**Policy on Utilizing Indigenous Knowledge in Critical Land Rehabilitation and Fulfillment of Sustainable Food Security in Indonesia: Regrowing "Talun-Kebun" as Part of the Local Permaculture Model in West Java †**

**Teguh Kurniawan 1,\* and Epakartika Kurniawan <sup>2</sup>**

	- **\*** Correspondence: teguh.kurniawan@ui.ac.id
	- † Presented at the ICSD 2021: 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development, Virtual, 20–21 September 2021.

**Abstract:** West Java is known as an area with high fertility rates in Indonesia; this high fertility is due to various factors, including the area's geological nature, which causes the soil to be rich in nutrients for various types of plants. Because of these conditions, West Java has historically been an agricultural area and has become a food granary. Some regions in West Java are critical buffer zones for big cities such as Jakarta. As a farming area, the people of West Java have an agricultural tradition with a pattern such as a permaculture, which is known by the local community as "talun-kebun". The "talun-kebun" is a form of shifting between cultivation and wet rice production regarding location, management, and production. Along with the massive conversion of agricultural land, the rural tradition of "talun-kebun" was later replaced by an intensive agricultural pattern using pesticides. Land conversion also caused abandoned land and abandoned agricultural areas, which have become critical land. Regarding critical land, several studies reveal that around 30% of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change come from land conversion and deforestation. Therefore, critical land rehabilitation is one form of effort that can be achieved in overcoming climate change. Departing from the problematic situation, this paper discusses the policies that the Government of Indonesia and the Government of West Java Province can undertake in reviving and utilizing the tradition of "talun-kebun" as a model of local permaculture to help increase food production in a sustainable manner, thus rehabilitating critical land. Using a qualitative approach through literature studies, this paper makes some policy recommendations to revive the tradition of "talun-kebun" in the West Java region.

**Keywords:** critical land rehabilitation; indigenous knowledge; Indonesia; local permaculture model; sustainable food security; talun-kebun; West Java

#### **1. Introduction**

West Java Province is known as a fertile area and is one of Indonesia's primary sources of food production. In 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, West Java Province ranked third as a rice producer in Indonesia [1]. Meanwhile, the results of Prayitno et al.'s study show that all regencies and cities in West Java Province are included in the food security category [2]. However, several indicators can cause food vulnerability, namely the high percentage of households that do not have access to clean water, low food availability in the several regencies and cities, and low life expectancy [2].

In addition, in terms of the fertility of agricultural land in West Java, according to the Head of the Agency of Food Crops and Horticulture of West Java Province, the urgent issue that requires attention is related to the restoration of soil fertility, which has decreased

**Citation:** Kurniawan, T.; Kurniawan, E. Policy on Utilizing Indigenous Knowledge in Critical Land Rehabilitation and Fulfillment of Sustainable Food Security in Indonesia: Regrowing "Talun-Kebun" as Part of the Local Permaculture Model in West Java. *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 2. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/environsciproc2022015002

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

Published: 30 March 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

a lot because of too intensive agricultural business in West Java, which is saturated with using raw materials chemically [3]. Soil fertility problems certainly have an impact on rice production. Therefore, in addition to efforts to restore land fertility, other measures such as reducing rice consumption and replacing it with other local food resources are necessary to ensure sustainable food security.

Regarding efforts to replace rice with other local food resources, a study by Hartrisari et al. shows that reducing rice consumption and replacing consumption with other carbohydrate sources will significantly impact rice sufficiency in West Java Province [4]. In addition to food resources, several studies also mention local fruit that many indigenous peoples commonly cultivate as food security alternatives. For example, in their study, Pratama et al. discussed the role of fruits in providing nutritional security and contributing to local ecosystems [5].

Use of carbohydrate food resources such as cassava and fruits as alternative food sources, as well as efforts to improve the local agricultural ecosystem, are activities related to "talun-kebun", a traditional farming practice, which although faded, is still performed in West Java. "Talun-kebun" is an upland land-use system in which annual food crops or commercial crops (kebun) alternate successively with tree crops (talun) [6]. "Talun-kebun" is one of the traditional agroforestry or permaculture systems in Java, which has been practiced for centuries [7].

Regarding "talun-kebun", the study by Christanty et al. showed how the "talunkebun" system of bamboo growth in West Java survives on minimal external fertilizers, and how this is closely related to the growth habits and biogeochemical characteristics of the bamboo, namely rapid biomass accumulation, litter accumulation, and very high fine root biomass [6]. Referring to the study by Christanty et al., the "talun-kebun" system also has an essential role in the conservation and rehabilitation of critical land to improve the quality of local ecosystems.

The problem then is how indigenous knowledge such as "talun-kebun" can be utilized through government policies in both the Central Government and the West Java Provincial Government, so that the knowledge can be developed to improve local ecosystems, especially those related to rehabilitation of critical lands, thus meeting the need for sustainable food security. Many scholars have studied the use of indigenous knowledge to solve environmental problems, including Ajani et al. The latter studied how to use indigenous knowledge as a strategy for climate change adaptation among farmers in sub-Saharan Africa [8]. However, there are many cases of failed indigenous policies, as stated by Huencho [9]. Therefore, several things need to be considered so that the policy to encourage the utilization of "talun-kebun" can be successful.

Referring to the problematic situation, this article seeks to discuss the policies that the Government of Indonesia and the Government of West Java Province can undertake in reviving and utilizing the tradition of "talun-kebun" as a model of local permaculture to help increase food production in a sustainable and rehabilitate critical land.

#### **2. Methods**

To answer the main issues raised, this article uses a qualitative approach by searching various literature that discusses "talun-kebun" in West Java. The literature used is in the form of books, articles, reports, news, and various other documents. In addition, observations were also made on the condition of several "talun-kebun" practices that exist in several locations close to the writers' activities, namely in Megamendung Village, Megamendung Sub District, Bogor Regency (see Figure 1). This location is where the writers have been working for the last four years, and there are several agroforestry or permaculture practices.

Various data and information from several examples of the literature discussing "talunkebun", as well as the writer's observations, were analyzed descriptively by describing and summarizing various conditions and situations that occurred in the practice of "talunkebun". This descriptive analysis is expected to provide an overview of the potential of "talun-kebun" to be raised through several policy proposals that both the Central Government and the West Java Provincial Government can undertake. Before the analysis is outlined, the author has described the perspective of policy theory in utilizing indigenous knowledge such as "talun-kebun" and the understanding of the "talun-kebun" system itself.

#### **3. Policy on Utilizing Indigenous Knowledge**

According to Puffer, there are several reasons for the importance of indigenous knowledge. It can help to discover the best development solutions and it highlights successful people dealing with their environment [10]. Indigenous knowledge can be used to find the best solution in solving community problems; these solutions are likely to be well received because they have been practiced for a long time.

In addition, according to Subramanian and Pisupati, this traditional knowledge system continues to evolve, adapting to changing circumstances and realities, and at the same time contributing to ecological resilience [11]. Therefore, to help the community to use indigenous knowledge adequately, it is necessary to study it and place it in an appropriate position to solve various societal problems. Policies for the use of indigenous knowledge must be made and implemented adequately. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure the availability of an institutional and policy framework that supports the making of adequate indigenous knowledge utilization policies.

To ensure adequate policies in the utilization of indigenous knowledge, several challenges need to be considered and prioritized in promoting this knowledge, as stated by Gorjestani; these challenges are: encouraging the government to formulate and implement strategies for integration; increasing network capacity nationally and regionally; promoting local exchange and adaptation; and identifying innovative mechanisms for protection by encouraging further development, promotion, validation, and exchange [12]. The policies that will be made must be able to accommodate these priorities.

Meanwhile, to ensure that policies related to indigenous knowledge are successful, we also need to study why policies related to this matter fail. Huencho [9], in her study

in Chile, revealed several similarities in how various indigenous public policies in Latin America were problematic, including lack of institutional adaptation; little integration of cultural, value, historical, and social elements in policy; ignorance on the part of political actors; and lack of participation, relevance, and resources.

For the case in Chile itself, the results of Huencho's study [9] show several matters that must be considered for the policy to be successful, namely: the interdependence between policy design and policy processes and programs, and the relevance of the cultural and political dimensions of indigenous people to prevent policy failure. In terms of policy design and policy processes and programs, the implementation process has not become a space for reformulating policy, even when the policy's limitations have been stated. In addition, "power asymmetry" and "cultural asymmetry" are variables that affect the outcome; the policy will be limited if the paradigm does not change.

Regarding the relevance of the political and cultural dimensions of indigenous peoples, there are several matters that, according to Huencho [9], need to be assessed, including the need to consider the introduction of channels that allow for the active role of indigenous people, both in the policy process and as recipients; another factor to consider is reducing policymaker bias that affects indigenous people's expectations and increases distrust and delegitimacy, which in turn leads to low participation of indigenous people in decisionmaking, and to other impacts on misunderstanding and persistence of failure. In addition, the link between the formulation process and policy implementation also needs to be considered to reduce the occurrence of discoordination.

By referring to various opinions from experts described in the previous paragraphs, it is clear that the successful use of "talun-kebun" requires the consideration of many different matters. In particular, the consideration of how to integrate and adapt "talunkebun" with various programs, policies, and the existing situation in the community, and how to build networks to gain broad support from multiple groups. In addition, policies must be made participatory and adaptive for various developments to be accepted and run well.

#### **4. "Talun-Kebun" as Traditional Practices Relevant to Sustainable Development Goals**

The earliest literature describing the existence of "talun-kebun" can be found in the article by Terra [13]. When discussing the Sundanese agricultural system, Terra mentions the "talun system" as a form of original agricultural system in Sunda (West Java). The talun system performs its agricultural activities by planting annual crops, generally around the village by dibble method. The talun system is usually combined with the tipar system (semi-permanent dry rice cultivation), the field system (dry rice shifting cultivation), the secondary cropping system (shifting cultivation by planting all types of annual crops and tubers after rice), and storage systems (buffalo, poultry, and goat farming). As a result of the influence of Java, the talun system was later changed to a mixed garden.

"Talun-kebun" is a form of cultivation that lies between huma and rice fields where huma is believed to represent the evolutionary basis for both "talun-kebun" and for rice, which was introduced from Central Java towards the middle of the eighteenth century [14]. On lands where rice production is impossible, communities begin to select forest plants and introduce species from other areas to obtain greater benefits, so some natural forests are gradually converted into "artificial" forests [14].

#### *4.1. Characteristics of "Talun-Kebun"*

According to Soemarwoto, "talun-kebun" is a new type of shifting cultivation whose development is based on the traditional knowledge and experience of the community, which has many positive environmental effects and offers traditional ecological wisdom [15]. "Talun-kebun" is a typical agroforestry system consisting of a mixture of perennials and annuals, giving it a structure familiar to the forest [16]. "Talun-kebun" are generally found outside the village, are rarely found inside the village, and originate from the forest through

forest species selection and introduction of new species [16]. Although it consists of many species, one or more species may be dominant in a "talun-kebun" [16].

Structurally, "talun-kebun" usually has a canopy that is layered so that it looks like a forest with annual plant species at the bottom, and with species composition differing from place to place, influenced by factors such as climate, soil, and markets [15]. "Talunkebun", which is essentially an artificial forest, is analogous to the forest stage in shifting cultivation but provides more economic benefits to the community, where the crops are harvested and mostly sold [15]. "Talun-kebun," like forests, protect the soil from the erosive forces of rain [15].

"Talun-kebun" are private properties located on lower hillsides and are sometimes very steep. Still, erosion is minimal due to the terraced canopy structure and litter layer on the talun floor [15]. Planting is achieved by making holes in the ground with a wooden stick, into which seeds or seedlings are planted [15].

The "talun kebun" system usually consists of three stages that are functionally related and form a cycle and have different functions: (1) garden (kebun), (2) mixed garden (kebun campuran), and (3) talun, where each stage has a different function [7]. The garden (kebun) is the first stage, usually planted with a mixture of seasonal crops, and has a high economic value because most crops are sold in cash [7]. After two years, tree seedlings begin to grow in the fields. The land for annual crops is reduced so that the gardens gradually develop into mixed gardens (kebun campuran), where annual crops are mixed with half of the growing perennials, and the economic value is not as high as before, but it does have high biophysical value because it promotes soil and water conservation [7]. After the annual harvest, the fields are usually left for two to three years to dominate perennials. This stage is known as talun and has economic and biophysical value [7].

#### *4.2. Type of "Talun-Kebun"*

According to Christanty et al., based on the dominant type, talun in West Java can be divided into three types: wood lot (dominated by a mixture of firewood and wood species); permanent mixed talun (dominated by a mix of fruit trees and annual commercial crops); and talun bamboo (the best example of a "talun-kebun" rotation cycle, dominated by bamboo species with trees scattered among bamboo clumps) [6]. In terms of types of plants, the results of Suharjito's research suggest several main reasons for "talun-kebun" farmers when choosing plant types, namely: plants that produce a great or maximum yield; crops that produce different results; easy-to-maintain plants; marketable plants; and crops whose prices are stable or rising [17].

#### *4.3. Function of "Talun-Kebun"*

There are several functions of the "talun-kebun", which are as follows:


#### *4.4. The Relevance of "Talun-Kebun" to the Sustainable Development Goals*

If the "talun-kebun" is associated with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals [18], then, in the author's view, it is related to the following five goals, namely:

• Goal 1: No poverty. "Talun-kebun" can contribute to the achievement of the no poverty goal. Referring to Soemarwoto and Soemarwoto [16], the results of the "talun-kebun" system have a high enough income potential, resulting in the potential to contribute to poverty eradication efforts;


#### **5. Discussion: The Current Condition of "Talun-Kebun" and Possible Policy Directions**

By using various literature sources and limited observations in the Megamendung Village area where the authors live, this section attempts to describe the condition of "talunkebun" and the policy directions that can be taken to utilize this practice. This section consists of two parts, namely the current conditions of the practice of "talun-kebun" in West Java and policy directions that can be undertaken.

#### *5.1. The Current Condition of the "Talun-Kebun" Practice*

Referring to several pieces of the literature, the "talun-kebun" system is still practiced today. Iskandar, for example, revealed that the "talun-kebun" system is still widely practiced by the Sundanese people [20].

The practice of "talun-kebun" can be found, for example, in several indigenous communities. Suganda, in his writings, for example, describes the practice of "talun-kebun" performed by the indigenous community of Kasepuhan Ciptagelar [21]. The "talun-kebun" practiced by the indigenous people of Kasepuhan Ciptagelar usually consists of gardens of wood, vegetables, fruits, and other horticulture [21]. "Talun-kebun" is a source of timber needs from the Kasepuhan Ciptagelar indigenous people so that they do not need to take from the forest for their timber needs. Therefore, the forest around the community's location can be maintained [21].

Regarding the "talun-kebun" in the Kasepuhan Ciptagelar indigenous community, Kodir, in his research, stated the high diversity and richness of plant species [22]. In addition, by referring to the potential data of Kasepuhan Ciptagelar in 2008 cited in Kodir's research, it is known that the area of "talun-kebun" in this indigenous community is 35 hectares or 17.33% of the total land-use area of 202 hectares [22]. This condition is in line with the research by Christanty et al. in 1986, which stated that the use of "talun-kebun" land in West Java was 16% [7].

Soemarwoto [15] stated that the "talun kebun" system is usually private or communal property. Related to this, according to Winarti in her research, citing various sources, the average land area owned for "talun-kebun" is around 400 square meters to 1.2 hectares [23]. Based on the observations made by the authors regarding ownership and control of land by farmers around the location of the author's activity, most of the farmers are cultivators on state land or work on other people's land with a profit-sharing system. Regarding farmers who work on other people's land, the research of Inoue et al. revealed that private land owned by others could be a safety net for a small number of people or farmers who

have access to the land [24]. Or, in other words, who cooperate or are given access by the landowner.

Seeing a situation like this and based on observations made, in several locations where there is a lot of abandoned land in the sense that it is owned by someone (usually not living in the area) but is not being used, it is possible to seek a pattern of cooperation or provide access to farmers who do not have land with a "talun-kebun" system. Therefore, the abandoned land can provide benefits both economically and to the environment.

In addition to the aspect of land ownership, gender equality is also a matter that requires attention. Although, as Mizuno et al. highlighted, the principle of gender equality is still alive and well in the "talun-kebun" system [19], there are still disparities. The wife's wider land ownership compared to her husband still creates a gender bias in the perspective of food allocation. In terms of food intake (energy and protein) and protein adequacy, the level obtained by women always remains lower than men [19]. In line with this condition, Wiyanti's research found that although women have a significant role and contribution in "talun-kebun," the decision-making in the "talun-kebun" system is still dominated by men, where women can give advice. Still, the final decision remains on the male side [25].

Another problem that needs to be considered is the change of "talun-kebun" into a commercial garden with a monoculture system to eliminate the multi-functions that have been the peculiarity of "talun-kebun," which are not only economic but also social and conservational. The problem of converting "talun-kebun" into a commercial garden has also been identified by Chrisanty et al. [7] and stated by Kimmins et al. [26] and Iskandar [20]. This situation, of course, needs to be assessed by considering the multifunctionality of "talun-kebun," which has many benefits, especially in terms of conservation.

The conversion of "talun-kebun" into a commercial garden, in the author's view, can also be caused by the pattern of its development where, in the third phase, mixed gardens turn into talun, and their utilization is limited only to the utilization of their wood products. Related to this, it is necessary to consider that during the mixed garden phase (after the garden phase), the plants that must be planted are plants such as fruits, so that when the gardens enter the talun phase, they can still produce fruits that can be consumed or sold. In other words, in the authors' view, the consideration should be of how to direct the talun into a food forest. Therefore, in this effort to develop "talun-kebun", farmers also need support to run the plants in their "talun-kebun" so that it becomes a food forest.

#### *5.2. Policy Directions to Utilize "Talun-Kebun"*

By considering several problems encountered in the implementation of the "talunkebun" system, there are several policy directions that can be considered by the Central and West Java Provincial Governments to be able to utilize them so that they can contribute both to conservation and food security, as described below:


#### **6. Concluding Remarks**

In summary, it can be concluded that "talun-kebun" is a traditional practice that needs to be maintained and developed because it has various functions that can support food security, economy, social matters, and conservation. For this reason, the government needs to consider several matters in this effort, including encouraging "talun-kebun" towards a food forest so that the harvest after becoming talun can still be economically promising. In addition, it is important to consider how to ensure better access to the use of abandoned land and how to increase women's skills in post-harvest management and promotion of the vital function of "talun-kebun". A more in-depth study is needed to provide an adequate basis for the government to make optimal policies in the effort to utilize "talun-kebun".

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, T.K. and E.K.; methodology, T.K. and E.K.; formal analysis, T.K. and E.K.; investigation, T.K. and E.K.; resources, T.K. and E.K.; data curation, T.K. and E.K.; writing—original draft preparation, T.K. and E.K.; writing—review and editing, T.K. and E.K.; visualization, T.K. and E.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Household Poverty Status and Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy Technologies: Evidence from Southwestern Nigeria †**

**Adetunji Toyosi Adeleke 1,2,\*, Oluwafemi Victor Odesola 3, Jamiu Ayomide Hussayn 2, Mary Mercy Odesola <sup>3</sup> and Oluwaseun Odesola <sup>4</sup>**


**Abstract:** This study examined households' poverty status and willingness to pay for renewable energy technologies (RETs) in Southwestern Nigeria. Three hundred and four households in Southwestern Nigeria were surveyed. Households were grouped into poor and non-poor using two-thirds of the mean per capita expenditure (MPCE), and poverty depth and severity were calculated using the Foster–Greer–Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measure. The poverty line (two-thirds of the MPCE) for the households was calculated to be ₦80,412.57 and the poverty depth 0.0827. The results of Heckman's two-stage model revealed that age, marital status, level of education, household size, house location, income and awareness about RETs are factors influencing surveyed households' WTP and payout levels for RETs.

**Keywords:** willingness to pay; renewable energy; contingent valuation method; foster greer thorbecke; mean per capita expenditure

### **1. Introduction**

Energy is crucial in all human endeavours, such that the growth and development of any economy are hinged on it. People need energy for various purposes including lighting, cooking, transportation and even entertainment. In the quest to meet their essential energy needs, individuals, households and businesses resort to various means. Recently, a series of events ranging from severe changes in atmospheric weather, bushfires, droughts and other events have been consequences of the changing climate [1]. Climate change is a global menace that has received attention from the majority of world economies. While there are natural causes, the anthropogenic causes of climate change are more significant. These sources largely consist of the burning of fossil fuels to meet the energy demands of the growing global population. Apart from resource depletion and damage to the natural environment associated with the burning of non-renewable fuels, serious health complications and issues have been reported arising from the inhalation of fumes from fuel combustion. This has increased the mortality rate especially in countries with developing economies that have low-quality health facilities to treat the resultant illnesses.

Many countries have recorded considerable success in substituting fossil fuels with renewable sources [2,3]. However, the situation is worrisome in certain developing countries such as Nigeria. Despite the country's advantages in RETs, such as abundant solar radiation to power solar photovoltaic cells, high winds to drive wind turbines and water sources to

**Citation:** Adeleke, A.T.; Odesola, O.V.; Hussayn, J.A.; Odesola, M.M.; Odesola, O. Household Poverty Status and Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy Technologies: Evidence from Southwestern Nigeria. *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/ environsciproc2022015003

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

Published: 30 March 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

explore hydropower, RET uptake has been low. Although the initial investment in RET can be huge for projects such as solar power systems; there has been a lack of evidence in the case of Nigeria to ascertain the factors limiting the uptake of RETs. Hence, the primary objective of this study is to investigate household poverty status and willingness to pay (WTP) for renewable energy technologies, using Nigeria as a case study.

