Abstract
The research project ‘Measuring sustainable development (SD) in Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)’ was initiated by the NAMA Partnership Working Group on Sustainable Development (WG-SD). The aim of the research project is to improve quantitative and qualitative measurement of the SD outcomes of NAMAs, thereby enhancing understanding of how NAMAs can contribute to meeting national development goals. The UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP), in collaboration with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), and supported by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), have jointly carried out the research. The link between NAMAs and SD is crucial for developing countries, and although work is underway on this topic, it is still in its early stages.1 The Bali Action Plan agreed under the UNFCCC in 2007 agreed that enhanced action on mitigation would include NAMAs by developing country parties in the context of SD. However, the question of how SD impacts are to be integrated into NAMA processes remains open, as do questions regarding which impacts should be assessed and how they should be measured. A substantial body of research and best practices exist regarding how SD considerations have been integrated into the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), such as the Executive Board CDM SD Tool launched in 2014 and the Gold Standard (GS) certification of SD benefits in mitigation projects, which can inform NAMA SD assessments. The global and flexible approach to the selection of SD criteria and indicators found in these standards are common to all types of mitigation actions, but they may not be directly suited to NAMAs, since globally defined standards may not be in the interests of the implementing host countries. NAMAs are much broader than the project-based CDM, potentially involving policy and sectoral actions, and may require additional or different SD assessment tools. In this context, the objective of the report is to develop a framework with criteria and indicators for the assessment of the SD impacts of NAMAs, based on a review of the literature on sustainability assessment tools and approaches, and a study of the different stakeholder perspectives among developing country governments, support agencies, the private sector and civil-society organisations.
Info
Book, 2015
UN SDG Classification
DK Main Research Area
Science/Technology
