Linking renewables to economic growth: The case for climate-centered SDGs
Monday, October 2, 2017
The International Conference on Sustainable Development, held in New York from September 18 to 20, saw practitioners, NGOs, policymakers, and academics come together to encourage government, businesses and those supporting development outcomes to think longer term — to 2050.
Among those urging this new focus was the acting CEO of ClimateWorks Australia, Meg Argyriou.
Presenting research findings during a panel session on how we can all profit from the low carbon transition, Argyriou highlighted findings from Southeast Asia and the Pacific that demonstrate the decoupling of economic growth and emissions growth is both achievable and beneficial.
“One of the things we are trying to do with this is challenge the thinking about how development can and should happen,” Argyriou explained to Devex. “We want to challenge the current paradigm that achieving significant outcomes can only be achieved through growth in emission. That was true in the past, but it is not what the evidence suggests these days.”
Armed with such evidence, Argyriou is pushing for governments, donors and NGOs to think longer term about climate action, giving it a central focus in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Photo courtesy of Dana Smillie.
Source: Devex (link opens in a new window)
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