#### **2. Literature Review**

#### *2.1. Theory of Consumer Behaviour*

This study is hinged on the theory of consumer behaviour. The theory states that a rational consumer seeks to maximise his level of utility in the consumption of goods given his budget constraints. Contextually, other factors being constant, a household willing to pay for renewable energy technology think that they are better off with its usage and vice versa [4,5]. CVM has been deemed appropriate for estimating levels of customer satisfaction especially for public goods and goods with limited private nature.

#### *2.2. WTP—Contingent Valuation Method*

The contingent valuation method seeks to create a non-existent marketplace for nonmarket goods, to allow measurement of people's willingness to pay (WTP) for the use of the goods or their willingness to accept (WTA) deprivation of the benefits arising from the goods due to inability to use them. While the method is also applicable for the valuation of marketable goods which are readily available in marketplaces, its application is largely seen in studying public goods including air and water quality improvements. CVM has been particularly useful when complemented by other techniques used in valuing nonmarket goods, such as hedonic and travel–cost approaches. Hence, the primary goal of the contingent valuation is to determine the compensating variation for the item being assessed, in this case, renewable energy technologies [6–8].

#### *2.3. Empirical Review on Household Poverty, WTP and Renewable Energy Use*

Several studies have documented the relationship between household poverty status proxied by income and WTP for renewable energies. According to the studies conducted by [9,10], income plays a significant role in a household's decision to adopt RETs and high WTP for electricity from renewable sources is common with high-income earners. Also, educational attainment directly influences WTP for energy services. Hence, highly educated individuals have a higher willingness to pay than their counterparts [10]. In previous analysis [11], age and gender were shown to have a mixed relationship with WTP for renewable energy while other studies [12,13] indicated that age, altruism, awareness and concerns for environmental issues not only affect household demand for renewable energy but also WTP for it. These previous findings suggest that socio-economic factors influence consumers' WTP for RETs.

#### **3. Methodology**

#### *3.1. Sampling Method and Data Collection Technique*

The three hundred and four samples were recruited by convenience sampling. This was necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic at the time this study was conducted, making face-to-face data collection impossible. Online questionnaires were sent to participants and follow-up questions were also presented to test the veracity of their responses. About four hundred responses were received, of which only three hundred and four were complete and had the required variables for analysis after cleaning. Although the sample may not be entirely representative of the population due to its limitations, it gives an indication of the situation in the country.

#### *3.2. Foster–Greer–Thorbecke (FGT) Poverty Measure*

The Foster–Greer–Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measure was used in this study to determine poverty status among households in the study region. According to the literature [14], the model is as follows:

$$P\_{\mathbb{R}} = 1/\_{\mathbb{H}} \sum\_{i=1}^{h} (\mathbb{Z} - \text{Y}\_{i}/\mathbb{Z}\_{\cdot}) \tag{1}$$

where:

*Y*<sup>1</sup> is the expenditure per household head equivalent of *i*th household, *Z* is the poverty line, *n* is the number of households; *h* is the number of the sampled population below the poverty line and *α* is an aversion to poverty, a coefficient reflecting different degrees of importance according to the depth or severity of poverty. A poverty threshold was obtained using two-thirds of the mean consumption per adult equivalent in the households. This threshold was used to separate poor households from the non-poor. The headcount index (*P*0) measures the proportion of the population that is food poor; the poverty gap index (*P*1) measures the extent to which individuals fall below the poverty line as a proportion of the poverty line; the squared poverty gap (*P*2) is poverty severity, which averages the squares of the poverty gaps relative to the poverty line.

#### *3.3. Contingent Valuation Method*

According to the literature [15], the contingent valuation technique is a simple and adaptable non-market approach, often known as the expressed preference model. According to researchers [16], it is widely used for cost-benefit analyses and environmental impact evaluations of non-market resources. This approach, however, was used to determine the value of renewable energy and other non-market resources [17] as it allows for a direct evaluation of WTP. Consumers were explicitly requested to indicate their WTP for RETs using this technique. The contingency valuation method (CVM) is mathematically stated as follows:

$$WTP\_{\bar{l}} = \sum\_{l \bar{u} = 1}^{T\_{\bar{l}}} \delta h\_{\bar{l}} \Pr h\_{\bar{l}} \tag{2}$$

where: *WTPi* represents the average payout level of households in the region I; *δhi* represents the payout level for a household's *hi*; *Phi* represents the frequency of the payment value of a household's *hi*; and *Ti* represents the number of samples from the surveyed population.

#### *3.4. Heckman's Two-Stage Model*

Heckman's two-stage model was devised by James Heckman, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2000 for the concept [18]. Heckman's two-stage approach may successfully rectify the selectivity deviation, which is a one-of-a-kind problem [19]. Furthermore, this model can be used to examine the factors influencing households' WTP and payout level [20].

Model selection: The renewable energy technologies payment activities of households studied in this paper were divided into two stages. The first stage is the behavioural decision stage when households decide whether to pay for RETs. Households who do not have the willingness to pay were not carried forward to the next phase of the study, and the households who had the willingness to pay entered the second stage. The second stage is the payout level of the decision-making stage, which refers to the payout level of the households who are willing to pay for RETs. Hence, this paper employed Heckman's two-stage model to analyze the factors influencing households' WTP and their payout level, respectively. The model is expressed as follows and contains the two-stage models Model 1 and Model 2.

Model 1 is a Probit model, which mainly examined the impacting factors for households who are willing to pay for RET. Following [21], the specific model is shown below:

$$E\left(\frac{Y}{M}\right) = \mathbb{P}(Y = 1/M) = \Phi(\mu\_0 + \mu\_1 M) = \mu\_0 + \mu\_1 M\_1 + \mu\_2 M\_2 + \mu\_3 M\_3 + \dots = \dots = \dots = \mu\_{\text{fl}} M\_{\text{fl}} + \theta \tag{3}$$

where:

*Y* is the endogenous variable while *Mn* are the exogenous variables.

*Y* = WTP for RETs (Yes = 1, No = 0)

*M*<sup>1</sup> = Age in years

*M*<sup>2</sup> = Gender (Male = 1, female = 2)

*M*<sup>3</sup> = Educational level (Secondary = 1, Tertiary s= 2)

*M*<sup>4</sup> = Household size in numbers

*M*<sup>5</sup> = Marital status (Single = 1, Married = 2)

*M*<sup>6</sup> = Awareness about RETs (Yes = 1, No = 0)

*M*<sup>7</sup> = Monthly income in Naira

*μ* = Parameter estimate

*θ* = error term

**Model 2** is a multiple linear regression model, which mainly examined the factors influencing the households' payout level. According to the literature [22], the implicit model is expressed as:

$$T = \varphi\_0 + \varphi\_1 M\_1 + \varphi\_2 M\_2 + \varphi\_3 M\_3 + \dots \\ - \dots - + \varphi\_n M\_n + \varepsilon \lambda + \delta \dots \\ \dots \\ \dots \\ \dots \dots \dots \dots \dots \dots \tag{4}$$

where:


*M*<sup>2</sup> = Gender (Male = 1, female = 2)

*M*<sup>3</sup> = Educational level (Secondary = 1, Tertiary = 2)

*M*<sup>4</sup> = Household size in numbers

*M*<sup>5</sup> = Household location (Rural = 1, Urban = 2, Peri-urban = 3)

*M*<sup>6</sup> = Marital status (Single = 1, Married = 2)

*M*<sup>7</sup> = Monthly income in Naira

*ϕ* = Parameter estimate

*δ* = error term

#### **4. Results and Discussions**

This section is divided into three parts. First, we report the socio-economic characteristics of respondents in the Southwestern part of Nigeria. The second part concentrates on their poverty status and WTP for renewable energy services. Lastly, we examine the factors influencing a household's willingness to pay for RETs.

#### *4.1. Sample Characteristics*

In Table 1, the descriptive statistics of the socioeconomic characteristics of the surveyed households in Southwestern Nigeria are profiled. The results revealed that most of the respondents are young, with a mean age of 29 ± 7 years. This indicates that the surveyed households have young household heads, which has many economic implications. About 54 per cent of the sampled households were headed by a female which contradicted previous findings [23,24] reporting that male-headed households dominate the Nigerian population. This result may be attributed to the limitations of the study which adopted a convenient sampling method through online means. The findings relating to average years spent in formal education show that the majority (about 97 per cent) of respondents have tertiary education. As indicated in Table 1, the average household size was 5 members per household, which is similar to the figures reported in a previous study [24]. About three-quarters of the sampled population were married while only one-quarter were single.


**Table 1.** Socio-economic characteristics of households in the region.

Source: Authors' Survey, 2021.

#### *4.2. Household's Monthly Expenditures*

Table 2 presents the household's average monthly expenditure on food, non-food and energy. Of the three items, households expend the least amount on energy while the highest expenditure is on food items. The distribution of households' income on these items with the highest expenditure given to food is reasonable given that many have opined that food is the most important of the three basic needs of man—food, clothing and shelter. Although the maximum amount spent by a particular household on non-food items was the highest of the three categories of needs, the lowest amount spent on these items revealed that households place a higher premium on food.

**Table 2.** Distribution of Household's Average Monthly Expenditure in Naira.


Source: Field Survey, 2021.

#### *4.3. The Poverty Line*

In constructing the poverty line, two-thirds of the mean per capita expenditure (MPCE) was used. The MPCE was calculated as the summation of households' total expenditure on food and non-food items divided by the sample size as shown in Table 3. Following this process, ₦80,412.57 was determined as the poverty line such that households living below this value per month were categorised as being poor, and non-poor if otherwise, as shown in Table 4. However, this value is higher than was reported in a previous study [24] carried out in the Southwestern region. This can be attributed to the nature of the two studies; the earlier study [24] considered the food security status of households and thus used only food expenditure, whereas the current study considered expenditure on both food and non-food items.


**Table 3.** Mean per Capita Expenditure and Poverty Line.

**Table 4.** Households' Poverty Headcount, Gap and Severity.


#### *4.4. Household's Poverty Status*

Table 5 presents the distribution of households into poor and non-poor following the analysis above. About 30 per cent of the households in the region are poor. This implies that these households spend below ₦80,412.57 on food and non-food items per month. This result is similar to reports [24,25] that more households in the region are food secure than are food insecure.

**Table 5.** Distribution of Household's Poverty Status.


Authors' Survey, 2021.

#### *4.5. Poverty Headcount, Gap and Severity*

The poverty incidence shown by the headcount in Table 4 shows that 29.9 per cent of the sampled households are poor. By indication, these are the households whose monthly spending falls below the poverty line of ₦80,412.57. The poverty gap of 0.082 shows that households in the region that are poor will need to raise their monthly expenditure by 8.2 per cent to reach the poverty line. However, poverty severity in the region is very low at 3.5 per cent.

#### *4.6. Reasons for Households' Lack of Usage of Renewable Energy in the Study Area*

Table 6 presents the reasons highlighted by households for their lack of usage of renewable energy. The high set-up costs of solar, hydro and portable wind turbines in the region are the most important reasons why households have not embraced renewable energy technologies. Of the sampled households, 83.55 per cent lack knowledge about renewable energies. Almost 60 per cent of the households highlighted the intermittent supply of power from renewable sources as a reason for continuing to use non-renewable sources. While this problem of intermittent power supply from wind and sun has been reported in the literature [2], experts have shown that renewable energies can still meet daily energy needs. The fact that RETs are not common in the region was not highlighted as a major reason for the low uptake.


**Table 6.** Reasons for Households' Lack of Usage of Renewable Energy.

#### *4.7. Factors Influencing Households' WTP for RETs*

Table 7 shows the estimated results of the factors influencing households' WTP for RETs. The variance inflation factor enabled us to check for multicollinearity among the dependent variables. Hence, all the variables in the model passed the minimum requirement for inclusion in the analysis. The results in Table 7 show a Pseudo R<sup>2</sup> of 0.2627 implying that the model is of good fit, which is further strengthened by the Likelihood Ratio (LR) test statistic of 4.78 significant at 1 per cent. Using these estimates, we accept the alternative hypothesis that the joint effect of all the explanatory variables has a significant effect on a household's WTP for RETs.

**Table 7.** Estimates of the Factors Influencing WTP for RETs.


The asterisks (\*, \*\*, \*\*\*) denote a statistically significant level at 10%, 5% and 1% respectively.

The coefficient of age is positive and significant at 1 per cent. This implies that older household heads have a higher likelihood of being willing to pay for RETs. As many health issues are associated with old age, they will be willing to pay more for RETs which are cleaner energy sources than conventional sources such as firewood. Conventional sources of energy have been reported to have serious health implications through inhalation of fumes during combustion. Marital status is positive and significant at 10 per cent. Thus, married household heads have a higher likelihood of being willing to pay for RETs than single counterparts. This may largely be attributed to the shared responsibilities which come with marriage. The coefficient of monthly income is positive and significant at 1 per cent. Income is an indicator of purchasing power and thus, higher-income earners have higher purchasing power. The direct relationship between income and WTP has been reported by several authors in the literature [7,26]. Household size is positive and significant at 10 per cent. The positive relationship is contrary to previous reports [7] suggesting that because of the attendant cost of meeting other basic needs of a larger household, WTP for new or improved energy sources or RETs will not be a priority. Awareness of RETs is also significant at 1 per cent. Knowledge and awareness of modern RETs is vital for improving their uptake. WTP increases when households become more aware of the benefits of using the new technologies as opposed to the conventional technologies.

#### *4.8. Factors Influencing the Amount Households Are Willing to Pay for RETs*

Table 8 shows the estimated results of the factors influencing the amount households are willing to pay for RETs. The R2 value of 0.5150 implies that about 52 per cent of the variation in the dependent variable is explained by the explanatory variables included in the model. The P>F value is significant at 1 per cent, which shows that the model is a good fit. Using these estimates, we accept the alternative hypothesis that the joint effect of all the explanatory variables has a significant effect on the amount households are willing to pay for RETs.


**Table 8.** OLS Estimates of the Factors Influencing the Amount Willing to Pay for RETs.

The asterisks (\*, \*\*, \*\*\*) denote a statistically significant level at 10%, 5% and 1% respectively.

The result shows that age, marital status, level of education, household size, location and income are positive and significant at different levels. The coefficient of age is significant at 5 per cent, which implies that an increase in age by one year will increase the amount households are willing to pay for RETs by 0.56. The coefficient of the level of education is significant at 1 per cent. This shows that household heads with higher levels of education are willing to pay more for RETs. This is in tandem with other findings [23] reporting that higher educational status predisposes households to higher income, so they can easily afford basic needs especially as these relate to improved quality of life. Marital status is significant at 1 per cent, which implies that married household heads are willing to pay a higher amount for RETs. This may be because of an increase in the sources of income available to the household. The coefficient of monthly income is significant at 5 per cent. Because income is an indicator of purchasing power, an increase in monthly income increases the amount households are willing to pay for RETs. The location of the household is significant at 1 per cent, which indicates that households in urban and peri-urban centres are willing to pay more for RETs. However, household size is positive and significant at 1 per cent, contrary to previous findings [23] that household size is negatively related to household poverty status. However, the positive relationship between the amount willing to pay and household size can be attributed to additional benefits (which may be in form of finance) available to the household by having an additional family member especially one that is gainfully employed.

#### **5. Conclusions**

This study examined household poverty status and willingness to pay for renewable energy technology, using evidence from Southwestern Nigeria in the form of primary data collected from 304 households using online means. Despite the popularity and improved uptake of renewable energy technologies in developed economies, Nigeria still lags behind in this respect. Low levels of income and high poverty levels have been reported as possible causes of this. In this study, age, marital status, level of education, household size, house location, income and awareness about RETs have all been shown to influence WTP and the amount that households are willing to pay for modern RETs. However, level of education is the most influential predictor. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the government and other concerned stakeholders should invest in educating the public about the national and global benefits of transitioning to renewable energies in an atempt to mitigate the impact of climate change. This study was limited in the way the data was collected. The questionnaire was administered through various social media channels mainly because of COVID-19 in the study area and the high cost of administering the questionnaire. Thus, no proper sampling could be undertaken. However, the data was thoroughly cleaned before analysis was carried out.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, A.T.A. and M.M.O.; literature review, O.V.O.; methodology, software and formal analysis, J.A.H.; writing—original draft preparation, A.T.A.; writing—review and editing, A.T.A., M.M.O. and O.V.O.; supervision and project administration O.O. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Climate Technology Readiness Assessment, an ESG-Based Resource Allocation Methodology in Ports: A Case in the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund †**

**Maria Christantoni 1,\* and Angel Batalla <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) has identified a methodology with the potential to enhance resource allocation within the framework of climate technology investment. The methodology was conceptualized and tested as part of implementing the HRADF's ESG rating tool in the ports included in the HRADF's portfolio. The methodology aims to assess the readiness of ports to adopt climate technologies that are essential to support action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and consequently mitigate the environmental and social impacts on coastal locations and neighbouring communities. It entails the addition of "Climate Technology" key performance indicators (CT-KPIs) to the underlying questionnaire of the HRADF ESG rating tool. After ports had shared their answers in response to the expanded ESG rating tool, the sustainability team at HRADF performed a thematic analysis. The resulting analysis sheds light on the different forces shaping the organisational readiness of ports. Some of these forces are inherent to the port's management (e.g., organisational structure), while others are shaped by the evolving landscape associated with disclosure standards. A standardised set of CT-KPIs may benefit port authorities, since they demonstrate compliance and commitment to continuous improvement through scientific evidence and quantifiable organisational measures. Their climate technology readiness can be tracked, and appropriate measures can be defined and therefore help port administrators to unlock additional funding sources and attract international financial institutions' support. In addition, investors increasingly recognize that climate risk is an investment risk and ask for more detailed climate-related disclosure. One of the main contributions of this methodology is that it can allow investors, regulators, and other decision-makers to recognise climate related risks and opportunities and prioritise resource allocation, which is paramount for the achievement of climate targets and a successful pandemic recovery strategy.

**Keywords:** climate technology readiness; cleantech; green technologies; environmental technology; ESG; green ports; sustainable investments; digital ESG tools

#### **1. Introduction**

The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (hereunder "HRADF" or "Fund") was established in 2011 (founding Law No. 3986/2011 [1]) and promotes and implements the Hellenic Republic's asset development programme, with the vision to achieve the following:


**Citation:** Christantoni, M.; Batalla, A. Climate Technology Readiness Assessment, an ESG-Based Resource Allocation Methodology in Ports: A Case in the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund. *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 4. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/environsciproc2022015004

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

Published: 30 March 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

The duration of HRADF is until 1 July 2026. Its sole shareholder is the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP). HRADF manages part of the state's private property to maximise its value and contributes largely to public debt reduction by attracting direct investments through the implementation of the Asset Development Plan (ADP) [2], which is updated on a six-month basis. The portfolio of assets entrusted to HRADF to facilitate its development plan is diverse. It includes companies' shares, infrastructure assets, and real estate in the most competitive market categories (energy, transport, tourism, etc.). In addition, HRADF holds 100% of shares in 10 port authorities [3], which have the right to operate the respective ports until 2042.

In addition, Law 4799/2021 [4] provided for the possibility of assigning to HRADF the maturation of contracts that are part of the Development Programme for Contracts of Strategic Importance, and with the recent law 4804/2021 [5], the purpose of HRADF was expanded, to include the provision of maturation services through a discrete operational unit at HRADF (Project Preparation Facility/PPF), maximizing amongst others the impact of EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, from 2021 onwards. According to this law, in pursuing the purpose of the Fund, particular care shall be taken to contribute to achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

Greece itself is committed to sustainable development and supports the long-term strategic vision by 2050 of a European economy that does not burden the climate. In this context, HRADF can be a driving force of Greece towards achieving Sustainable Development by integrating sustainability principles throughout HRADF's value creation process while supporting HRADF strategic objectives. One recent development towards that direction is that the latest updated ADP of the Fund, which was approved by the Government Council for Economic Policy (KYSOIP) on 13/5/2021, includes for the first time guidelines for the incorporation of the principles of sustainability and the adoption of ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) criteria during the implementation of the Fund's programme, thereby reinforcing the attraction of responsible investments to the benefit of the Greek economy and society, contributing at the same time towards achieving the national energy and climate goals.

The development of the private property of the Hellenic Republic has been a critical pillar of the effort to correct the structural problems and macroeconomic imbalances that had led Greece to the profound social and economic crisis of the last decade. The economic impact of the Fund's programme is expected to be multi-dimensional, going far beyond the revenues from the sale transaction. According to IOBE, 2020 [6], HRADF's programme is shown to have had a strong positive impact on the Greek economy, with clear social benefits during a challenging period for the country. For the overall programme, it is estimated to have boosted the country's GDP by around EUR 1 bn a year on average over the period 2011–2019, with the benefits for the economy estimated to have exceeded EUR 20 billion. Over the same period, the average impact on employment was close to 20,000 full-time jobs. In addition, the HRADF's programme brings significant improvements and interventions in the regulatory framework and investment commitments, which have stimulated economic activity and increased the efficiency of the production factors during a challenging period for Greece. Finally, the international investor community has seen HRADF's programme progress as evidence of the state's commitment to reform the Greek economy.

As a country thirsting for investment and seeking to shift its development model to a more sustainable path, Greece should take advantage of the opportunities offered by the global market trend for green projects and use innovative financing tools that will facilitate the flow of capital into sustainable investments. Sustainability at HRADF aims at leveraging HRADF's position at the intersection of investment, sustainability, and regulation to streamline sustainable investment in Greece.

