pathways Assessment
6. Conclusions and Implications
- A shared and universal development agenda based on human wellbeing. SDGs must be crafted in a way that is politically acceptable in the multilateral political system, where currently trust between nations has been eroded. This requires that they are rooted in common concerns and priorities. A tractable foundation, and strongly institutionalized norm, is the pursuit of human wellbeing and opportunity to prosper for all societies. An important premise for this is equality: increasing income equality over time delivers benefits directly in terms of wellbeing but is also important for economic development.
- Linking human wellbeing to the resource base and global public goods. For human wellbeing to be achievable for all and over the long term, targets must address the development of the supporting resource base. Human wellbeing and sustainability are thus tightly linked and must be integrated as development goals. This requirement is anchored in the fundamental premise that resources are scarce and the development of one actor must be pursued respecting the right of the other to access resources to develop.
- Enabling goals to complement ultimate goals should be established. We propose four key categories: capacity & knowledge development, governance & institutions, public policy, and investment & finance. These may be treated in the UN system and the broader international cooperation framework as “means of implementation”.
- Differentiation in time and space. The development challenge looks different in different countries. Priorities should be tailored from country to country, depending on resources, capacities and the level of development. Universal goals at the global level thus need to disaggregate into differential sets of specific targets for different countries. Second, targets need to be dynamic in taking into account changes and development patterns over time. For instance, when South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa gain universal energy access, by 2030 if we meet our current goals, then they will have to move up the “energy ladder”. In the long term, strong economic development in lower-income economies will lead to both greater income equality both between and within countries and an alignment of national development agendas.
- Pathways to ensure integration and coherence: An SDG framework must be coherent so that different target areas do not counteract one another–both within a goal and between goals. This requires integration so that environment, social and economic aspects come together in each development sector rather than being treated as separate pillars. The coherence of the agenda can be tested through assessments of aggregate development pathways that articulate the technologies, practices and governance systems and enable us to trace and understand changes over time and their interactions. For example, universal basic access has already been demonstrated to be coherent with climate change mitigation, having a very marginal net effect on global greenhouse gas emissions.
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
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Nilsson, M.; Lucas, P.; Yoshida, T. Towards an Integrated Framework for SDGs: Ultimate and Enabling Goals for the Case of Energy. Sustainability 2013, 5, 4124-4151. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5104124
Nilsson M, Lucas P, Yoshida T. Towards an Integrated Framework for SDGs: Ultimate and Enabling Goals for the Case of Energy. Sustainability. 2013; 5(10):4124-4151. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5104124
Chicago/Turabian StyleNilsson, Måns, Paul Lucas, and Tetsuro Yoshida. 2013. "Towards an Integrated Framework for SDGs: Ultimate and Enabling Goals for the Case of Energy" Sustainability 5, no. 10: 4124-4151. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5104124
APA StyleNilsson, M., Lucas, P., & Yoshida, T. (2013). Towards an Integrated Framework for SDGs: Ultimate and Enabling Goals for the Case of Energy. Sustainability, 5(10), 4124-4151. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5104124