To that end, HRADF first developed the digital ESG Rating tool [7] in cooperation with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Global Sustain. Subsequently, the Fund's sustainability team modified it to include KPIs that will support

the assessment of the readiness of its portfolio companies to adopt climate technologies. HRADF began deploying the modified tool with the fund's portfolio of ports. The methodology was intended to deliver a service that would improve information transparency and communication between investors and entrepreneurs, accelerate technology readiness of ports and ultimately enhance their climate resilience that, according to UNCTAD, 2020 [8], "is a matter of strategic economic importance and key in achieving progress on many of the Goals and targets under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development".

#### **2. Background**

Infrastructure and transport are among the sectors most exposed to climate change. Moreover, they are critical to national economic performance, growth and development. Ports in particular play a vital role in the world economy. More than 80% of goods traded worldwide are transported by sea and through ports. Climate risks analyses and subsequent climate-proofing need to be incorporated as key features, given that the potential impact of climate change on ports will have a broad socio-economic impact. A port's reputation for reliability is key to its success, so ports that are more resilient to disruption from climate events should fare better (IFC, 2011) [9]. Therefore, ports need to strengthen resilience and adapt their infrastructure and relevant operations to the changing climate (WPSR, 2020) [10].

Greece has the most extensive coastline throughout the EU. In addition, there is a well-developed port network within the country due to its morphology and the existence of many islands. Therefore, Greek ports, as clusters of transport, energy, industry and "Blue Economy" [11], add significant value and contribute materially to the economy and society. Under the right conditions, they can be powerful accelerators for the circular economy and key strategic partners in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the objectives of the European Green Deal.

In particular, the adaptation of climate technologies in ports will enhance their "license to operate" and increase their economic and environmental competitiveness, which is expected to be critical to the "Blue Economy" of Greece [12]. Therefore, ports that want to achieve sustainable development must assess their ability to adopt such technologies and identify their strengths and weaknesses.

Ports' adoption of climate technologies will require financing from banks or investment companies. However, global investors rely on their ability to manage and avoid risk, and increasingly that risk is being framed in terms of investment exposure to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Therefore, they are increasingly asking companies to evidence how they will comply with ESG requirements, particularly with regard to climate change. In addition to investor pressure, regulators around the world are increasingly pushing for climate disclosures.

Especially in the maritime industry that is entering an era where technological transition, climate change and shifts in government policy change their operating models, climate change adaptation is no longer a choice but an obligation. The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) [13] proposes that EU legislation makes climate change adaptation a core principle in legislation and funding.

Recognising the needs for approaches to climate risk assessment and adaptation specific to ports that international institutions have underlined, the ESG-based methodology that was developed from the fund could provide a tool to port authorities to better understand their level of readiness to adopt climate technologies, help them identify gaps and needs for climate-related investments and enhance transparency towards their stakeholders.

#### **3. The HRADF ESG-Based Methodology for Better Resource Allocation in Ports**

Climate change has and will continue to shape the preference of investors and institutions shaping the market where HRADF operates. An example of this is the European Green deal, devised as a set of policy initiatives to make Europe climate neutral by 2050. This set of policies shape the investment priorities for the upcoming years and are designed to enable European communities to have access to funding mechanisms that support their climate transition strategies. The sustainability team at HRADF sought to support the mission of HRADF by proactively understanding whether the 10 ports under its management were prepared to adopt climate technologies from an organisational perspective. The sustainability team selected Climate Technologies as a theme as it is pertinent to climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, which are key components to be considered within the funding mechanisms of the European Green Deal.

#### *3.1. Methodology Description*

To assess the organisational readiness of the ports under HRADF management, the sustainability team had to address two challenges. First, identify an assessment mechanism, and second, define the KPIs to assess the readiness of ports.

Identifying an assessment mechanism was paramount as ports operate at capacity and currently do not have the incentives to take on additional tasks. Previously, HRADF had already communicated to ports about its plans to perform an internal initial ESG performance assessment. It would do so through the deployment of the HRADF ESG digital tool. With port management authorities having planned to complete the ESG assessment, the sustainability team saw this as an opportunity to gather information to understand the organisational readiness of ports to adopt climate technologies.

Defining KPIs required a three-stage process: first, identify dimensions relevant to organisational climate technology adoption; second, review the underlying ESG questionnaire and select relevant questions; third, define key complementing questions currently not included in the ESG questionnaire (Figure 1).

**Figure 1.** Three-stage process for defining KPIs.

The sustainability team conceptualised the KPIs' visualisation and its dimensions as a tool to provide executive decision makers with intuitive visual insights. In the context of this paper and HRADF's portfolio, the tool provides an overview of the state of ports to adopt climate technologies. The tool is built after the following framework [14]. The four dimensions are represented on an *XY* axis, and the performance of each axis is relative to its own dimension. The purpose is to create a visual standard that can serve as a comparative baseline between port's performance based on the thematic analysis (Figure 2).

**Figure 2.** Visual standard for port's performance comparison.

The funding dimension focused on determining whether a port had access to funding. It considered two questions, the first already part of the digital HRADF ESG Rating tool and the second being an addition to the ESG Rating tool questionnaire:


the short and long terms. Only the first question from the following was part of the digital ESG Rating tool:


The reporting dimension was concerned with organisational reporting initiatives, and the extent to which the port authority had set a corporate structure for their reporting efforts. No questions were added to this dimension. It includes the following:


The operationalisation dimension explored decarbonisation efforts and the involvement of finance departments. No questions were added. This dimension includes the following KPIs:

1. Do you have a decarbonisation programme in place?


#### *3.2. Presentation of the KPIs*

Once the mechanism and the KPIs to assess the readiness to adopt climate technologies were identified, the digital ESG Rating tool was deployed throughout the ten ports under HRADF's management. In Figure 3, we present a simulation of the results for six ports. The simulation does not reflect the actual ports' performance. It is presented here as a practical visual aid. The grey area represents an ideal port scoring the maximum score possible in all dimensions. At the same time, it is visually intuitive to identify Port 3 as best in class among the group of the ports assessed, but that still needs improvement in the operationalisation, reporting and funding dimensions. On the other hand, port 5 and port 6 emphasise 2 of the dimensions, which signals that the other two dimensions need improvement.

**Figure 3.** Simulation of the results of six ports of the HRADF's portfolio.

Within the asset development and resource allocation frameworks, the thematic methodology and visual analysis previously described present a practical decision-making tool. This approach can help executive leaders at an organization with multiple assets identify the assets needing improvement at a granular level. For example, when comparing the performance of the operationalisation dimension of port 1 to port 6, the lack of involvement of the finance department in sustainability activities combined with the lack of GHG emissions measurements are likely to be the reason for the underperformance

of port 6 on the operationalisation dimension. Depending on the organisational strategy, this insight could lead to developing an intervention targeting the organisational structure and operational activities of port 6 (change management). Additionally, this type of intervention can help optimise and prioritize the allocation of resources. For example, ports 5 and 6 are underperforming in different dimensions. While port 5 scores with the know-how and operationalisation dimensions and port 6 scores high with reporting, it is sensible to look at port 5 as a target for allocation of resources if the directive is to accelerate the adoption of climate technologies given that they already possess the know-how and have resources behind the operationalisation dimension. On the other hand, while port 6 might benefit from additional resources, the thematic and visual analysis provides a path to allocating these. For example, before allocating resources to the operationalisation dimension, improving the know-how dimension might make more sense.

#### **4. Discussion and Concluding Remarks**

This paper describes a methodology to assess the readiness of organisations to adopt climate technologies within the context of their transfer to private ownership from the perspective of a country asset development fund. It is worth mentioning that the work described in this paper is the first step and that further analysis is required to fine-tune the dimensions and the KPIs considered. Climate technologies (also known as cleantech, green technologies) as a thematic analysis was selected due to the potential benefits for the Greek blue economy. Future thematic analysis should target the assessment of critical resources efficiency and other topics such as governance transparency and inclusiveness.

While the team that developed the methodology and deployed it throughout all ports has experience with sustainability strategy and climate technologies, further development of the methodology requires the inclusion, or at least the input, of domain experts with an emphasis on organisational strategy.

The methodology described in this paper can serve as a starting point to initiate dialogue with ports' stakeholders. Moreover, it can be incredibly insightful for stakeholders interested in positioning Greece as a global leader at the intersection of climate technologies and maritime affairs.

Climate change directly impacts port operations and infrastructure. Given the critical role of ports in the global trading system and their potential exposure to climate-related damage, disruptions, and delays, enhancing their climate resilience is a matter of strategic socio-economic importance for the global economy and society (UNCTAD, 2020) [15].

Additionally, the recent pandemic has highlighted the need for ports to be prepared for drastic changes in demand and supply. The needed agility implies the modernisation of infrastructure systems. This modernisation is and will continue to be enabled by global economic packages, the European green deal, and the renewed visibility of ports as a critical element of global supply chains. This context provides the opportunity to utilise methodologies such as the one we propose as mechanisms to enable ports to allocate resources more efficiently to become more resilient and to take an active role in global decarbonisation efforts aligned with IPCC climate targets.

The crucial role of ports for a country's economic growth and development, the need for action on climate change adaptation, and resilience-building for ports are increasingly being recognised, including as part of the Global Climate Action Pathways for Transport and Resilience [16]; however, much more remains to be done. Until now, there has been very little analysis on how ports are affected by climate change, and even less evidence of how ready they are to adopt climate technologies. Therefore, the methodology presented in this paper provides a resource to understand the needs of ports leveraging the broad embracement of ESG assessment.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, M.C. and A.B.; methodology, A.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** The ESG digital rating tool mentioned in this paper was developed with funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

**Data Availability Statement:** The data utilised for the methodology developed in this paper are confidential. However, the focus of this paper is the methodology presented.

**Acknowledgments:** Climate KIC, an initiative by the European Institute for Innovation and Technology, through its Pioneer into Practice programme, a professional development programme, supported HRADF sustainability strategic goals by creating a collaborative working relationship with Germany's based Angel (Angelo) Batalla. Climate KIC brings together experienced sustainability and climate change professionals with leading organisations to work on climate and sustainability topics.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Teaching the Global Goals: Exploring the Experiences of Teacher Educators in an Online-Environment through Vignette Research †**

**Irma Eloff 1,\*, Kgadi Mathabathe 2, Evi Agostini <sup>3</sup> and Ann-Kathrin Dittrich <sup>4</sup>**


**Abstract:** The Teach4Reach research project explores how teacher education programmes can be leveraged to support the Sustainable Development Goals by raising awareness about the SDGs in teachers and teacher educators, and crafting future-focused research agendas on quality education, gender equality, reducing inequality and good health and wellbeing. It seeks to build international collaborative networks in teacher education to support the SDGs, and to support scientific knowledge development on the SDGs in education. As a data-generative strategy, the project utilises a series of online webinars that are coupled with research colloquia and vignette research. This paper shares the experiences of teacher educators from the inaugural Teach4Reach webinar through a vignette research methodology. In doing so, the paper echoes the challenges and opportunities presented in online environments. How do teacher educators experience online environments themselves in the search for quality education? Based on the vignette findings, the paper advocates for a revisitation of the four pillars of education: Learning to know ("the educator understands"), learning to do ("the educator is able to. . . "), learning to live together ("the educator works with others in ways that. . . ") and learning to be ("the educator is someone who. . . ").

**Keywords:** teacher education; teacher educators; sustainability; SDG 4; vignette research

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

**Citation:** Eloff, I.; Mathabathe, K.; Agostini, E.; Dittrich, A.-K. Teaching the Global Goals: Exploring the Experiences of Teacher Educators in an Online-Environment through Vignette Research. *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 5. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/environsciproc2022015005

Published: 31 March 2022

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#### **1. Introduction**

Teacher Educators are powerful agents of change with the ability to support the educational mission needed in the context of sustainable development. Their knowledge and competences are crucial for sustainable teaching and learning and can shape values and perspectives, and develop skills and concepts for pre-service or in-service teachers. This study posits that universities and schools should be experiential places of learning for sustainable development as a role model, and should therefore orient all their processes towards principles of sustainability [1,2] (p. 47).

The Teach4Reach project views teacher education as a critical pivot to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals in Agenda 2030. Some studies [3] (pp. xvii) indicate that only 7% of Teacher education programmes cover education for sustainable development and that it remains disconnected within the curriculum [4] (p. 7). Teachers can play an important role in creating awareness about sustainability. It is also widely accepted that effective teachers are the most important factor in a students' learning. With less than ten years left until 2030, the percentage on sustainability sciences in teacher education curricula

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needs to be increased substantially, in order to create global awareness of the criticality of the global goals for intergenerational equity, and for economic, environmental and social sustainability. Current crises like the Corona pandemic, also point towards the necessity of the implementation of new skills for creating global awareness in Teacher Education of sustainable development and the SDGs.

Though all 17 Global Goals are relevant within the field of education, the Teach4Reach project prioritises four SDGs, e.g., Quality education, Gender equality, Reduced inequalities, and Good Health and Wellbeing. The rationale for the focus on these four SDGs is its people-focus and the urgency of these SDGs in both the South African and Austrian contexts from where the study originated. Basic education can be critical to educating youth about the societal challenges such as gender-based violence, poverty reduction through reduced inequalities and the long-term effects of investments in quality education and wellbeing. In the advent of the fourth industrial revolution where technology plays a prominent role, there is substantial potential in the affordances of technology and teacher education to make progress on sustainable development in the areas of quality education, gender equality, reduced inequality, good health and wellbeing. By infusing the SDGs in teacher education and teacher professional development curricula, early sensitisation in pre- and in-service teachers can potentiate teachers to come up with practical solutions for sustainability in the classroom. Problem based learning is one way in which knowledge can be imparted. It can also help develop critical problem solving skills and values through teaching. This will be one of many avenues explored during the course of this project.

One essential factor for implementation of the SDGS is to enable a more sustainable and just society for all qualified teachers. For this, teacher education has to respond to transformation processes [5] (p. 29) and has to encourage changes in knowledge, skills, values and attitudes [2] (p. 9). Teacher Education must therefore meet these challenges and deliver a reorientation towards an Education for Sustainable Development [6]. How do teacher educators support Agenda2030 and specifically Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education even as they negotiate the changing landscapes in education?

#### **2. Methods**

The Teach4Reach research project adopts a mixed-methods methodology, which is founded in phenomenology. It employs a combination of vignette research, in-depth interviews and artefact gathering to collect data. This paper reports on the vignette research section during the initial phases of the study.

The complexities of the synergies between teacher education and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) necessitates a qualitatively nuanced research methodology, in this instance–vignette research. Infusing teacher education curricula with knowledge and awareness of the SDGs is a multi-layered process that requires finesse and in-depth understanding of the dynamics at play and a vignette methodology can serve this purpose.

The Teach4Reach research project leverages a two-year webinar series on teacher education and the SDGs (Global Goals teaching) to build a key group of researchers in teacher education who prioritise the sustainable development goals in teaching and research. The six webinars over the two-year period provide safe spaces for the sharing of ideas on ways in which teacher education curricula can be reformed or shaped to contribute towards the achievement of the identified sustainable development goals. International experts in sustainability sciences also contributes to the discussions.

Within this framework of the webinar series, the status quo of the SDGs and teacher education are researched in teacher education programmes from the Global South and the Global North. The audience of the webinars and the sample for the data collection for the project are Teacher Educators in Austria and South Africa and pre-and in-service students (undergraduate and postgraduate) from a variety of scientific disciplines. The two groups are important stakeholders for the implementation of the SDGs in Teacher Education. The connection between different stakeholders (groups and from different

countries) also provides a platform to share ideas, and to rethink critical current concepts in teacher education and sustainability.

Concurrent to the webinar series, the project focuses on the development of the next generation of teacher education researchers who focus on sustainable development. As such, the webinars and the research project may also potentially provide innovative and sustainable ideas that provide a holistic and transdisciplinary character for lifelong learning. The study actively seeks future developments that can be initiated to consider the four selected SDGs in teacher education programs.

#### *2.1. Rationale for the Teach4Reach Project*

Expanding the critical mass of researchers and future teachers, who contribute to knowledge development in the sustainable development goals within the realm of global teacher education, can serve as a key strategy to attaining the global goals as presented in Agenda 2030.

The primary research question in the Teach4Reach project is:

How can teacher education programmes be leveraged to support Agenda 2030 and the sustainable development goals?

The secondary research questions in the Teach4Reach project are:


#### *2.2. Research Question*

For the purpose of this paper, the research team zoomed in on the experiences of teacher educators during high-level discussions on the role of teacher education programmes to support Agenda2030. The research question in this paper therefore is:

How do teacher educators experience online discussions on quality education?

The rationale for this level of analysis, is the assumption that teacher educators play a pivotal role in the ways in which future teachers will engage with the science of sustainability broadly, and quality education (SDG 4) specifically. Deeper understandings of their personal lived experiences may therefore potentially contribute to more engaged learning environments in the future.

#### *2.3. Research Setting and Participants*

An integrated process that couples research team meetings, before, during, and after each webinar, is followed in the broad research project. Within this process, the vignette research methodology is regarded as a highly suitable methodology to capture tonal variation as teacher educators and students engaged with SDG materials and discourses, even in virtual settings such as interactional webinars.

This paper reports on a section of the data collected at the inaugural Teach4Reach webinar which took place mid-year in 2021. The focus of the webinar was on SDG 4 (Quality education). The webinar was hosted from the Future Africa campus of the University of Pretoria. Registered participants (*n* = 109) included virtual delegates from Mauritius, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Sudan, Austria, Italy, France, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom. An additional group of virtual participants (*n* = 136) engaged via livestreaming on youtube.

#### *2.4. Vignette Research*

As stated, the primary vignette methodology used in this project is associated with the "Innsbruck Vignette Research" approach, an innovative phenomenological approach to empirical school research, which attempts to capture and analyse the experiences of

students in school [7,8]. Hence, a special focus is placed on experiences regarding the quality of education, gender issues, (in-) equalities and individual well-being. The challenge for researchers is how to capture these experiences while in the field. Therefore, researchers in the field attempt to stay open and are particularly attentive to pathic elements such as atmosphere, facial and bodily expressions and tone of voice of pupils and teachers. These details are collected by researchers in protocols, which then form the basis for writing the vignettes. The vignettes are thick descriptions of the lived experience of the researchers and as close as possible to the experience of the participants in the field. Due to the linguistic expansion, vignettes are best understood as a form of literary non-fiction in which researchers strive to manifest and point to the impossible plurality of the experience by revealing the pathic qualities of a tangible moment perceived by them. To ensure that the researchers communicate the essence of the experience of the participants as completely as possible without adding their own interpretation, the individual genesis of a vignette is documented, then communicatively validated with the participants in the field and through a workshop method within a research team.

Once vignettes have been crafted, they become the primary data for phenomenological analysis, a process referred to as "vignette reading". In reading a vignette, researchers engage in the experience as readers, holding back from categorizing and explaining in order to uncover, peel off and add layers of understanding to what is given. Hence, an appropriate interpretation of data in the phenomenological tradition is one which "points to" phenomena of experience rather than "points out" findings [9].

From a university didactic perspective, vignettes are also used as instruments of professionalization by making experiences regarding the quality of education, gender issues, (in-) equalities and individual well-being comprehensible. Hence, they can contribute to a sustainable change in the attitude of (future) teachers and teacher educators, as in this case the sustainability agenda.

In the project, vignettes are used as research instruments during the webinars, to capture the experiences of the participants in the webinar and guarantee a learner-oriented perspective on the four selected SDGs. In this paper, the vignettes focus on SDG 4 on 'Quality education'.

#### *2.5. Data Collection and Ethics*

Ethical clearance was provided by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria (UP) (EDU049/21). Additional approval for the study was granted by The UP Survey Coordinating Committee on 4 June 2021.

Data was collected during the second breakout session of the webinar. Participants were informed of the study at multiple timepoints, e.g., webinar invitations, on the webinar programme itself and during the proceedings. Participants consented to the sessions being recorded.

The broad theme of the second breakout session was stated as, 'Understandings of sustainability and quality education in the global context'. Within each breakout group, the open discussions were guided by the following questions/themes:


A vignette researcher was allocated to each breakout room. The vignette researchers captured observation data as the dialogue under each of the questions/themes unfolded. In this paper the vignettes that emanated from three of the sessions are shared, e.g., the sessions that addressed the questions, "How can teacher education programmes be leveraged in the future, to support Agenda 2030 and the sustainable development goals?", its German parallel, "Welchen Beitrag können LehrerInnenbildungsprogramme zukünftig leisten, um die Agenda 2030 sowie die Ziele für nachhaltige Entwick-lung zu unterstützen?", and "Within the framework of teacher education programmes, what can a university didactic setting that realizes the SDGs-goals, look like in concrete terms?".

#### *2.6. Data Analysis*

Vignette research precipitates the process of data analysis in that it entails an iterativegenerative process. Raw vignettes are crafted from synchronous observation data and then developed in subsequent processes of refinement until final vignettes are presented. For the purpose of this paper, three vignette researchers crafted raw vignettes, presented it to critical readers, and then refined the vignettes. Iteratively, the final vignettes then also present a new level of data sources. Three vignettes are presented here.

#### **3. Findings**

As stated, the findings from the study are presented via three vignettes. As such, it depicts the critical minutiae at play during complicated discussions on matters of quality education, teacher education and sustainability.

#### *3.1. Vignette 1*

The scene takes place during a breakout session in a webinar on the topic 'Supporting the Agenda 2030 in Teacher Education'. After a presentation the participants are invited to join one of five breakout sessions. This breakout session focusses on the topic 'How can teacher educations programmes be leveraged tin the future to support Agenda 2030 and the SDG's?' and there are just over 10 participants from Europe and Africa in the session. After an introduction by the moderator, Wilma, a first participant shares his thoughts on the topic. Once he finishes Wilma thanks him for his input and asks the participants if there are any remarks, questions or ideas that they would like to share. Derek raises his hand digitally and Wilma acknowledges this by saying his name and that he wants to say something. Derek turns on his camera and unmutes his microphone. He beams into the camera with eyes wide open and a smile from cheek to cheek. He lifts his head slightly while inhaling audibly and opens his mouth in one gesture. At this moment Wilma begins speaking again. Derek lowers his shoulders and tilts his head downward. His gaze descends and fixates on his desk directly in front of him. He furrows his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth turn slightly downwards. He mutes his microphone. Wilma finishes what she wanted to add and calls Derek by name again and asks him to pose his point. Derek's facial expression changes instantly. He raises his shoulders, tilts his head back and lifts the corners of his mouth to a broad smile. He raises his eyebrows and his eyes are wide open. The tone of his facial muscles is relaxed. Derek proceeds to talk and introduces himself in a hasty manner. He points out that unlike the other participants, he isn't an expert on the subject, but that he would like to raise a question. His facial expression and tonality change. His eyebrows are furrowed and the smile is replaced by a neutral expression of his lips. His eyes aren't wide open anymore and his gaze seems focussed and fixated on the bottom of his screen. He tenses his face muscles. His speech is slow and clear. He asks about possible collaborations and how they can be achieved, as he sees them as necessary in order to reach all students. After his question, his tonality and facial expression return to relaxed smile that he showed when he initially started talking. His eyes are wide open again and his eyebrows are slightly raised. He says that he would like to hear other opinions on this matter, thanks Wilma and turns off his webcam and mutes his microphone. Wilma thanks him and asks participants to share their thoughts on the matter. Meryl, another participant, raises her hand digitally. Wilma acknowledges her and asks her what she would like to say. Meryl unmutes herself, turns on her webcam and starts to talk. She speaks for roughly 5 min on an unrelated matter that doesn't connect to Derek's question. Derek's screen remains dark and his microphone remains muted for the rest of the breakout session.

#### *3.2. Vignette 2*

"I warmly welcome you to topic 2", trumpets Angelika, the facilitator of the Germanlanguage breakout session into the "Zoom" round. She frowns, squints her eyes, before her face relaxes into a broad smile. Her eyes wander searchingly over the screen before Angelika briefly introduces herself. She welcomes the experts from Austria invited for this session, the two students Lisa and Verena, the teacher educator Sarah, and Lucas, professor and Unesco Chair for Global Citizenship Education. Then, with a short welcome, she turns to the remaining five people present in this session. "I would have thought that the experts would open a small round of reflection", Angelika suggests. She shares her screen and shows the audience a promotional video summarising the goals of the 2030 Agenda, especially SDG4. She then gives the floor to the invited experts with "I would be interested to hear what the four experts have to say". Almost immediately Lisa, one of the two students, then the student Verena, then the teacher trainer Sarah speak up. In addition, a South African professor intervenes with a request to speak. The discussion revolves around lone wolfism in teacher education, inequalities and the lack of implementation of SDGs even in privileged teacher education programmes. Suddenly the discussion stops. Lucas clears his throat: "I'm actually quite happy that I was able to listen to you first", he says thoughtfully, before adding. "What are the experiences?" He pauses, then continues, "It's about habitus reflexive action, or actions in need to be questioned". He says with determination: "It's not just about what doesn't work, but the question is where can we discern and start?".

#### *3.3. Vignette 3*

Silence dominates the unknown situation. Time ticks on as everyone introduces themselves and the contexts in which they function. As the kaleidoscope of participants keep quiet to await the instructions, no virtual eye-to-eye contact is made. Tobias, the facilitator, eagerly opens up the discussion on Sustainable Development Goals to everyone. Olivia excitedly makes it known that she knows Mia, as they attended the same rustic school in Swaziland. Smiles are seen on the split screens. "Consciousness is a crucial point for Sustainable Development Goals", comments Olivia. "Teachers should be taught how to incorporate Sustainable Development Goals into education", proclaims Mia. "We all know how important experience is", responds Tobias. Everyone looks away; there is once again a resounding silence and awkward online presence. The operating light is still blinking, but it is returned with blank expressions. The distant humming sound of a ringing cell phone jolts the group back to reality. In an attempt to pick up where the quiet ended, Charlotte charges into a sentence: "It is not about knowing, but about being". The conversation ensues. "I agree", says Tobias, "a total human experience is crucial". Suddenly, another screen opens and a seventh participant makes an appearance—Petra from Berlin. In a soft, almost shy voice, Petra lowers her head and whispers into her mic: "Empathy and social emotional competencies should be taken into account in education". Paying close attention to what Petra has to say, Monika, in a more boisterous tone, elaborates on the importance of inquiry-based education, insisting that "it is one of the key aims in the future". Amara's screen is muted. She does not venture into the discussion, for now. "But what should teacher education look like in the year 2030?" inquires Tobias, seeking to steer the conversation in a particular direction. "I would like to see more assessments in the future and not standardised tests", remarks Mia. "That's profound", chirps Tobias excitedly as he puts the tip of his pen in his mouth, "I think you are touching on an important aspect". "Well, in my view the curriculum should be value-driven", utters Amara next. "Education by nature is value-driven", affirms Emily with a knowing smile. Not quite sure of what to

say next, "I wish to see teachers as lifelong learners", adds Olivia. "These are all valuable remarks", exclaims Tobias, as it appears everyone is still listening to the rhythm of the questions and answers. "Every voice must become one", retorts Monika. "Marvellous", replies Tobias as he glances at his watch and responds: "We'll have to leave it at that until next time". As each person disconnects, the images on the screen go blank like a thick heavy curtain closing out an audience and a deafening silence falls.

#### **4. Discussion**

The three vignettes portray three distinct experiences during the same timeframe, within the same webinar on SDG 4 (Quality education), within three separate breakout groups. Simultaneously, it illustrates the uniqueness of personal participatory experiences, even as it describes the complexities of high-level discussions on the interactions between teacher education, quality education and the broad sustainability agenda.

It has been established that higher education institutions are key for the implementation of sustainability principles and also that sustainability based curricula and culture change is key to mindset transformation to support Agenda2030 [10]. This role of higher education institutions necessitates the need for increasing interdisciplinarity. As such, calls for a more systematic introduction of the SDGs in university programs have also gained momentum [11], and are finding support in projects like the Teach4Reach project.

In Vignette 1, the interactions between a group facilitator and a highly experienced group of educational and interdisciplinary researchers are portrayed. In this vignette, technology brings anonymity behind muted screens, even as it decreases the geographical distances between participants. The timeframe within which the discussion must take place, creates urgency, and the impetus of individual contributions reduces the opportunities for in-depth connections in between individual contributions. Non-verbal communication is tangibly experienced and amplified by projections on a flat screen. Even though the intellectual contributions to the discussion seem to be rich and intricate, the potentiation of new network-development and post-webinar follow-up are absent.

In Vignette 2, which captures some of the dynamics of the German parallel session on the same question (hence the German punctuation), the intricate dynamics between the group facilitator and the wider group of participants are again central in the storyline of the vignette. The conversational rhythms, mediated by technological interaction, are presented as staccato at some points, abrupt in others, and sometimes even on a vanishing continuum. The participants are concurrently listeners and contributors. Privilege and inequality, individualism, and intimacy of connections within a global world are implicitly present in this vignette. The vignette ends with a strong appeal to also find (hinsp ˝uren) what is working in education.

Vignette 3 presents a corporal (e.g., bodily) experience of an online breakout session and it also expands the sensory 'picture' of the session. The affective effect of two participants connecting online after many years, ripples through the session and creates a moment of poignancy in a discussion on global education. The global becomes local. The unknown becomes familiar. Yet, the silences and the abruptness of screens opening and closing also generate the same ambiguities within a 'learning' environment, that are present in the previous vignettes.

There are scenes of similarity that present in all three of the vignettes: the challenges of turn-taking during online discussions, the impunity of "raising" of virtual and actual hands, and the unintended silences that interject the attempts at meaningful discussions. In all instances, the critical role of the facilitator is wellknown in the education realm, yet pertinently re-emphasised here.

In a systematic review of the literature on Education and SDGs [12] the importance of the acquisition of commitment and participatory processes have been emphasized in order to ensure optimal support for the SDGs in education. These authors [10,12] have argued that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) should become the essence of teaching and learning at tertiary institutions, and also that educational institutions are to be guided in the process of incorporating the SDGs, allowing for contextual adaptability and acknowledgment of the level of institutional commitment.

This paper illustrates the embedded advantage for studies that are investigating education in education. The lived experiences of participants during an online webinar on Quality Education (SDG 4) in this study echoes the lived experiences of teachers and students around the globe. Education researchers are learning along with all students. The personal becomes public and the learnings become pervasively applicable. If we, as educational researchers, struggle within the new realities of technological platforms, newfangled power dynamics and the vastness of possibilities, what are the implications for the students and teachers of the world? How do we support Agenda2030 and specifically Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education?

The relationship between teachers and society, their values, attitudes and behaviours with regard to sustainability have been broadly connected to the four pillars of education [13]: Learning to know ("the educator understands"), learning to do ("the educator is able to. . . "), learning to live together ("the educator works with others in ways that. . . ") [14] and learning to be ("the educator is someone who. . . ") [15,16]. The initial findings (and vignettes) in this paper, presents an appeal for a revisit to the four pillars of education in new ways that capture the new realities of education.

#### **5. Conclusions**

Teacher education programmes present a critical vehicle whereby Agenda2030 broadly, and SDG 4 specifically, can be supported. This paper presents the lived experiences of teacher educators as they grapple with the tenets of quality education in an online environment. As stated, the Teach4Reach project seeks to explore the ways in which teacher education programmes can be optimized to support sustainability. The paper presents an argument that education researchers are in a unique position to excavate their own learning experiences, in order to arrive at deeper understandings of learning processes; and thus potentially be able to contribute to a revisit of the notion of the four pillars of education [12], i.e., Learning to know, Learning to do, Learning to live together and Learning to be.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, I.E., A.-K.D., E.A. and K.M.; methodology, I.E., E.A., A.-K.D. and K.M.; validation, I.E., K.M., E.A. and A.-K.D.; formal analysis, E.A. and I.E.; vignettes: E.A.; resources, I.E.; data curation, I.E., E.A., K.M. and A.-K.D.; writing—original draft preparation, I.E., E.A. and K.M.; writing—review and editing, K.M.; project administration, I.E., K.M., E.A. and A.-K.D.; funding acquisition, I.E., A.-K.D., E.A. and K.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Africa-Uninet, OeAD-GmbH—Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation, grant number P008\_South Africa.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Review Board (or Ethics Committee) of The Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria (EDU049/21).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data supporting the reported results and findings is available from the authors, upon reasonable request.

**Acknowledgments:** Functional, administrative and technical support in terms of hosting the webinar for data collection was provided by the University of Pretoria, as well as the Future Africa campus. The vignettes were written by Joseph-Sebastian Steinlechner, Evi Agostini and Hendrik P. Mostert.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **The Global Green New Deal: The New Norm? †**

**Injy Johnstone**

Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6012, New Zealand; injy.johnstone@vuw.ac.nz † Presented at the ICSD 2021: 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development, Virtual, 20–21 September 2021.

**Abstract:** The Global Green New Deal (GGND) has had a resurgence through calls for 'building back better' from COVID-19 by way of a green recovery. News headlines suggest that the world has, so far, missed this opportunity, yet close analysis of the data reveals a more subtle trend at play. An aggregate analysis of COVID-19 stimulus measures from the perspective of plurilateral summit institutions reveals that both the G7 and the BRICS countries have implemented a proportionally higher volume of clean versus dirty stimulus measures. This indicates that the GGND could indeed be 'the new norm' even as it continues its nascent emergence. However, a significant gap remains between the G7 and the BRICS countries in their respective proportions of clean versus dirty stimulus measures. Given the role of the same groupings as respective net carbon importers and net carbon exporters, there remains an ongoing risk of 'carbon leakage'. In making this connection, this paper underscores the potentially crucial role that carbon border adjustment measures will play as the GGND continues to emerge as a possible 'new norm' of global governance.

**Keywords:** Global Green New Deal; global governance; COVID-19; green recovery; international trade

#### **1. Introduction**

Through strategic public investments in sectors such as energy, transport, and industry, a Global Green New Deal (GGND) seeks to decouple economic development from carbon emissions, when rebuilding an economy post an economic shock. The GGND was first proposed in 2009 by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) [1]. The UNEP's proposal for a GGND included three elements, domestic stimulus, public policy change, and international coordination [1]. Plurilateral summit institutions (PSIs) play major roles in driving the latter and, as such, form a major part of the contemporary global governance landscape. Given that they also represent a sizeable share of the global economy and greenhouse emissions, PSIs also play key roles in either driving forward or hampering progress towards a GGND [2,3]. The resurgence of the GGND framework in 2019, when paired with the opportunity of 'building back better' from COVID-19, presented the first window to assess the practice and consequences of the GGND for global governance from the perspective of PSIs.

This paper takes an early opportunity to explore empirical variation in the green recovery practices of the G7 and BRICS countries in their recovery from COVID-19 through a novel interrogation of open-source data from the Global Recovery Observatory database. Then, it considers how this practice may impact global governance, specifically from the perspective of the trade–climate nexus. The paper begins by outlining the original GGND framework and its normative resurgence in 2019. Section 2 continues with an overview of the link between the GGND and 'building back better' and provides early insights as to the implications of this practice of the GGND for the trade–climate nexus. Section 3 describes the methodology of the paper, including the datasets it analyses and the framework of the 'norm lifecycle' it employs. Section 4 discusses the findings of the results, and their implications for global governance. Section 5 presents a summary of the ways in which the GGND can and cannot yet be considered the 'new norm'. Given the preliminary nature of

**Citation:** Johnstone, I. The Global Green New Deal: The New Norm? *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/ environsciproc2022015006

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

Published: 31 March 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

this research and considering the ongoing nature of the COVID-19 recovery, this paper also outlines areas for future research throughout.

#### **2. Research Background**

The GGND can be conceived as a norm bundle containing norms that facilitate the twin goals of decarbonisation and development. To understand the foundation of the GGND as a norm bundle, one must examine the constituent elements of the original framework. Since the GGND framework has evolved since its conception, it is also necessary to assess its form and substance in light of its recent resurgence and, only then, is it possible to view the opportunity that COVID-19 provide through calls for 'building back better' from COVID-19. While the GGND is a nascent trend, it is already prompting divisions among the PSIs, including the G7 and the BRICS countries. In turn, contention over green recoveries in global governance are being expressed in the domain of international trade. In this way, the trade–climate nexus is key to the normative diffusion of the GGND. The following section provides an introductory commentary in each of these areas.

#### *2.1. Understanding the Global Green New Deal*

The UNEP outlines three broad objectives of the GGND: to make a major contribution to reviving the world economy, to reduce carbon dependency and ecosystem degradation, and to further sustainable and inclusive growth [1] (pp. 5–6). To reach these objectives, the UNEP describes three core elements of the GGND. The first is state-led economic stimulus [1] (pp. 6–9). This stimulus should decarbonise carbon-intensive sectors such as energy, transport, buildings, and agriculture [1] (pp. 6–9). The second element is domestic policy reform [1] (pp. 9–12). Reforms include eliminating environmentally harmful subsidies and strengthening environmental legislation [1] (pp. 9–12). Complementary to domestic stimulus and policy reform, is the third element, which is international coordination [1] (pp. 12–16). This element includes changes to the policy architecture governing international trade, aid, global carbon markets, and technology transfers [1] (pp. 12–16). The GGND was launched in response to the global financial crisis. Upon release, it received a degree of domestic support from states, including being part of former U.S. President Barack Obama's legislative agenda [4]. Yet, its uptake remained limited and consequently, the world saw an increase in greenhouse gas emissions that soon exceeded levels seen prior to the global financial crisis [5] (pp. 3–8).

#### *2.2. The Normative Resurgence of the GGND*

Recent legislative and policy proposals reveal a resurgence of the GGND. In 2018, as part of the IPCC report on reaching the 1.5 ◦C temperature target of the Paris Agreement, a policy of achieving 'net-zero' emissions was recommended [6]. The next question was "How could this be achieved?" The answer was provided by Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez as part of a rallying call for a proposal for a Green New Deal [7]. Following this, a Green New Deal Bill was tabled in the United States [8]. Although the bill failed to pass, it sparked a wildfire of debate with embers travelling across oceans, with proposals that were also tabled in the United Kingdom, European Union, and Australia [9–11]. Local green new deals were passed by a range of local and state actors, including London and New York [12,13]. These proposals for broader green new deals have seen more varying degrees of success, yet all have provided insight into the normative character of the GGND. It is from this foundation that the GGND's normative resurgence in response to COVID-19 prompted calls for 'building back better'.

#### *2.3. Building Back Better from COVID-19*

Proposals for a GGND have been further amplified by calls for 'building back better' from COVID-19 [14]. 'Building back better' is a term that pre-exists COVID-19 and implies an opportunity for resilient, inclusive, and environmentally friendly recovery, post disasters [15]. To that end, the United Nations General Assembly urged states to implement a

"climate and environment responsive approach to COVID-19 recovery efforts" [16]. States have since recognised the importance of 'greening' their COVID-19-related domestic stimulus packages [17]. The European Union, the United Kingdom, and South Korea stand out as particular 'norm entrepreneurs' of the GGND through their policy plans to explicitly respond to COVID-19 by way of a green recovery [18–21]. Countering norm entrepreneurs are 'norm antipreneurs' who seek to disrupt norm diffusion of the GGND [22] (p. 311). Examples of states acting as norm antipreneurs of the GGND include Russia and Saudi Arabia [23,24] (pp. 10–11, 13–14). At the same time, international organisations are also increasingly embracing their roles in coordinating the 'global' element of the GGND [25–27]. Therefore, both state and international organisations can be viewed to form a 'community of practice' of the GGND [28]. PSIs, such as the G7 and the BRICS countries, are intermediaries among state and international organisations, possessing qualities of both. Thus, with this context in mind, PSIs are a useful perspective from which to assess the norm development of the GGND.

#### *2.4. Plurilateral Summit Insitutions as Norm Entrepreneurs and Antipreneurs*

The increasing uptake of green recovery has consequences for the long-term decarbonisation trajectories of states and collectively informs the chances of the world obtaining the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement [29]. Yet, for global governance, there is already a clear schism emerging among the PSIs. Norm entrepreneurs of the GGND, including the European Union and United Kingdom, have strongly influenced the activities of the G7 and G20 to act as a vehicle for norm diffusion. This has resulted in the G7 members committing to a green recovery in their Carbis Bay Communiqué [30] and the first recognition of the importance of carbon pricing by the G20 Finance Ministers in their Rome Communiqué [31] (p. 3). G7 member states have now all committed to green recoveries domestically, prompting unprecedented levels of climate-specific funding. Leading examples of this are the European Union's Next Generation EU project which directs one third of its spending to climate change and President Biden's proposed Build Back Better framework which directs a significant stimulus to clean energy as a backbone of America's ongoing economic recovery [19,32]. Members of the G7 built on this track record in their efforts at COP26 in November 2021. This included expanding the Build Back Better World (B3W) plan first launched at the G7 s Carbis Bay Summit and which sought to offer climate-conscious infrastructure investment [33]. Similarly, COP26 was also used as a platform for G7 members to announce collaborative plurilateral and bilateral partnerships with key BRICS countries, including South Africa and India [34,35]. These are illustrative of the kinds of nascent, yet innovative, approaches that norm entrepreneurs take to diffuse the GGND's norms.

By contrast, the norm antipreneurs amongst G20 member states have largely been attributed as reasons why G20 members, collectively, did not go further in agreeing to phase out coal in the G20 Leader's Communiqué. The BRICS countries are also in an interesting position, having signalled varying degrees of commitment to green recoveries, ranging from China's commitment to a net-zero target by 2060 through to Russia's active rejection of the notion of a green recovery. At COP26, BRICS countries India and China also intervened in the closing moments of COP26 in November 2021 to change language from 'phase out' to 'phase down' coal [36]. This clearly indicates that, while norms such as the GGND's energy transition norm are now seen as inevitable, there remains ongoing disagreement about the breadth, depth and timing of this transition. The divergence in the practices of PSIs reveals ongoing contestation over the normative diffusion of the GGND within global governance.

#### *2.5. Implications of the GGND as the New Norm*

The contestation of the normative character of the GGND is representative of the real-world implications it brings with it. The elements of the GGND are inherently interconnected and it is the trade–climate nexus that offers the best view of this connection. For

example, without trade protections in place, changes in the domestic policies of states due to the GGND may result in 'carbon leakage'. At the same time, mechanisms to prevent this through border adjustments could be challenged as a breach of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. Domestic green stimulus is also at risk of breaching the WTO's rules on subsidies. For these reasons, the GGND's international element could be simultaneously and mutually constructive in the form of climate clubs, or destructive in the form of a dispute resolution at the WTO. Other articles in the literature have examined the nuances inherent within the trade–climate nexus in much greater detail [37–39]. This paper, instead, seeks to review the risks it carries with the benefit of early empirical insights into the practice of the GGND.

#### **3. Methodology**

The world is still in the midst of efforts for 'building back better' from COVID-19. The current literature suggests that there is a large gap between this rhetoric and real-world practice [40–42]. However, most assessments either view the green recovery response as an aggregate or at a country-level basis. This neglects the role of PSIs which, as outlined above, play unique roles in norm building in global governance. To explore the roles they play, this analysis examines the green recovery practices of PSIs, as well as the implications of this for the trade–climate nexus. The presentation of two empirical snapshots of both domains doubt presents a crude picture. Therefore, it is important to highlight that this methodology only intends to provide a preliminary insight which should be continually tested as further practices develop.

To gauge the practices of the G7 members and the BRICS countries, first, this research analysed the open-source data from the Global Observatory Recovery database (GRD) [43]. The GRD was created in partnership between the University of Oxford, the UNEP, the Global Fiscal Policy Network, the German Agency for International Cooperation and the International Monetary Fund, PAGE, and the United Nations Development Program. As a database, the GRD provides the most comprehensive assessment and categorisation of the fiscal policies of a diverse range of countries [44] (p. 8). The GRD is an open-source database and is updated regularly as more recovery data become available. Updated versions of the GRD are released periodically to the public. This assessment employed the dataset versions released on 10 March 2021, 23 May 2021, and 11 October 2021, successively.

The objective of the GRD is to classify fiscal policy measures that form part of the economic rescue and recovery from COVID-19. For this task, the Global Recovery Observatory created an exhaustive system of 5 typologies, 40 archetypes, and 158 sub-archetypes [43]. Then, the Global Recovery Observatory used a sophisticated Likert assessment to determine the environmental, social, and economic policy impacts of the archetypes [44] (p. 6). Assessments of greenhouse gas emissions under the archetypes are uniquely subject to consideration of both the short-term and long-term emission profiles, given the differential impacts that both bring [44] (p. 6). In this way, archetypes are categorised to clearly distinguish between policies that support and harm the objective of combatting climate change [44] (p. 6). It is on this basis that the GRD categorises archetypes as either 'clean' or 'dirty' stimuli. 'Clean' stimuli include measures such as investments in renewable energy or clean transport. 'Dirty' stimuli include measures such as investments in oil and gas operations as well as airlines. This assessment focuses on the direct proportion between clean and dirty measures as being indications of the trends in the green recoveries amongst PSIs. However, for most measures, the database also provides data on the economic size of each measure (both in real terms and standardised to the U.S. dollar). Once this aspect of the database is finalised, the data could also be used for a more wide-ranging analysis of the volume of dirty versus clean spending and not only the proportion.

While the green recovery practice may initially be at a domestic level, the international trade effects are not far behind. The notion of 'net-zero' has increasingly become intertwined with the objective of the GGND and its intermediary by way of a green recovery. Examining the implications of this for PSIs also requires an examination of the latest trends in the carbon intensity of international trade. The newly established Climate Dashboard of the International Monetary Fund provides open-source data for this purpose [45]. This analysis used these data to aggregate the net carbon intensity of trade for the G7 members and the BRICS countries from 2009–2019 and plots them for visual analysis.

To connect these snapshots of green recovery practices of PSIs and the carbon intensity of their international trade, this analysis adopted Finnemore and Skikkink's model of the 'norm lifecycle' [18]. The norm lifecycle begins with norm 'emergence', where norm entrepreneurs seek to persuade other network participants of the value of a norm [18] (p. 898). Then, norms reach the stage of 'cascade', where through socialisation, states and other actors see norm adoption as a means of enhancing their legitimacy [18] (p. 898). Once norms have cascaded, they become internalised within the system. It is at the stage of 'internationalisation' where conformity with norms is sought and is reflected in professional and bureaucratic settings such as law and policy [18] (p. 898). Applied to the case at hand, it was green recovery practices that provided the best proxy for the emergence and cascade of the GGND as a source of norms and the international trade system that offered the best insights into internalisation of its norms.

#### **4. Results**

The results of the empirical analysis are summarized in Tables A1 and A2 and are graphically presented below in Figures 1 and 2.

**Figure 1.** Proportion of clean versus dirty stimulus measures in response to COVID-19, by G7 versus BRICS countries.

**Figure 2.** Balance of carbon dioxide emissions from trade: G7 vs. BRICS averages.

Figure 1 displays the proportion of clean versus dirty stimulus measures employed in response to COVID-19 by the G7 and the BRICS countries, in intervals between March and May 2021 and between May and October 2021. Aggregating by PSI, in this manner, highlights the differentiation in the proportion of clean stimulus measures employed. The proportion of green recovery measures employed by G7 members remains high at 78% at all measured intervals. Moreover, while BRICS countries had a proportionately net-dirty stimulus in March 2021, this changed to a proportionally net-clean stimulus as of May 2021, a significant move upwards. Interestingly, the trend of an increase of around 7% in the proportion of clean activities among the BRICS countries continued between May and October 2021.

Figure 2 is based on aggregated data from the Climate Tracker of the International Monetary Fund. It shows the net balance of carbon dioxide emissions that G7 and BRICS countries embodied in their international trade. It reveals that in aggregate, the BRICS countries are net carbon exporters and the G7 countries are net carbon importers. The trend lines of the BRICS and G7 appear to mirror one another suggesting that trade flows between the two trading blocs remain a large source of carbon intensive trade on a global scale. Furthermore, a nascent divergence can be seen from 2017 to 2019 which indicates the presence of a growing disparity between their respective volumes of embodied carbon emissions.

#### **5. Discussion**

The above results are intended to provide a preliminary overview of the empirical practice of the GGND as 'the new norm' and its implications for the trade–climate nexus. From it, some possible trends for norm diffusion of the GGND can be identified which are discussed in this section.

#### *5.1. Different Speeds, Same Direction of Travel*

The news headlines have suggested that the world is failing at 'building back better' from COVID-19 [46,47]. An aggregate analysis of PSIs suggests that a more subtle trend may indeed still be developing. Figure 1 indicates that both the G7 and the BRICS countries are now implementing a higher proportion of clean versus dirty stimulus measures in response to COVID-19. This could signal that state practice is now shifting from the status quo 'grey' economic recovery to a 'green' economic recovery. Notwithstanding this, the proportion is evidently higher in G7 countries. This supports the observation that the G7 has engaged more robustly with climate change as a global governance issue than other groups [48]. It also reflects the more prescient roles that climate change and green new deal policies play in the G7's Carbis Bay Communiqué [30]. The fact that climate change does not feature as a topic high on the agenda of the BRICS's summits is also reflected in their initial preference for dirty versus clean stimulus measures. However, the data for both May and October 2021 reflect a change in this, in which they are both now funding proportionally more clean measures than dirty as part of the COVID-19 response. This could be a more broad-based signal that, as the COVID-19 stimulus packages are shifting from the rescue to recovery phase in many parts of the world, they too are becoming greener. Nevertheless, Figure 1 demonstrates how there remains a proportional gap of 21.8% between the green recoveries of the G7 and the BRICS countries, as of October 2021. Importantly, Figure 1 also illustrates that the gap between the greenness of the recoveries of PSIs has indeed narrowed over the course of 2021. This reflects the fact that while PSIs may have the same direction of travel regarding a green recovery, the pursuit of this remains at different speeds.

#### *5.2. Importance of Carbon Market Coherency in the Transition to Net-Zero Emissions*

The potential that the GGND is becoming 'the new norm' faster in the G7 countries as compared with the BRICS countries, presents a dilemma due to the two group's growing divergence as net carbon importers and exporters revealed in Figure 2. While this diver-

gence exists, it is likely that strong border measures, such as carbon border adjustment mechanisms, are needed to ensure the coherency of domestic carbon markets and, concurrently, to ensure the GGND is not undermined by carbon leakage. At the same time, the norm cascade inevitably challenges the pre-existing norms at play. CBAMs may directly conflict with the norms of international trade law, such as most-favoured-nation national treatment. A prime example of the CBAM as a phenomenon is the mechanism proposed by the European Commission in July 2021. The European Commission's CBAM is designed to apply an equivalent carbon levy on imported carbon intensive goods to ensure equivalence with like domestic products that are already subject to its own Emissions Trading System [49]. In response, Russia and China have signalled that they would consider bringing a dispute on such a CBAM to the WTO [49,50]. The result of this, should it occur, will prove a key window into the success of the internalisation of the GGND's norms within global governance. Future research should assess the implications of GGND's internalisation with the carbon intensity data from 2020 onwards, particularly, to see the impact that COVID-19 had on this metric. In the meantime, these preliminary insights from the trade–climate nexus underlines the importance of carbon market coherency in the global transition to net-zero emissions.

#### **6. Conclusions**

PSIs play a key role in global governance of the GGND, with their members holding roles as both norm entrepreneurs and antipreneurs. This paper provides a novel perspective on the green recovery practice of the G7 and the BRICS countries by contrasting their direct proportion of clean versus dirty recovery stimulus. It reveals that contrary to other investigations on an aggregate or individual basis, the G7 and the BRICS countries are now implementing the same or a higher proportion of clean versus dirty stimulus measures; a proportion which changed between March 2021 and May 2021. This indicates early evidence of norm diffusion of the GGND, suggesting that it could well be a 'new norm' in global governance. While both the G7 and BRICS countries are employing the same or higher amount of clean than dirty measures as a proportion, the green recovery trend is undoubtedly clearer in both the normative rhetoric and practice of the G7. The different speeds with which both the G7 and the BRICS countries are implementing green recoveries in their 'building back better' from COVID-19 has direct implications for the future of international trade. Statistics on the emissions intensity of international trade reveal that the G7 countries are net carbon importers, and the BRICS countries are net carbon exporters. They also indicate that the divergence between the two group's net-carbon emissions from trade could well be growing. Therefore, strong border measures are needed to ensure the coherency of domestic carbon markets and, concurrently, to ensure the GGND is not undermined by carbon leakage. Consequently, while it cannot be said that the GGND is 'the new norm' in global governance yet, amongst PSIs there are nascent indications it could well be in the future.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/environsciproc2022015006/s1. Appendix A and B below provide more detail on the figures and the Data analysis worksheet is attached as Supplementary Material S1.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data on which the analysis included in Appendix A are based on can be accessed here: https://recovery.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/tracking/#:~:text=The%20Global%20 Recovery%20Observatory%20brings,more%20impactful%20and%20sustainable%20investment, accessed on 30 November 2021. The data on which the analysis included in Appendix B are based on can be accessed here: https://climatedata.imf.org/search?owner=climatedata\_Admin, accessed on 31 July 2021.

#### **Appendix A**


**Table A1.** Summary of the proportion of clean to dirty stimulus measures in response to COVID-19 by PSIs, rounded to 1 decimal point.

#### **Appendix B**

**Table A2.** Balance of CO2 emissions embodied in millions of metric tons (rounded to whole numbers).


#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **The Significance of Pollination for Global Food Production and the Guarantee of Nutritional Security: A Literature Review †**

**Pedro Gomes Peixoto, Heytor Lemos Martins \*, Bruna Cristina Pinto, Ana Luiza Franco, Larissa Souza Amaral and Cristina Veloso de Castro**

> Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Ambientais, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, Unidade Frutal, Frutal 38202-436, Brazil; peixotopg@hotmail.com (P.G.P.); bruna.cristina.pinto@gmail.com (B.C.P.); alfranco285@gmail.com (A.L.F.); larissa.amaral@uemg.br (L.S.A.); cristina.castro@gmail.com (C.V.d.C.)

**\*** Correspondence: heytor.lemos18@gmail.com

† Presented at the ICSD 2021: 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development, Virtual, 20–21 September 2021.

**Abstract:** Animal pollination is economically, socially, and culturally relevant. It is responsible for ensuring the production of biofuels, fibers, medicines, building materials, and mainly for the global production of food. The zoochorous pollination syndrome is widely discussed because of the coevolution between plants and animals; so, the pollinators have bioecological characteristics that allow several plants, mainly angiosperms, to complete their reproductive cycles. Thus, this work aims to discuss and synthesize information on studies related to the importance of pollination for global food production and the guarantee of nutritional security, one of the Objectives of the Sustainable Development goals (OSD). A narrative literary review was carried out to obtain data. Pollinators are needed to achieve several OSD, such as Zero Hunger and Life on Earth. Practical activities should be implemented to increase the survival and establishment of these organisms. The commitment of different sectors of society to pollinators is fundamental, and the lack of pollinators leads to losses in productivity and environmental quality.

**Keywords:** food security; OSD; zoochory

#### **1. Introduction**

Pollination is a term that refers to the transfer of male and female gametes into plants, while pollinators are the means by which gametes travel between plants. The transport of gametes can happen by abiotic and biotic means, such as wind and rain and by the direct action of the plant or animals. The concept has transformed over the past few years to serve as a broad term for structuring a wide range of ecological interactions [1–3]. Flowering plants (angiosperms) invariably have no control over how they receive and disperse gametes [4]. However, about 87.5% of angiosperms are dependent on animal vectors for collection, transport, and pollination for reproduction [5].

Animal pollination syndrome dates back to the evolutionary past of mutually beneficial relationships between animals and plants. A long evolutionary history marks the interaction between plants and pollinators, the central hypothesis that explains the current observed ecological interactions comes from mutualistic relationships with benefits for both organisms. When searching for food (foraging), animals that can use floral resources, especially nectar, were rewarded for having access to this resource of high energy value. Over time, this meant a possible preference for certain animals with the capacity to exploit more efficient floral resources for specific plants, which allows for coevolution [6]. This process can lead to extreme ecological interaction with animals using resources unique to a certain plant species, and the plant depending exclusively on this animal for its reproduction. Plants even develop floral traits that are more attractive to animals; for example, in the case of insects, some plants have showy reflective colors at specific lengths for some pollinators, in addition to the nectar mentioned earlier.

**Citation:** Peixoto, P.G.; Martins, H.L.; Pinto, B.C.; Franco, A.L.; Amaral, L.S.; Castro, C.V.d. The Significance of Pollination for Global Food Production and the Guarantee of Nutritional Security: A Literature Review. *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 7. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/environsciproc2022015007

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

Published: 1 April 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Animal pollination is economically [7], socially, and culturally relevant; it is directly related to agriculture and food security [8]. It is responsible for ensuring the production of biofuels [9,10], fibers [7,11], medicines [12], building materials, and mainly for the global production of food [7,13], which is directly dependent on pollination and other factors such as the availability of water, nutrients, soil, and sunlight. The zoochory pollination syndrome is widely discussed due to the evolutionary period between plants and animals; so, the pollinators have bioecological characteristics that allow several plants, mainly angiosperms (±90%), to complete their reproductive cycles. In Brazil, for example, Giannini and collaborators analyzed 141 crops and found 85 dependent on pollination [14]. In 2019, a version of the Thematic Report on Pollination, Pollinators, and Food Production in Brazil of 289 foods was published, with 191 presented studies on the interaction with pollinating organisms, of which 91 presented reliable data on the need for pollinators [15]. Scientists consider that there is a lack of knowledge about the importance of plants and pollination [16], which has objective effects on humanity [8,17], (e.g., loss of production/productivity, decrease in physical and chemical quality aspects, decreased reproduction rate, among others).

Thus, this work aims to discuss and synthesize information on studies related to the importance of the pollination phenomenon for global food production and the guarantee of nutritional security, one of the objectives of sustainable development proposed by the United Nations.

#### *Methodology*

This study was carried out through a narrative literary review, collecting data/work carried out from a qualitative approach. All searches were performed in the Google Academic and Science Direct databases, using the keywords: food production AND pollinators OR global trade.

#### **2. Current Overview of Global Food Production**

The human population is growing. Projections indicate that by 2050 humanity will demand a significant increase in food production and distribution [18]. However, the land has limited space for occupation and use. Currently, 38% of the terrestrial surface is occupied by agricultural production systems, which is approximately about 5 billion hectares [19]. The productivity of the agricultural system has historically been satiated mainly through area expansion projects and the application of soil fertility conditioning inputs and application of agrochemicals to control animal and plant pests [20]. However, the increase in productive areas solely through expansion does not directly reflect an increase in agricultural productivity [21]. Furthermore, the reduction in and the fragmentation of habitats [22] reduces the resilience of the agroecosystems [23,24] and increases the emission of greenhouse gases [25,26].

Studies indicate that global agricultural production needs to grow [27,28]; estimates indicate values between 70 and 110% to meet the growing demands associated with human use and livestock feeding by the year 2050 [27,29]. Thus, researchers aim to find effective strategies to increase food production in the future [30], one of which is better production in a smaller area [31].

During the last few years, the human population has gone through exponential growth, which imposes demands for resources that, more and more, are becoming scarce. According to the Global Hunger Index, 690 million people are malnourished due to lack of adequate food and access to food [32], which implies the search for new productive areas, increasing pressure on ecosystems with the process of replacement and changes in land-use systems, which in general lead to scenarios of environmental degradation, with the reduction in natural areas and the ecosystem services provided (e.g., nutrient cycling and pollination), which in general reduce the stability of productive areas of the primary commodities and foods [33] and resilience of these areas [23].

Furthermore, the production and consumption of food have been globalized, which gives rise to the concept of virtual resources, that is, resources that are virtually added to internationally traded products.

#### **3. Significance of the Pollinator**

Pollination is an ecosystem service, which means that it is considered a consumer good and a service that benefits human beings. This service is responsible for reproducing several plants and crops that are substantially benefited directly or indirectly by pollination by animals such as bees, butterflies, bats, and birds. It is estimated that 75% of all crops profit, to varying degrees, from this type of pollination [34]. Thus, pollination enables the production of food in quantity and quality, which allows food security in several countries, especially in developing countries [35], whose economy is based on agricultural export products.

The decrease in animal pollinators causes severe consequences for the economy and ecosystems. There is a decrease in non-domesticated plants, imbalance in natural environments, decrease in food production and social welfare. The main factors are of anthropogenic origin and are mainly related to land use change, which results in the loss and fragmentation of habitats, in addition to the use of pesticides [31,32], environmental pollution, climate change, dispersal of invasive species, and diseases [36].

Recent studies show the relevance of pollination services related to the diversity of pollinating species; in the most diverse types of food crops (±70%), the volume of agricultural production dependent on animal pollination increased by 300% from 1966 to 2016 [8]. Below we highlight the main pollination-dependent crops (Table 1).

The quality of the fruit's flavor, quality, yield, and nutritional aspects may be linked to the quality of pollination. In a study with strawberries, self-pollination greatly affected production, but animal and manual pollination did not differ in terms of fruit quality. However, manual pollination is often a paid service, especially for large production areas. Hence, animal pollination attends to physiological processes that can result in cheaper fruit and a high-quality standard [37].

For other vegetables, pollination can favor various ways of maintaining the quality of the fruit, seeds, and crops [38], for example, jabuticaba (*Plinia* sp.). Even in self-compatible species for pollination, the presence and action of a pollinating organism are necessary, which allows an intensification of fruiting [39] (Figure 1), increasing its added value and productivity.

Due to removing natural areas to transform them into agricultural production areas, we have the loss of animal diversity and, within it, the pollinators. Agricultural landscapes devoid of high crop diversity imply a drastic reduction in bee species [39]. These groups, as already discussed, have different ecological roles and environmental services such as pollination of vegetables, fruits, vegetables, among others, that are of fundamental importance for the survival of humans (food) and other animals in the food chain.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [40], it is estimated that some species of bee pollinate approximately 73% of plant species cultivated in the world, 19% by flies, 6.5% by bats, 5% for wasps, 5% for beetles, 4% for birds, and 4% for butterflies and moths. Given the importance of this environmental service, beekeepers saw pollination by hives as an essential technique to increase agricultural production and an investment opportunity to rent bees for income generation purposes.

In many countries around the world, such as the USA and countries in Europe, beekeeping began to have pollination as its primary goal, a highly profitable business, making honey a byproduct. This service is an alternative to minimize the effects of the potential natural disaster of the lack of these pollinators globally, which interferes with the production of various foods. The methodology consists of transporting the hives to planting areas in times of flowering, where they can remain for a period of up to three months, ensuring more significant and better productivity [41].


**Table 1.** Most common food items in the world, highlighting those that depend directly or indirectly on pollination and/or benefit from pollinating organisms.

Adapted from: Klein, 2007; Giannini, et al., 2015; Reilly, Jr., et al., 2020.

Research shows that when using bees in agricultural cultivation areas, there is an increase in production, such as in apple, cherry, watermelon, pumpkin, and blueberry crops, with economic values for these productions being 1.06 billion, 177 million, 146 million, 101 million, and 50 million dollars, respectively [42]. Thus, the importance of bees for the economic valuation of crops and the need to maintain the biodiversity of pollinating organisms through the maintenance and restructuring of habitats to remain in the environment to help even more in production is noticeable.

**Figure 1.** African bee (*Apis mellifera* L.) consuming floral resources of jabuticabeira (*Plinia* sp.), a Brazilian fruit tree. This pollenizer in Brazil represents one of the most recurrent species in natural and anthropogenic environments. Source: Franco, A. L.

#### **4. Final Considerations**

Animal pollinators are organisms that provide essential services at ecosystem levels that directly affect the economy and human wellbeing. Thus, as much as the production and trade of food in the world involves different factors and interests, a traditional paradigm shift is necessary. There is a perception that it is utopian to aim to achieve several Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (Zero Hunger and Life on Land), but we are optimistic.

In order to leverage pollination services, practical activities must be implemented to increase the survival and establishment of these organisms, which include practical actions such as increasing habitats, preserving portions of natural environments, and banishing harmful pesticides. Most farmers and society generally are not aware of the socioenvironmental and economic value of pollinating agents in terms of food production and several other factors. Nevertheless, there is a need for broad dissemination programs about their importance for humanity and nature for this to be possible.

There is increasingly a scenario of commitment on the part of companies, organizations, and studies that are elucidating quantitatively and qualitatively the role of pollinators in maintaining and balancing terrestrial ecosystems for social wellbeing and the economy. The current perception is that there is much to be done. However, it is increasingly important to note that there is interest in having public and private institutional policies to preserve and pollinate organisms. The lack of these regulatory and compensatory stimuli can invariably lead to losses in productivity and environmental quality.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https:// www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/environsciproc2022015007/s1, Figure S1: African bee (*Apis mellifera* L.) consuming floral resources of jabuticabeira (*Plinia* sp.), a Brazilian fruit tree. This pollenizer in Brazil represents one of the most recurrent species in natural and anthropogenic environments; Table S1: Most typical food items globally, highlighting those that depend directly or indirectly on pollination and/or benefit from pollinating organisms.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, P.G.P. and H.L.M.; methodology, P.G.P. and L.S.A.; investigation, P.G.P., B.C.P., H.L.M., C.V.d.C., A.L.F. and L.S.A.; writing—original draft preparation, P.G.P., B.C.P., A.L.F. and L.S.A.; writing—review and editing, C.V.d.C., A.L.F., H.L.M. and P.G.P.; visualization, C.V.d.C.; supervision, P.G.P. and B.C.P.; project administration, H.L.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** We thank the organizing committee of the 9th Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development 2021, as well as Environmental Sciences Proceedings for the opportunity for scientific communication and dissemination.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Perspectives on Sustainable Management of Jackfruit Trees for Food Consumption in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil †**

**Kathleen Weintraub, Camila Rodrigues and Katia Tabai \***

Postgraduate Program in Sustainable Development Practices, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20030-901, Brazil; khweintraub@gmail.com (K.W.); camirural@gmail.com (C.R.)

**\*** Correspondence: ktabai@ufrrj.br; Tel.: +55-21-998-928-910

† Presented at the ICSD 2021: 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development, Virtual, 20–21 September 2021.

**Abstract:** Given the emerging challenges of climate change on the food system, alternative solutions that promote food security for the Brazilian population while conserving ecosystems and supporting smallholder farmers are needed. This study sought to explore the potential of one solution: the use of green jackfruit as a culinary alternative to meat. This study investigated consumer perception of jackfruit through an online survey completed by 330 individuals and through interviews with jackfruit entrepreneurs. The research highlighted a knowledge gap in Brazilians' perception of the food uses of green jackfruit and the need for a change in food culture to expand its use.

**Keywords:** food security; nutrition; Brazil; jackfruit; entrepreneurship; biodiversity; climate change; family agriculture; protected areas; exotic species

#### **1. Introduction**

In the face of the daunting challenge to adequately feed the world's population, policymakers around the world are making commitments to take action, such as the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal Two to "end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture" by 2030. Yet transforming the food system into one capable of providing the entire population with healthy foods, while simultaneously protecting the environment and respecting the local culture, is a challenge in contemporary society. In this context, the debate on food production alternatives that are more sustainable with respect to social, environmental, and economic factors requires interdisciplinary research and action that consider the local realities and opportunities of each territory. This involves thinking about foods that grow naturally and abundantly in the ecosystems of differing regions and that are resilient to the environmental changes that accompany climate change.

This research aimed to explore an example of one such type of food, the jackfruit, which fulfills this function in a specific territory, the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jackfruit, a fruit of the jackfruit tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.), is abundant in different regions of the country, especially in areas of the Atlantic Forest biome and on the properties of small landholder farmers. The fruit has many nutritional properties and can be used in a variety of ways in cooking, including as a culinary substitute for meat and starches when used in its unripe, non-sweet form. The jackfruit tree, in turn, has a much greater capacity to withstand the effects of climate change than large-scale crops such as wheat and corn. In fact, the jackfruit has recently been called a "miracle crop" by leading food security specialists. According to the President of the International Tropical Fruits Network, "[Jackfruit] is easy to grow. It survives pests and diseases and high temperatures. It is drought resistant. It achieves what farmers need in food production when facing a lot of challenges under climate change" [1].

**Citation:** Weintraub, K.; Rodrigues, C.; Tabai, K. Perspectives on Sustainable Management of Jackfruit Trees for Food Consumption in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/ environsciproc2022015008

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

Published: 1 April 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

At the same time, the jackfruit tree is an exotic species in Brazil that is felt by conservation professionals and managers of some protected areas to exhibit invasive or opportunistic behavior in the Atlantic Forest [2,3]. The management of jackfruit in protected areas and respective buffer zones in the state of Rio de Janeiro is a priority and a challenge for managers. Current control plans are generally based on species elimination or reduction through girdling and the use of herbicides, often producing inadequate results and creating other environmental problems [4].

Despite the jackfruit's abundance, nutritional properties, and culinary variety, the fruit is highly underutilized by the Brazilian population, especially when in its green form. In fact, the jackfruit often is perceived negatively by many individuals. With the growing vegetarian movement in Brazil, there are several entrepreneurs in Rio de Janeiro trying to change this attitude, seeking to bring jackfruit to the forefront of Brazilian gastronomy. Additionally, the sustainable management of the jackfruit trees on a large scale—especially on the outskirts or periphery of Rio de Janeiro—can not only generate income for smallholder farmers and promote food security, but also provide an alternative control method for this exotic species inside and near protected areas—"eat it to beat it", as some jackfruit entrepreneurs say.

However, to create a growing market of new consumers of green jackfruit products and promote large-scale sustainable management of the tree, it is necessary to understand why the fruit is underutilized in Brazil, especially in its green form. Currently, there is a lack of academic literature or evidence-based research that explains this underutilization, including the negative perception many Brazilians have of the fruit and the tree. This research aimed to contribute to filling this gap and better understand how residents of Rio de Janeiro perceive jackfruit, with the goal of supporting the creation of solutions by jackfruit entrepreneurs to overcome the existing barriers and promote models for sustainable jackfruit management.

#### **2. Materials and Methods**

To investigate the underutilization of green jackfruit for food consumption in Brazil, both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to study the perception of the fruit by Brazilians in Rio de Janeiro. The research was conducted between June and September 2020 and was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, under Protocol number 797/2016. Permission of the par ticipants was obtained by signing an electronic Informed Consent Form (ICF). Open interviews were conducted with three entrepreneurs from Rio de Janeiro who commercialize green jackfruit. The interviews focused on exploring the challenges of the market and consumer perception of green jackfruit from a business perspective, as well as to understand the entrepreneurs' supply chains and current business models. In addition, a semi-structured questionnaire online was answered by 330 people to evaluate various aspects of Brazilians' perceptions about and familiarity with the jackfruit tree and jackfruit as a food. The questions were divided into 3 main topics: (1) perception of the jackfruit tree, (2) per ception of the green jackfruit as food, and (3) personal data. The online questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample, mainly to students at local universities, public servants, and associated networks of the researcher and her advisors. The results were analyzed using graphics and textual description.

#### **3. Results**

The participants in the survey came from a variety of backgrounds such as lawyers, landscapers, nutritionists, public servants, entrepreneurs, farmers, park rangers, doctors, educators, journalists, designers, therapists, and architects. The majority have backgrounds in higher education, with 35% being students or professors in academia. The age breakdown of the participants is the following: 33% were between 18 and 30 years old, 29% between 30 and 40 years old, 19% between 40 and 50 years old, and 19% over 50 years old. Only 15% of the participants were vegetarians.

Five of the survey questions related to participants' knowledge and perception of the jackfruit tree as a species. An amount of 52.4% of participants were correct in affirming that the species is native to Asia while 14.3% believe that jackfruit comes from Brazil, confirming that the tree is perceived by some as a native species. These results can be viewed graphically in Figure 1.

**Figure 1.** Graphical representation of question number 5 on the survey to assess participants' knowledge of the jackfruit tree's origin.

Regarding being considered an invasive plant, 57% disagreed that jackfruit is an invasive species and that it harms the ecosystems in which it inhabits, and only 11% believe that all jackfruit should be removed from protected areas. Of those 11% who support removal, 70% of them are biologists or ecologists. An amount of 88% of respondents believe that using jackfruit for food is better than removing trees. These answers reveal that the majority of this multidisciplinary sample perceives jackfruit as an opportunity for food consumption and is generally not aware that the jackfruit tree is considered an invasive species by many biologists and conservationists. However, biologists in the state of Rio de Janeiro mainly perceive it as a threat to biodiversity.

The questionnaire also included eight questions aimed at assessing the participants' familiarity with green jackfruit as a food. 53.9% of the participants (178 individuals) answered that they had eaten green jackfruit. Of these 178, 84.3% (150 people) responded that they liked or loved the taste of the green jackfruit. See Figure 2 for a more detailed breakdown of the responses.

**Figure 2.** Graphical representation of question number 8 on the survey to assess consumer taste of green jackfruit.

In addition, only 23% of those who responded yes to having consumed green jackfruit were vegetarians. Additionally, only 14.9% of participants had prepared a meal using green jackfruit at home. Of these 48 individuals, nearly 40% responded that they believed food preparation with green jackfruit was difficult.

The survey also sought to identify which forms of jackfruit are most commonly consumed in Rio de Janeiro. The survey results reflect what had been seen in the literature, showing that the most common recipe is the jackfruit "coxinha"—a small, fried croquette. Other popular recipes mentioned by the participants included moqueca (a Brazilian stew), bacalhau, strogonoff, and empadão (a savory pie).

The interviews with jackfruit entrepreneurs in Rio de Janeiro complemented the results of the online survey, shedding insight into the historical context and current challenges around the use of jackfruit as a food. According to one entrepreneur, whose organization, Mão na Jaca, works to transform the negative perception of the fruit with workshops and small-scale commercialization, the fact that jackfruit was used, mainly in colonial times, as food for enslaved people in sugarcane, charcoal. and coffee plantations. has had consequences to this day. "The culture of using green jackfruit in savory dishes never arrived here. To feed the slave labor force, there was no interest in spreading a culinary culture. To this day, jackfruit is primarily consumed freshly ripe, or in sweets—another Portuguese heritage. However, its integral use is hampered by the exclusive consumption of the fruit when its ripe—our cultural reference for its consumption. As a result, we have a huge waste of this fruit, which is so abundant in several Brazilian cities".

Another jackfruit enterprise, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, is growing its processing production capacity with the aim to purchase jackfruits from smallholder farmers near and around protected areas for income generation and to control the spread of the exotic species. In their experience, they find that landowners and smallholder farmers who have jackfruit on their properties generally do not perceive the tree as useful, seeing it as a burden due to the excess of massive fruits that fall and rot on the ground, attracting flies and other animals. The rural landowners are generally unaware of its consumption in its green form and do not know that commercialization opportunities exist. This same enterprise has been reaching out to restaurants and food distributors to sell its jackfruit products. According to the sales director of the enterprise, while a growing number of vegetarian restaurants are beginning to use green jackfruit in their recipes, many chefs and food storeowners are skeptical about using green jackfruit, having never heard of its use in savory dishes. Those who do know it also tend to want the "shredded" jackfruit, which is only one of many parts of the fruit that can be used, demonstrating that the food market is not yet familiar with the different modalities of the product.

#### **4. Discussion**

#### *4.1. Consumers and the Jackfruit Market in Rio de Janeiro*

While this study was a preliminary descriptive study, we believe that these initial results are sufficiently positive to justify a larger scale, well designed study in the future to more definitively assess Brazilians' attitudes towards jackfruit. The fact that 53% of survey participants have consumed green jackfruit suggests that the fruit in its green form may have moderate recognition in Rio de Janeiro, at least for individuals with higher education that live in the city. Beyond this, the results of the survey also demonstrate that those who try green jackfruit generally like the taste, thereby showing the potential for its acceptability in its non-ripe form, in which the fruit is used in savory dishes, for a larger audience. Interestingly, as only 15% of participants considered themselves vegetarians, it is clear that the consumption of green jackfruit is not restricted to this subgroup. However, as most participants have a background with higher education and are therefore more likely to have a medium to high income level, it would be important to repeat the survey with a more diverse audience to understand if individuals without higher education have a similar familiarity with and acceptance of the fruit. The interviews with the entrepreneurs who work in the periphery of Rio de Janeiro—regions with generally lower income and

less educated populations—reveal that, based on their experience, familiarity with green jackfruit is low.

The present study points out that less than 15% of participants had prepared a meal at home using green jackfruit, and that of these individuals, 40% found it difficult to prepare. These data illustrate two challenges that the green jackfruit market faces. First, that the utilization of the green jackfruit in a domestic setting in the kitchen is rare, even for those that are familiar with and have consumed the product. This could be due to a lack of knowledge of how to prepare the product, as well as a lack of access to processed green jackfruit in supermarkets. The fact that many respondents found it difficult to prepare a meal with jackfruit suggests that there exists a need to create and expand the production of sub-products that are consumer-friendly and easy to prepare. In the United States, for example, it is common to find prepackaged green jackfruit that has been cooked and prepared in flavored sauces. The jackfruit entrepreneurs interviewed all reported that work shops and hands-on courses in which participants are trained in how to use the green jackfruit in recipes is essential for expanding the jackfruit market.

#### *4.2. Understanding How Perceptions Affect Jackfruit Consumption*

While the survey results indicated at least a moderate degree of familiarity with green jackfruit, the entrepreneurs interviewed conveyed that they often confront negative prejudices about jackfruit from potential buyers. One entrepreneur suggested that the historical context of the jackfruit, in which it was principally used as food for enslaved and impoverished people and always in its ripe form, has contributed to this prejudice. While there is little academic research that investigates the perception of jackfruit in Brazil, one author points out that part of this cultural prejudice in Brazil could be related to the strong smell of jackfruit when it is rotting on the ground—a smell that many Brazilians, especially in the northeast and southwest of the country, recognize and associate negatively. "One of the hypotheses raised to understand the low consumption of this fruit is its very strong characteristic aroma, which immediately leads to appreciation or rejection" [5] (p. 7). In general, most of the population only knows the possibility of consuming mature jackfruit, which is generally limited to the preparation of desserts. On the other hand, the green jackfruit has a much wider range of culinary uses than the mature one, but the majority of the population still does not know its uses in cooking. As mentioned, for the proper use of green jackfruit in gastronomy, it is necessary to process it. However, this process can be laborious—as confirmed by the survey—since the rind of the fruit is hard and produces a sticky gum [6]. It is possible that this difficulty, associated with the lack of knowledge of how to process the fruit, represents factors that discourage the consumption of green jackfruit.

Another potential barrier to more widespread consumption and sustainable use of green jackfruit that requires further research is the fact that many researchers from the field of biology and forestry perceive jackfruit as an invasive species in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro. According to the survey results, 75% of biologists and forest engineers who responded to the online survey agree that jackfruit is an invasive species that harms the ecosystems in which it occurs. Based on the personal experiences of the jackfruit entrepreneurs, the species' reputation as a "villain" contributes to the lack of sustainable management models. Instead of perceiving the abundance of fruits as an opportunity for income generation for rural landowners and to promote food security, most control strategies focus on total removal of the trees, using techniques such as injecting herbicide or ringing. However, often these strategies are not always effective. For example, in the Tijuca National Park, "between 2000 and 2005, they cut 1571 trees and rung another 813, in addition to uprooting almost 40,000 seedlings, without any proven efficacy in terms of real reduction of jackfruit populations in the park" [4]. Beyond this, the jackfruit tree has become so common in certain parts of the Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro that many fauna species depend on the fruit for their survival; therefore, radical removal can cause other imbalances in the ecosystem if not done gradually and carefully. The "eat it to

beat" management model seeks to control the spread of the species in forests through the consump tion of the fruits, preventing the hundreds of seeds from the large fruits from falling and germinating. According to the entrepreneurs, while many park managers and forest conservation policymakers are often hesitant to consider such a method for jackfruit management, some decisionmakers are open to exploring this alternative, as the need to find solutions that integrate human communities within and around protected areas with conservation is growing. However, for policy change to occur, it is essential that more research be conducted on the alternative management method—fruit collection as opposed to tree ringing or use of herbicides—and investigate if such a model can effectively promote control of the species and therefore biodiversity conservation.

#### *4.3. Success Cases of Sustainable Jackfruit Management*

One of the entrepreneurs interviewed for the study has created a small but successful example of how jackfruit trees in a protected area can be managed by local communities and used to generate income for the residents. Vale Encantado, in Alto da Boa Vista, a community in the buffer zone of the Tijuca National Park, is known for its use of green jackfruit for culinary use, serving dishes at its ecotourism restaurant and selling processed jackfruit to restaurants in Rio de Janeiro. The 140 residents of the community are descendants of workers from the 19th century coffee farms that occupied the mountainous slopes of the area, which is now Parque da Tijuca [7]. In 2005, the president of the Homeowners' Association, with support from a French NGO, ABA-QUAR/PARIS, founded a sustainable ecotourism cooperative in which he became president. Promoting trails and other experiences in the forest, the cooperative also created a restaurant for visitors that serves dishes that use local ingredients, including jackfruit, whose harvest already exists in the culture of extractivism in the community. The "jacalhau" dish (inspired by the traditional Brazilian cod recipe) and jackfruit pies served at the restaurant have gained fame in the city.

This cooperative started selling processed green jackfruit to several restaurants in Rio de Janeiro. According to the interview with the president of the Cooperative, in 2019 the cooperative processed 600 jackfruits in total, each jackfruit weighing between 7 and 15 kg, extracted from 30 trees. Based on these numbers, the cooperative sold approximately 6 tons of jackfruit in 2019. The project employs 10 women from the community in the processing center and 4 men for collecting the fruits. The Vale Encantado model is an example of jackfruit management in protected areas that uses jackfruit as food and promotes income generation for residents in the protected area's buffer zone. This case can serve as an inspirational model for other commercial jackfruit initiatives in Brazil that generate a positive socio-environmental impact close to environmentally protected areas. As mentioned, it would be important to study the impact on biodiversity and other ecosystem factors in this model in order to create a better dialogue with forest conservation policy makers in regard to exotic species control.

#### *4.4. Jackfruit for Food Security and Nutrition in the Context of Climate Change*

While exploring alternatives to exotic species control is one important aspect of potential benefits of jackfruit consumption, the primary area in which this research focuses is how its use as a food source can contribute as a solution to promoting food security and nutrition in the context of climate change. Due to its abundance, high level of nutrition, and ability to reproduce in different climatic conditions, jackfruit is being called the "miracle crop" by researchers in the field of food security and is being seen as a food with great potential for the agricultural challenges that are emerging from climate change [8]. Climate change will accelerate food shortage risks; inconsistent rains, droughts, increased temperatures will occur, and already has reduced yields from cash crops such as corn, wheat, and soybeans on which both humans and livestock animals depend [9]. The soil is deteriorating between 10 and 100 times faster than it is being formed in the world, threatening the fertility of land for growing food [9]. Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will also reduce the nutritional quality of food, while the increase in temperature reduces crop

yields and harms livestock [9]. Climate change can lead to shortages in food production in developing countries, impacting disproportionately small farmers and the most vulnerable populations. Brazil is an agricultural country, dependent on the export of these cash crops that are being threatened by climate change, and on small farmer production for the country's internal consumption.

There is a growing global need to take advantage of locally produced food that grows naturally and abundantly and is resilient to environmental changes resulting from the climate crisis. In Brazil, jackfruit shows the potential to be one of these foods. Its resilient qualities together with its abundance of yield make jackfruit a promising alternative to more fragile crops in the rapidly changing global climate. Jackfruit is drought-resistant, grows easily in degraded soils, and doesn't require pesticides. Indian researchers have also recognized the fruit's great potential to alleviate world hunger, emphasizing the fruit's caloric and nutritional density According to Shyamala Reddy of the University of Agriculture and Science in Bangalore, India, "It's a miracle that it can provide both nutrients and calories, everything; If you eat just 10 or 12 segments of this fruit, you won't need food for the other half of the day" [1].

This caloric and nutritional density, combined with the plant's resilience to changing climate factors and its abundance in Brazil, makes jackfruit a suitable food to contribute to food security in the context of climate change and environmental and economic crises. Indeed, the importance of accessing local, abundant, and resilient foods such as jackfruit has been highlighted in the new context of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is impacting the global food system, especially as movement restrictions between and within countries disrupt entire food supply chains, logistic services, and agricultural workers, affecting food availability. The pandemic and economic crisis is causing a decrease in income, an increase in the unemployment rate, and even a reduction in informal work, putting the most vulnerable populations and those with low purchasing power at risk of worsening food insecurity [10].

Jackfruit is already being used as a solution in this context, as seen in India, where demand for jackfruit has soared since the lockdown in late March 2021: "Coronavirus caused fear of chicken and people switched to jackfruit. In Kerala, the blockade caused an increase in demand for green jackfruit and seeds due to shortage of vegetables with border restrictions" [11]. In the context of COVID in Brazil, where now "tens of millions of people living in poverty are again facing hunger", jackfruit could also function as a possible means to combat food insecurity in this crisis [12]. The urban and peri-urban areas of the state of Rio de Janeiro are full of jackfruit trees, and these could provide healthy, low-cost food for people in peripheral communities who face food supply difficulties.

The jackfruit's nutrition, culinary variability, and resilience to climate change, in addition to its abundance in the country, make it a fruit with a large potential in becoming an alternative, healthy food source in Brazil. However, if Brazil wants to take advantage of this opportunity, it will have to invest in green jackfruit production models to achieve scale and impact, as well as, importantly, as shown by this study, support jackfruit entrepreneurs in transforming the negative perception and/or lack of knowledge of jackfruit by potential consumers.

#### **5. Conclusions**

Academic research that explores the underutilization of this abundant and highly nutritious fruit in Brazil is still in its infancy. This study sought to fill this knowledge gap by attempting to better understand Brazilians' perception of jackfruit and the jackfruit tree, recognizing that a cultural dietary change is necessary to make possible the expanded use of green jackfruit as a food in the Brazilian diet. Future larger scale studies that include a more representative sample of the population can more definitely examine the issue.

Moreover, the research highlighted one example of a successful green jackfruit venture in Rio de Janeiro that has been able to, on a small scale, manage jackfruit trees in a protected area of forest while providing healthy food and generating income for the local community. This business can serve as a model for enterprises based on jackfruit management for food consumption, as well as for policymakers in forest conservation and food policy to learn and study the potential for replication of such a model.

The authors hope that, soon, the management of jackfruit for food consumption will not be just an "alternative" practice, but a mainstream part of the diet so that every Brazilian grows up eating jackfruit where it is abundant, and each jackfruit is part of the balance of nature in the forest of the Atlantic Forest biome.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, K.W. and K.T.; methodology, K.W.; software, K.W.; validation, K.T., C.R. and K.W.; formal analysis, K.W.; investigation, K.W.; resources, K.W.; writing—original draft preparation, K.W.; writing—review and editing, C.R. and K.T.; administration, K.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted in accordance with RESOLUTION No. 466: DECEMBER 12th, 2012, of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and approved by the Research Ethics Committee (or Ethics Committee) of Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro—UFRRJ (protocol code 797/2016).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Acknowledgments:** We thank the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro and all the participants of in the study. We thank Philippe Weintraub for the review.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Changes on the Stream Flow and Water Quality of Big Creek Lake Watershed South Alabama, USA †**

**Eshita A. Eva 1,\* and Luke J. Marzen <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** Land use is one of the key factors affecting the stream flow of a watershed. This research aimed to evaluate the impact of changing land use and land cover (LULC) on stream flow and water quality by applying the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to the Big Creek Lake watershed located in Mobile County, South Alabama. Digital elevation model (DEM), LULC data, weather data, soil data, observed streamflow, nitrogen, and phosphors data were used as input files to calibrate and validate the SWAT model. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated using the Sequential Uncertainty Fitting (SUFI-2) algorithm in the SWAT Calibration Uncertainties Program (SWAT-CUP) software. Agricultural land increased by about 11,045 acres and urban area increased by 3350 acres, and forest area decreased by 11,482 acres, between 1991 and 2020. This changing scenario of LULC not only increased the streamflow but also the total nitrogen and phosphorus. The total streamflow was higher, at about 38 m3/s in the LU\_2020 scenario, than in the LU\_1990 scenario. Increases of about 1,136,919 kg of nitrogen and 324,467 kg of phosphorus were found from 1990 to 2020, and these increases can be explained by an increase in agricultural land of about 11,045 acres. The results obtained in this study are able to provide guidance to water resource management and planning for policymakers and water managers in Mobile County.

**Keywords:** LULC; DEM; SWAT; SUFI-2

#### **1. Introduction**

According to [1–3] in recent decades, hydrological responses to the changing environment have become a research interest area. Changing land use and land cover (LULC) influence runoff–rainfall processes by affecting the surface components such as evapotranspiration, infiltration, and percolation. Various types of land use have different reflectivity (albedo), roughness, leaf areas, and soil depth, which impacts the land–surface interactions by affecting temperature, humidity, wind speed, and precipitation [4–6]. Changes in LULC will have an impact on these interactions, resulting in differences in surface moisture, heat, and momentum fluxes [7,8]. According to [9], local, regional, and global climate and hydrological processes depend on the spatial distribution, size, extent, and location of land cover changes. Though many investigations have focused on the hydrological response due to changes in land use [10–13], the relationship between changing land use and the hydrological response deserves more investigation. The use of hydrological models is essential because of the effective planning of water resources and protection under changing environmental conditions, and models can simulate flow regimes under different scenarios. Many of these hydrological models are applied for runoff, sediment yield, and soil loss prediction. Among all these models, the SWAT model is the most widely used and has been applied in different areas to analyze numerous problems of hydrology and water quality,

**Citation:** Eva, E.A.; Marzen, L.J. Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Changes on the Stream Flow and Water Quality of Big Creek Lake Watershed South Alabama, USA. *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/ environsciproc2022015009

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

Published: 1 April 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

including the potential changes to the streamflow under different climate scenarios [14]. The SWAT model has achieved worldwide recognition because it is utilized to evaluate water and sediment yield and water quality parameters under present conditions, management practices, and future climate conditions with spatial and temporal resolutions that depend on the data availability [15].

#### **2. Materials and Methods**

*2.1. Study Area*

Big Creek Lake has an area of 3600 acres and is a tributary-storage reservoir in Mobile County, located in southwest Alabama. Although the area of the lake itself is only 3600 acres, the watershed draining into it covers approximately 65,920 acres or 103 square miles [16,17]. Although Big Creek Lake watershed encompasses large areas in Mobile County, no large municipalities exist within the watershed; however, there are several smaller towns, including Wilmer and Semmes, located within the watershed boundaries. Figure 1 shows the location of the watershed, and the weather and water quality data stations. Big Creek Lake watershed lies within the Southern Hills District of the East Gulf Coastal Plain section of the Coastal Plain Physiographic Province in close proximity to the Gulf Coast. The Gulf of Mexico influences the subtropical climate of the watershed.

**Figure 1.** Location of the study area.

#### *2.2. Data Required*

Some spatial inputs are required to run the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, such as a digital elevation model (DEM) and associated topography, LULC, and soils of

the study area [18,19]. In addition to these inputs, long-term weather data, soil property data, and discharge data are also necessary. The USGS National Map was the provider of the DEM datasets, which were downloaded from https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/ (accessed on 28 March 2020). The spatial resolution is 10 m, which is a 1 arc-second (10 m × 10 m) pixel resolution. For LULC data, Landsat images obtained from the USGS data hub (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ (accessed on 4 April 2020)) and same-seasonal images were chosen from 1990 to 2020 with minimum cloud cover to have the lowest atmospheric effects. Each LULC product was primarily based upon the classification of Landsat data. Classification was performed using the unsupervised approach. The resulting classification was then reclassified into water, forest, urban, agriculture, and rangeland. The SSURGO (Soil Survey Geographic Database) soil data were used because, according to the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the SSURGO is the county soil data having the most detailed level. The soil data and information on related soil properties were obtained from https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx (accessed on 11 May 2020). From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) website, the daily rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures, and average wind speed at one weather station in the study were obtained between 1990 and 2020. The daily stream flow data were obtained from the USGS National Water Information System: Web Interface. Water quality data are not available in daily or monthly intervals; rather its reporting is random.

#### *2.3. SWAT Model Description*

The SWAT is a physically based hydrologic model and requires physically based data [20]. The SWAT is a continuous-time, spatially distributed model designed to simulate water, sediment, nutrient, and pesticide transport at a catchment scale on a daily time step under different management practices [21]. Arc-SWAT is an extension of ArcGIS, as the SWAT is embedded in a GIS interface. SWAT2012 is evolved from AVSWAT, which is an extension of ArcView developed for an earlier version of SWAT2012. Some major components are used to run the SWAT model including weather, hydrology, different types of soil, plant growth, nutrients, pesticides, bacteria and pathogens, land use, and management practices. When running the SWAT model, a watershed or basin is divided into multiple sub-basins or sub-watersheds, and then each sub-basin or sub-watershed is further subdivided into multiple HRUs based on the DEM properties. HRUs are located in the sub-basin and comprise unique land use, soil, and slope characteristics. The Soil Conservation Services (SCS) curve number procedure (SCS, 1972) and Green and Ampt infiltration method (1911) are the two methods used by the SWAT model to estimate the surface runoff. In this study, the SCS curve number method was used to estimate surface runoff. Water is routed through the channel network using a variable storage routing method or the Muskingum routing method. In this study, Muskingum routing methods were used for surface runoff. Briefly, the SWAT partitions soil nitrogen (N) into five different N pools. Two of the pools are inorganic (ammonium-N [NH4-N] and nitrate-N [NO3-N]) and three pools are organic (active, stable, and fresh). Unlike N, soil phosphorous (P) in SWAT is divided into six pools (three minerals and three organics). The fresh organic phosphorus pool, and active and stable organic pool, are contributed to by the crop residue, and biomass and humus substances, respectively. The soil inorganic pool includes active, solution, and stable pools [22].

#### *2.4. Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis*

Sensitivity analysis is the identification of the sensitive parameters that have an important influence on the performance of the model, to ensure that adjustments will be precise. This operation was carried out using SWAT-CUP. This program was developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Water Science and Technology (EAWAG), which specializes in SWAT calibration, validation, and uncertainty analysis. SWAT-CUP is a standalone program that links to SWAT's output text files, and integrates five different optimization al-

gorithms: Sequential Uncertainty Fitting (SUFI-2) [23], Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) [24], Parameter Solution (ParaSol) [25], Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) [26–28], and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) [9]. Among these algorithms, SUFI-2 has the capacity to account for all the sources of uncertainty in the parameter ranges, such as uncertainty in driving variables (e.g., rainfall), conceptual model, parameters, and measured data [23]. For this reason, SUFI-2 was used in this study to analyze the sensitivity of the model.

#### *2.5. SWAT Model Calibration, Validation and Evaluation*

The calibration of the hydrological model is undertaken to optimize its predictive capacity by comparing its simulated values with the observed or actual values of the study area. Validation is the process of demonstrating the capability of making a sufficiently accurate simulation, which may vary based on the aim of a project [29]. In this study, a fiveyear warm-up period, that is, from 1986 to 1990, was used. The calibration and validation periods were equal for stream flow, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Predicted and observed values of streamflow and nutrient loadings at the watershed outlet were compared to determine whether the objective function satisfactorily involves running a model using the parameters during the calibration. The results from the different periods of calibration were compared to determine whether the model meets confidence limits. The model validation was performed with the same SWAT parameter values calibrated without any further alterations. The performance of the model in the simulation was evaluated by Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), Percent of Bias (PBIAS), and the Coefficient of Correlation (R2), which are most commonly used and are proposed [30].

#### **3. Results**

#### *3.1. Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Change*

Figure 2 shows the land use over the period. Forest was one of the main land uses of the watershed and achieved a large percentage. From 1990 to 2000, almost 60% of the watershed area was forest land. However, after one decade (2010), forest area was reduced by about 10%. A total of 11,482.80 acres of forest area were transformed into other LULC categories over a 30-year period. By comparison, urban areas increased (3350 acres) in the past three decades, showing an increment of 1293 acres from 1990 to 2000, 632 acres from 2000 to 2010, and 1423 acres from 2010 to 2020. Agricultural land increased (11,045 acres) and rangeland decreased (2542 acres) in the last three decades. From 1990 to 2000, agricultural land increased, but from 2000 to 2010 it decreased, and, in the last decade, it increased by about 10,510 acres. The LULC time series analysis between 1990 and 2020 indicates an expansion in the agricultural land and an increase in urban area, with a reduction in forest land and rangeland. Forest area changed to rangeland and urban areas, by approximately 8086 and 3905 acres, respectively, in the last three decades. Agricultural land transformed into rangeland (852 acres) and urban area (674 acres), mostly from 1990 to 2020. Meanwhile, during the same period, rangeland changed into the agricultural area (5380 acres) and urban area (2080 acres).

#### *3.2. Sensitivity Analysis*

Table 1 represents the fifteen parameters used to calibrate and validate the stream flow. Based on sensitivity analysis, fifteen parameters were used, such as curve number (CN), biological mixing efficiency (BIOMIX), Manning's "n" value for overland flow (OV\_N), peak rate adjustment factor (PRF), exponent parameter for calculating sediment re-entrained in channel sediment routing (SPEXP), USPE equation (USLE\_P), plant and soil evaporation factor (ESCO and EPCO), and groundwater (ALPHA\_BF, GW\_DELAY, GW\_REVAP, and RCHRG\_DP). SOL\_LABP, SOL\_ORGP, LAT\_ORGN, and SOL\_ORGN were used to calibrate the nitrogen and phosphorus flow in the watershed.

**Figure 2.** LULC for 1990 (**a**), 2000 (**b**), 2010 (**c**), and 2020 (**d**).

Table 2 ranks the parameters based on the t-stat and p-value, using the highest absolute value of the t-stat and the lowest value of the p-value, the highest influence of that parameter, and vice versa. Based on these values, SOL\_AWC, OV\_N, and RCHRG\_DP are the most effective parameters, and ESCO, ULSE\_P, and BIOMIX have less impact on the calibration and validation of the model.

#### *3.3. SWAT Model Calibration and Validation*

Figure 3A–C show the observed and simulated monthly stream flow, total nitrogen, and phosphorus, respectively. The differences in the average monthly observed and simulated values of stream flow were less than 1%. The R2, NSE, and PBIAS values for streamflow for the calibration and validation periods are listed in Table 3. Based on the classified value stated by Moriasi et al. (2015), the SWAT model showed a very good level in the NSE for calibration (0.77) and validation (0.73). Adjustment between the observed, calibrated, and validated stream flow reached a good level, having an R<sup>2</sup> of 0.81 for both calibration and validation. A good classification was obtained for PBIAS, with values of 10.7% and 15.4% for calibration and validation, respectively. According to the classification by Moriasi et al. (2007), the SWAT model calibrated and validated the nitrogen and phosphorus satisfactorily in the determination coefficient (Table 3).


**Table 1.** Model parameters and their descriptions in surface flow, total nitrogen, and phosphorus calculations.

**Table 2.** Sensitive parameters ranking based on t-Stat and *p*-Value.


**Table 3.** Statistical evaluation of the model for calibration and validation time periods.


#### *3.4. Stream Flow, Nitrogen, Phosphorus of Different LU Scenarios*

The relationship between stream flow and LULC, nitrogen and LULC, and phosphorus and LULC is shown by Figure 4A–C respectively. The effect of the stream flow, nitrogen, and phosphorus was estimated for the 30-year study period (1990–2020) by running the LU\_1990, LU\_2000, LU\_2010, and LU\_2020 scenarios. The greatest differences in the total stream flow between LU\_1990 and LU\_2000, and between LU\_2010 and LU\_2020, were decreases of around 12 and 21 m3/s, respectively. These differences from 1990 to 2000 were characterized by increasing urban area and agricultural land by 1293 and 894 acres, respectively, and increasing stream flows from 2010 to 2020 were influenced by increasing

agricultural land and urban area, by 10,510 acres and 1423 acres, respectively. Moreover, comparing LU\_1990 and LU\_2020, total monthly stream flow increased about 38 m3/s, which can be explained by changes in LULC, namely, increasing agricultural land by 11,045 acres and urban area by 3350 acres. Moreover, the same behavior was noticed in the stream flow between LU\_2000 and LU\_2010, by increasing stream flow by about 5 m3/s. Both nitrogen and phosphorus had an increasing trend over the last three decades. From 1990 to 2020, nitrogen increased by 1,136,919 kg, and from 2010 to 2020, nitrogen increased by 768,893 kg; these increases can be explained by the increase in agricultural land, by about 11,045 and 10,510 acres. respectively. From 1990 to 2020, phosphorus increased by 324,467 kg, and most of the increase in phosphorus (around 253,975 kg) occurred in the past decade (2010–2020) (Figure 4B,C).

**Figure 3.** Observed vs. simulated stream flow (m3/s) from 1991 to 2020 (**A**), total nitrogen (Kg/Ha) from 1991 to 2004 (**B**), and total phosphorus (Kg/Ha) (**C**) from 1991 to 2004.

**Figure 4.** Simulated monthly flow (m3/s) (**A**), total nitrogen (Kg/Ha) (**B**), and total phosphorus (Kg/Ha) (**C**) between 1991 and 2020 for different LULC scenarios (LU\_1900, LU\_2000, LU\_2010, and LU\_2020).

#### **4. Discussion**

This study shows that changes in LULC that occurred from 1990 to 2020 in the Big Creek Lake watershed were characterized by a substantial increase in agricultural land and expansion of the urban area. These results complement the study of the comparison of

temporal images of LULC for the watershed conducted by [16]. This study found that an urban area expansion occurred, and the percentage increase in high and low residential areas was 2.3% and 10.1%, respectively. According to [17], the percentage of agricultural lands is highest in the Crooked Creek sub-basin, accounting for over 41% of the subbasin. Much of the land in the sub-basin is designated as row crops. Hamilton Creek has also the highest percentage of agricultural land (36.1%). Potential sources of nutrients in the Big Creek Lake watershed are from nonpoint contributions associated with fertilizer applications on agricultural and residential land, livestock wastes, residential runoff, failing septic systems, and contaminated groundwater. No known point sources are located in the Big Creek Lake watershed. According to [17], the total annual nutrient loads at Big Creek Lake for the 1991 water year were 118,000 kg for total nitrogen and 5245 kg for total phosphorus. As population growth continues, and hence the conversion of forested areas to agriculture and urban areas, loadings of nutrients are expected to increase because most of the land is converted to urban areas. A study conducted by [15] and prepared in cooperation with MAWSS concluded that total nitrogen (except for Long Branch), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (except for Hamilton Creek), total organic nitrogen (except for Boggy Branch), ammonia (except for Long Branch), total inorganic nitrogen, and total phosphorus (except for Long and Boggy Branches) exhibited significant, positive relationships with streamflow, which indicate the dominant source of nutrient input to the watershed is from nonpoint sources. The more residential and agricultural sub-basins of Crooked Creek and Hamilton Creek, however, yielded over twice the total phosphorus per hectare of land use. Crooked and Hamilton Creek sub-basins also had higher total inorganic nitrogen yields. These results complement the present study, which found that, over time, the stream flow increases with the increase in total nitrogen and phosphorus. This increasing nature has a positive relationship with the increase in agricultural land and urban areas. A significant, positive relationship between streamflow and nutrient concentration indicates that nonpoint sources are the dominant source of the inputs. Different land-use practices contribute different levels of nutrients by nonpoint sources.

#### **5. Conclusions**

The SWAT model is highly significant and useful because it can be used to predict future hydrological responses. The total stream flow grew by 38 m3/s, and total nitrogen and phosphorus increased by about 113,619 and 324,467 kg, respectively, over the past three decades. This study quantified the impact of the changes in LULC on the water balance components and water quality. The results can be used by decision makers and public policy makers for future projections in terms of LULC changes.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, E.A.E.; methodology, E.A.E.; software, E.A.E.; validation, E.A.E.; formal analysis, E.A.E.; data curation, E.A.E.; writing—original draft preparation, E.A.E.; writing—review and editing, E.A.E. and L.J.M.; visualization, E.A.E.; supervision, L.J.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper Jatropha* **Farm: A Circular Economy Proposal for the Non-Toxic Physic Nut Crop in Mexico †**

**Humberto Peralta 1,\*, Daniel Itzamná Avila-Ortega <sup>2</sup> and José Carmen García-Flores <sup>3</sup>**


**Abstract:** *Jatropha curcas* (physic nut) is a promising crop in tropical countries because its seeds have a high oil content that can be easily transformed into biodiesel. The oil can also serve to obtain other bioproducts. However, several obstacles hinder the extensive application of the crop, for example, the relative low prices of petroleum and oil, the toxicity of the seeds, low crop yields and rusticity of the plant. We propose a model in which several biotechnological strategies are applied to increase the crop value of *Jatropha*, while maintaining the fertility characteristics of the soil, and reducing its carbon and water footprints.

**Keywords:** *Jatropha*; oil; biodiesel; bioproducts; biofertilizers; recycling

#### **1. Introduction**

*Jatropha curcas* L. (physic nut) is an emergent crop with potential utilization for biofuel synthesis. Specifically, its oil can be easily converted into biodiesel through transesterification. Glycerin is a secondary product of the process [1]. Several characteristics make this plant a future ally in the world's decarbonization efforts. The plant develops well in dry places, with poor soils, and has good resistance to pests [2]. Despite that, some concerns have arisen regarding the ecological costs of soil conversion for the *Jatropha* crop [3]. Currently, more than 1 million hectares of *Jatropha* are planted around the world. A study found that 40% of the utilized surface was previously cleared from vegetation resulting of logging, not related to *Jatropha*, 34% was defined as unused and the remainder areas were from animal husbandry or other crops [3]. In Mexico, a recognized center of origin of the plant, the agricultural surface occupied by *Jatropha* is very small [4]. The high and medium yield crop potentials in the states of Gulf of Mexico and those in the Pacific coasts are well known. The best altitudes for the crop are at sea level, with a limit at 1000 m [5].

The toxicity of the plant and seeds are factors preventing a wider use. The presence of phorbol esters in the seeds, as also curcins, is responsible for seed toxicity [6]. After oil extraction, a significant proportion of the biomass (up to 50%), known as seed cake, must be carefully treated and discarded. As a way to achieve a more complete utilization of the seeds, a project in the National University of Mexico developed years ago, led by Dr. Ivonne Toledo, consisted in the search and selection of non-toxic *Jatropha* lines across the country. Many accessions were tested and some of them were found with undetectable levels of phorbol esters (Toledo et al., unpublished results). A line named Tlaxcala-2, with such a characteristic, was selected to be included in a pilot project. A total of 30 fields scattered in the south of the Morelos state (in central Mexico, 1000 m a.s.l. altitude on average, moderate-to-low rain precipitations) were established in 2015, covering around 30 hectares, with around 20 thousand plants of the Tlaxcala-2 type. The plants are now five

**Citation:** Peralta, H.; Avila-Ortega, D.I.; García-Flores, J.C. *Jatropha* Farm: A Circular Economy Proposal for the Non-Toxic Physic Nut Crop in Mexico. *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/ environsciproc2022015010

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

Published: 6 April 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

years of age. In this project, we propose the application of five biotechnological approaches in order to increase the economic value of the non-toxic *Jatropha* crop, while maintaining the natural fertility and biodiversity of soils.

#### **2. The** *Jatropha* **Farm Model**

We propose a circular economy approach for the non-toxic *Jatropha* crop in order to increase the economic value of the seeds, reuse their residues, conserve the natural fertility of the soils and reduce the ecological impact of the crop. The proposed model is shown in Figure 1.

**Figure 1.** Circular economy proposal of the *Jatropha* Farm.

The non-toxic *Jatropha* variety was used to establish the parcels. The plants are biofertilized with bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi to increase yield, nutrient solubility and organic matter. Upon harvest, the seeds are transported and used for oil extraction. The oil is useful to convert into biodiesel, but also other bioproducts of high value, such as medicines, cosmetics, paints and specialty oils. The residual cake is used to formulate feed for farm animals, such as pigs, cattle or chickens. Their excreta are returned to the *Jatropha* plantation to maintain fertility levels. A secondary crop is established in the plantation for maximal use of land surface and additional economic benefits. The remains of secondary crop plants stay in the field to convert into compost for the next season, increasing nutrients and organic matter. The first part of the proposal consists of the *Jatropha* field experiment; the second part consists of the chicken farm.

#### **3. Preliminary Results**

The first part of the *Jatropha* Farm model was established in Xochitepec, Morelos, Mexico, in a plot property of the KSH Innovación Automotriz, a company with which we have a collaboration agreement. The exact location is 18◦43 31.3 N, 99◦14 46.6 W (Figure 2).

**Figure 2.** Satellite photograph of the *Jatropha* Farm model plot (at left). Xochitepec, Morelos, Mexico. Source: Google Maps.

The parcel covers about 1 ha with 800 plants, in 40 rows of 20 plants each, direction North–South. The non-toxic *Jatropha* plants are 5 years old, healthy, of about 2.5 m height. In the West limit of the parcel, the soil changes visibly to being sandier and the plants are smaller, possibly due to reduced nutrients (Figure 3a). The plots contain 10 plants each. In this part of the field, five treatments with two random-generated repetitions were applied (10 plots). The treatments were as follows:

**Figure 3.** (**a**) *Jatropha* plant in the model parcel; (**b**) Application of biofertilizers and manure.

(**a**) (**b**)


*Rhizobium phaseoli* CIAT652 strain, prepared in the laboratory (Figure 4a; emerged bean plants, Figure 4b). The cost of this treatment was USD 0.02 per bean plant (USD 1.6 per plot);


**Figure 4.** (**a**) Preparation of common bean seed inoculant; (**b**) emerged bean plants.

#### **4. Conclusions**

The second part of the proposal (the chicken farm) will be performed with the cake from seeds harvested in this season. Thus, the five proposed biotechnological approaches of the *Jatropha* Farm will be complete: the use of a non-toxic *Jatropha* line, the application of biofertilizers, establishing secondary crops, recycling the seed cake, and the reuse of chicken manure. At the end of the season (approximately next October), the economic study will consider the costs and benefits of these strategies. The effect on the soil will be studied, assessing bacterial populations and the content of organic matter. The ecological effect of the mentioned strategies will be studied through carbon and water footprints. The entire experiment will run for two additional seasons, finishing in 2023. Meanwhile, the proposal and the preliminary results will be divulgated in specialized fora, and also in workshops with the general public and the farmers of the Morelos state, who own non-toxic *Jatropha* parcels. Additionally, we are exploring the conversion of *Jatropha* oil into high value bioproducts, such as dermatological creams and dielectric oils. We are in the process of obtaining the genome sequence of the non-toxic *Jatropha curcas* line; it will allow finding differences in comparison with the genomes of toxic *Jatropha* varieties.

The fundamentals of the project allow for it to be extended to other places and crops. We are collaborating with *Jatropha* researchers in Ecuador, who are interested in the applications of the model, and also with oil palm producers in Colombia. Additionally, we will research the possible rebound effects on promoting this crop instead of others that are traditionally produced, acknowledging a life cycle approach and a decarbonization scenario relying on electric vehicles in medium to long term, such that claims on the circular economy can be made from a resource perspective.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, H.P.; methodology, H.P., D.I.A.-O. and J.C.G.-F.; formal analysis, H.P., D.I.A.-O. and J.C.G.-F.; writing—original draft preparation, H.P.; writing—review and editing, H.P., D.I.A.-O. and J.C.G.-F.; visualization, H.P.; funding acquisition, H.P., D.I.A.-O. and J.C.G.-F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Director Office, Center for Genomic Sciences-UNAM, Mexico.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** We gratefully acknowledge the participation and support of Alejandro Aguilar and Gabriela Guerrero (CCG-UNAM) for work on the *Jatropha* genome, Eng. Nancy Reyes García and Victor Haddad (KSH Innovación Automotriz, S. A.) in the field experiments, and Stephanie Polette Romero Alvarez and Mauricio Maldonado Rodríguez (University of Morelos) for work on the oil bioproducts. The authors are participants in the ExpertODS group of SDSN-Mexico initiative.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funder had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

#### **References**


### *Proceeding Paper* **Innovative Financing Strategies for Climate Action and Sustainable Development †**

**Toluwanimi Adeoti 1,\*, David Boroto <sup>1</sup> and Scott Thacker 1,2**


**Abstract:** Despite the importance of infrastructure for climate action and sustainable development, national governments face challenges in accessing financing for the infrastructure they need. To support governments to attract finance to achieve the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we propose a novel approach using the Sustainable Infrastructure Financing Tool (SIFT). Underpinned by a growing global database of 100+ infrastructure funds, SIFT supports governments by providing an evidence-based approach to identifying and prioritizing potential sources of financing for sustainable infrastructure. We demonstrate the potential of SIFT using a national case study for the Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia.

**Keywords:** infrastructure; finance; climate; SDGs

#### **1. Introduction**

Infrastructure is the backbone of every society; it provides essential services, including energy, water, and transportation to meet the needs of growing populations. Infrastructure also is central to a country's development, and research reveals that infrastructure can influence the achievement of up to 92% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets [1]. However, infrastructure can also have damaging impacts on society, not least in the case of climate change. Infrastructure, primarily through transport and buildings in cities, contributes to 75% of all global greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change [2] and increases the magnitude and frequency of climate-related hazard events. Infrastructure is particularly susceptible to such hazards. When infrastructure is not resilient, it can disrupt the delivery of critical services and set back development gains that have been established over decades.

As the world deals with the impacts of climate change, infrastructure is a vital enabler of climate mitigation and adaptation for achieving the Paris Agreement. Climate mitigation is promoted by using low carbon technologies in infrastructure development and demand reduction. Similarly, ensuring that infrastructure is resilient to hazards, including green infrastructure for hazard protection, contributes to climate adaptation. With several countries signing the Paris Agreement, sustainable finance is a critical enabler to keep them on track to meet their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets.

In recent years, the emergence of climate and SDG-related finance from public and private investors such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and increased Official Development Assistance allocations to climate change and related sectors indicate a global recognition of the need for increased climate finance [3]. Governments, however, face challenges in attracting this finance to meet their national objectives. Capacity constraints exist in developing bankable projects, identifying financiers, and meeting their financing criteria [4].

**Citation:** Adeoti, T.; Boroto, D.; Thacker, S. Innovative Financing Strategies for Climate Action and Sustainable Development. *Environ. Sci. Proc.* **2022**, *15*, 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/ environsciproc2022015011

Academic Editors: Cheyenne Maddox and Lauren Barredo

Published: 06 April 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Several tools and methodologies have been developed to support governments in overcoming financing barriers. Some of these tools aid the development of bankable projects through the provision of guidance resources for project preparation (Source [5], Project Navigator [6], and Sustainable Infrastructure Tool Navigator [7]). These are relevant for governments with the technical know-how and financial ability to carry out the recommended feasibility studies for project preparation. Other tools focus on mapping out development financiers through retrospective financial reporting on aid allocation (Financial Tracking Service [8], ODF for Infrastructure [9]) and identifying financing opportunities through specific tenders and calls for proposals (Devex [10]).

Existing tools have centered on the major global financiers and their investments in development projects without adequately elucidating how to access the available infrastructure financing or considering the diversity of different country contexts. Several tools also do not reference climate change impacts or progress towards the Paris Agreement beyond the inclusion of environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs). In an attempt to fill this gap, the United Nations Office for Project Services, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, has developed the Sustainable Infrastructure Financing Tool (SIFT) to provide an intuitive and structured approach to identifying potential sources of financing for sustainable infrastructure. SIFT enables the development of an evidence-based strategy for financing national infrastructure pipelines and climate mitigation and adaptation plans.

The following sections outline the SIFT methodology and demonstrate its application to Saint Lucia, a small island developing nation with unique development challenges. First, the SIFT methodology is explained, including its underlying frameworks and datasets. This is then followed by the practical application in Saint Lucia and the study results. Conclusions are provided in the final section, highlighting the implications of the Saint Lucia study and the relevance of SIFT globally.

#### **2. SIFT Methodology**

The SIFT methodological framework (Figure 1) supports the systematic development of a National Infrastructure Financing Strategy (NIFS). Central to this framework is the SIFT process, which is underpinned by a large range of datasets within the SIFT database. The key components of the SIFT framework are described further in the following sub-sections.

**Figure 1.** Sustainable Infrastructure Financing Tool (SIFT) methodological framework.

#### *2.1. SIFT Database*

Data collection for the SIFT database involved consultation with national governments and a comprehensive desktop review of fund websites and documentation, including annual reports, sustainability reports, financial statements, policies, guidelines, and other relevant documentation. The datasets comprise the following:


#### *2.2. SIFT Process*

#### 2.2.1. Step A: Map Historical Infrastructure Financing Trends

SIFT leverages historical country data to contextualize the financing landscape incountry and draw attention to overarching financing needs. Institutional structures and arrangements are also assessed to contextualize the enabling environment and understand the institutional capacity to develop and implement sustainable infrastructure projects. This step provides a foundation for the subsequent analysis and tailors the financing strategy to a country's specific context and needs.

#### 2.2.2. Step B: Explore the Infrastructure Financing Landscape

Data on financiers' scope are analyzed to provide an overview of the infrastructure financing landscape of a country. In addition to mapping infrastructure financiers based on historical data and existing donor relationships, this step enables governments to understand the new potential financing opportunities available for their national infrastructure pipeline.

#### 2.2.3. Step C: Evaluate Project Financing Readiness

An infrastructure project's documentation is evaluated to assess its readiness for financing based on financing criteria used by funds. Through this assessment, the extent to which the project's documentation addresses financing criteria is understood, highlighting areas of strength and improvement to better align with fund requirements.

#### 2.2.4. Step D: Develop Strategic Financing Plan

SIFT identifies well-aligned funds for the government to focus on to finance specific projects in the national infrastructure pipeline. This analysis is based on the exploration of the financing landscape (step B) and the evaluation of a project's financing readiness (step C), considering historical context, over-arching financing needs, and prior funding relationships (step A). The SIFT resource library is then used to inform project-specific strategic actions to address gaps in project financing readiness. An action plan is developed to guide an integrated approach for financing the national infrastructure pipeline. This holistic analysis enables governments to identify and explore opportunities for crossministerial collaboration for project preparation, capacity building, and fund engagement.

#### *2.3. SIFT Output*

In the form of a succinct report, the NIFS summarizes the findings from each step of the SIFT process and extracts insights to inform governments' strategic decision-making for financing their infrastructure pipelines. Project factsheets that summarize crucial project information and highlight potential NDC and SDG impacts are developed for special focus projects in the NIFS, equipping governments to engage with sustainable infrastructure financiers. By highlighting specific funds that individual focus projects align with, the NIFS enables governments to identify financing opportunities for their infrastructure projects, including those which specifically tackle climate change.

The NIFS highlights opportunities to capitalize on the growing amount of financing for climate mitigation and adaptation to promote climate-resilient infrastructure development. Leveraging the SIFT resource library, the NIFS ensures current and future projects address financing criteria related to climate change. SIFT and the accompanying NIFS enable governments to strategically attract infrastructure financing to achieve their development targets.

#### **3. Application for Saint Lucia**

Like most Caribbean countries, certain challenges have limited sustainable development in Saint Lucia, including economic vulnerabilities due to its small size, import dependence, and tourism volatility, which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated. The island is also highly vulnerable to climate hazards, as its geography leaves it especially exposed to the negative impacts of climate change [11]. Its ability to address these challenges has made infrastructure a priority for the Government of Saint Lucia (GoSL), as stated in its Medium-term Development Strategy (MTDS) [12] and the National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA) [13]. The NIA delineates specific national infrastructure-related targets to further progress toward the Paris Agreement and the SDGs, including 35% renewable energy generation, 23% emissions reduction, and a 61% wastewater treatment rate by 2030. However, the MTDS reiterates that inadequate financial resources for infrastructure are barriers to meeting these targets, which are worsened by rising public debt and contraction of the GDP by 20% in 2020 due to COVID-19 [14].

External support from the public and private financiers is key to unlocking the financial barriers to infrastructure development. There is a need for enhanced mechanisms to support GoSL to overcome knowledge gaps regarding the available sources of external financing and the resources required to access these funds. With the responsibility to understand and exploit financing opportunities, decision-makers lack adequate information to take strategic actions to attract funding for infrastructure. Given this, SIFT was applied in Saint Lucia to accelerate financing for the national infrastructure pipeline in alignment with the Paris Agreement and the SDGs and national development priorities. The Saint Lucia NIFS involved extensive stakeholder consultation across government ministries/agencies to facilitate data collection and guide the selection of focus projects across key infrastructure sectors (Figure 2). Consultations with these stakeholders enabled critical evaluation of infrastructure projects at different stages and the intended timelines. Project documentation provided data to assess the projects' readiness for financing. National documents were also reviewed to understand contextual issues and trends to develop practical approaches to access infrastructure finance. This holistic consultative process fostered cross-ministerial coordination to understand needs and capacities regarding infrastructure finance mobilization in Saint Lucia.

#### **4. Results and Discussion**

#### *4.1. Historical Infrastructure Financing Trends*

Following three years of decline in government spending on buildings and infrastructure, expenditure in Saint Lucia grew by 75% to XCD 210 million in the 2019/2020 fiscal year [15]. In recent years, excluding uncategorized spending, transport, health, and disaster reduction have been the most financed sectors [15]. Most infrastructure financing is through bonds; however, loans have increased steadily while grants have declined at a similar rate [16]. This trend is in line with an increasing debt-to-GDP ratio, which reached 87% of GDP in 2020 [14]. Growing debt levels, worsened by the global COVID-19 pandemic, make evident the need to explore alternative infrastructure financing options. Development banks and international organizations have been the largest external infrastructure financiers of GoSL in recent years [15]. Amidst a growing market of private sector infrastructure investors, XCD 351 million of private sector finance has been invested in Saint Lucia through public-private partnerships (PPPs) since 1990, primarily in the energy sector [17]. However, challenges such as small project sizes, constrained local PPP capacity, and hazard vulnerability have limited private investment in the country.

#### *4.2. Saint Lucia's Infrastructure Financing Landscape*

SIFT identified 60 funds with the ability to finance infrastructure in Saint Lucia, of which 57% are currently not accessed by the Government of Saint Lucia. Identified funds include development banks, government development agencies, and development finance institutions. These newly identified funds can increase the pool of financiers in Saint Lucia, significantly expanding the potential for infrastructure development. The majority of the identified funds allocate financing to traditional sectors such as energy and transport while emerging sectors like climate infrastructure are gaining prominence.

Loans are the most readily available financing mechanism; however, grants and equity are also available, with 68% and 47% of funds offering them respectively. The availability of blended finance, equity investments, and guarantees draws attention to the opportunity for private sector participation in infrastructure financing through PPPs. Of the available funds, 85% provide financing for project implementation, while 70% finance enabling activities that build institutional capacity and 52% finance project preparation activities.

#### *4.3. National Infrastructure Pipeline Readiness for Financing*

Thirty-six projects across energy, housing, water, wastewater, and solid waste sectors in Saint Lucia's infrastructure project pipeline were assessed in the study. The project pipeline included proposal documentation with varying levels of financing readiness (Figure 3). Areas of strength demonstrated by over 85% of projects included alignment with a national strategy and alignment with the SDGs. In contrast, areas for improvement included incorporating climate resilience measures and gender considerations (Figure 4). Given their importance to financiers in Saint Lucia, these areas are critical to address as over 85% of available funds assess these criteria. Aligning projects with the Paris Agreement to meet the country's NDC targets was also an area for improvement; only 31% of projects in the pipeline provided evidence in their documentation to suggest that this criterion is addressed. Gaps in general criteria, such as feasibility studies, impact assessments, and financial viability assessments were also highlighted as areas to strengthen to better attract private sector investment.

The assessment of Saint Lucia's infrastructure pipeline provides a strong rationale for the government to allocate resources to the criteria most required by funds and areas to develop institutional capacity for project preparation. Climate resilience is one of such areas, as it is a criterion used by 85% of funds but incorporated into only 6% of pipeline projects based on the evidence found in proposal documentation (Figure 4). This evaluation was crucial in selecting the focus projects for which specific financing opportunities were identified.


**Figure 3.** Saint Lucia's national infrastructure pipeline readiness for financing.

**Figure 4.** Comparison of financing criteria addressed by projects' proposal documentation versus financing criteria used by funds.

#### *4.4. Strategic Financing Plan*

An in-depth analysis was completed for six focus projects across the five sectors to identify, prioritize and exploit specific financing opportunities. The selection of focus projects was based on immediate government priorities, sectoral distribution, projects' financing readiness, and implementation timelines. A project factsheet, fund-alignment assessment, and financing action plan were completed for each project.

For this paper, the project on 'Energy Efficiencies in Buildings' is used as an example of the focus project analysis (Figure 5). At the time of this study, the project's documentation provided evidence that addressed 47% of the financing criteria, including alignment with a national strategy and the SDGs and demonstrating economic, social, and environmental benefits. Five funds were identified as strongly aligned with the project; 80% of these funds offer grants, 40% offer blended finance solutions to attract private sector investment, and 40% finance project preparation activities to further develop the project.

Overall, for the six focus projects, 23 of the 60 SIFT funds for Saint Lucia were identified as potential project financiers; GoSL has an established relationship with 14 of these funds. Opportunities for coordination and collaboration between ministries were identified for fund engagement, given that seven funds were highly aligned with multiple projects. To help ensure efficient use of capacity and resources, opportunities to group and package projects with similar timelines and sectors were identified for certain funds.

Of the 15 financing criteria, 11 were identified as areas of improvement for six focus projects (Figure 6). Cross-ministerial collaboration can be leveraged to address gaps in the project documentation of focus projects and build capacity in project preparation to increase financing readiness and better align with funds. For example, all focus projects except one lacked alignment with the Paris Agreement, gender considerations, and climate resilience in their project documentation. A coordinated approach can be taken to identify and exploit available expertise within the government to incorporate these criteria in the focus projects and efficiently build capacity across the respective ministries.

The analysis culminated in a holistic 3-tier action roadmap creating a clear path to secure financing for the focus projects, further developing the national infrastructure pipeline, and ensuring a legacy of evidence-based decision-making for financing long-term infrastructure development.


**Figure 6.** Summary of potential financing criteria development for focus projects.

#### **5. Conclusions**

This paper has shed light on the key role infrastructure plays in delivering on the Paris Agreement and the SDGs, and has drawn attention to the need for infrastructure finance mobilization to be rooted in evidence. Using the novel SIFT approach, governments are better able to channel limited resources towards preparing infrastructure projects that address the criteria of financiers and increase the likelihood of attracting much-needed finance, including for projects targeted at climate mitigation and adaptation. The application of SIFT in Saint Lucia produced a financing strategy that provides an integrated approach to infrastructure financing and fund engagement. The NIFS also promotes cross-ministerial coordination and collaboration to strengthen the government's institutional capacity in project preparation and financing. This will yield both short- and long-term benefits and promote efficiency in financing the national infrastructure pipeline. Some limitations of the application in Saint Lucia include the unavailability of project data for some infrastructure sectors, notably transportation, which significantly influences meeting development targets. In addition, the SIFT database is currently under development; hence the financing opportunities highlighted for the country and focus projects are not exhaustive.

In this decade of action, SIFT is an innovative solution with great potential to help governments overcome challenges to infrastructure financing by building strategic partnerships with infrastructure financiers that prioritize positive economic, social and environmental impacts to achieve the Paris Agreement and the SDGs. SIFT is scalable and can be applied to various country contexts, including landlocked developing countries, small island developing states, and least developed countries to promote evidence-based infrastructure financing for climate action and the achievement of sustainable development.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, T.A., D.B. and S.T.; methodology, T.A., D.B. and S.T.; software, D.B.; validation, T.A.; formal analysis, T.A., D.B. and S.T.; data curation, D.B; writing—original draft preparation, T.A. and D.B.; writing—review and editing, T.A., D.B. and S.T.; visualization, D.B. and T.A.; supervision, S.T.; project administration, T.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data available upon request from the authors.

**Acknowledgments:** This research was conducted at the United Nations Office for Project Services supported by the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford. The authors thank Robyn Haggis, Nafisa Bhikoo, the National Integrated Planning and Programme Unit, and the Saint Lucia Ministry of Finance, Economic Growth, Job Creation, External Affairs, and the Public Service for their contributions.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


#### *Proceeding Paper*
