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Working together to support implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Joint annex on implementation of the common chapter of the Strategic Plans 2018-2021 of UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and UN-Women

This joint annex presents progress on the implementation of the common chapter of the Strategic Plans, 2018-2021, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), in response to a request by the Executive Boards of the four agencies for “details on the implementation of the common chapter in [their] annual reporting and, when applicable and as appropriate, at the joint meeting of the Executive Boards”. The approach of working together is also measured annually by indicators from the 2016 quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system (QCPR) contained in the QCPR annexes attached to the respective annual report of each agency.

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Barbados' green economy scoping study

The inclusion of green policy objectives in Barbados can be traced to the National Strategic Plan (2006-2025) and the Budget Speech of 2007. The process was given further impetus in 2009 when the then Prime Minister laid down the challenge of committing Barbados to become the “most environmentally advanced green country in Latin America and the Caribbean”. It was against this backdrop that the government engaged the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in the establishment of a partnership to support the country’s transformation.

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UNEP guide for energy efficiency and renewable energy laws

This Guide is written as a sequel to the 2007 UN Environment Programme Handbook for Legal Draftsmen on Environmentally Sound Management of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Resources. The Guide describes the key legal issues associated with efficiency and renewable energy resource development, and presents legislative options from both developed and developing countries for dealing with them, including sample excerpts from legislation.

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Guidelines for integrated environmental assessment of urban areas

Planning and management for sustainable development require an understanding of the linkages between environmental conditions and human activities and encourage participation by all sectors of society in decision-making. This publication is a useful tool that will help strengthen institutional capacity to prepare environmental assessments and comprehensive reports on cities in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

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2016 UN World Water Development Report: water and jobs

Three out of four of the jobs worldwide are water-dependent. In fact, water shortages and lack of access may limit economic growth in the years to come, according to the 2016 United Nations World Water Development Report: water and jobs, which was launched on 22 March, World Water Day, in Geneva. From its collection, through various uses, to its ultimate return to the natural environment, water is a key factor in the development of job opportunities either directly related to its management (supply, infrastructure, waste water treatment, etc.) or in economic sectors that are heavily water-dependent such as agriculture, fishing, power, industry and health. Furthermore, good access to drinking water and sanitation promotes an educated and healthy workforce, which constitutes an essential factor for sustained economic growth. In its analysis of the economic impact of access to water, the report cites numerous studies that show a positive correlation between investments in the water sector and economic growth. It also highlights the key role of water in the transition to a green economy.

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Water and sanitation interlinkages across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

This UN-Water Analytical Brief analyses the central role of water and sanitation to describe the links and interdependencies between the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation and those of other Goals. It aims to stimulate United Nations Member States’ consideration of the water-related linkages within the Goals to facilitate an integrated approach to implementation. The Brief highlights the importance of mainstreaming water and sanitation in the policies and plans of other sectors, and how the management of interlinkages supports the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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Who will be accountable? Human rights and the post-2015 development agenda

This publication is intended to help fill some of the more pressing accountability gaps that impede the realization of global and national development goals. We approach this challenge from the perspective of human rights, as a universal normative and legally binding framework embodying the minimum requirements of a dignified life, encapsulating universal values that a post-2015 agreement should strive to prioritize and protect as well as essential features of a road map to take us there.

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The business case for off-grid energy in India

This report sets out to boost entrepreneurial activity and private sector investment in renewable off-grid energy (OGE) by assessing the market, identifying business models with the greatest potential to achieve scale, and recommending investments that will be catalytic for the sector.

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Protecting people through nature: natural World Heritage sites as drivers of sustainable development

This Dalberg and WWF report shows that natural World Heritage sites support livelihoods for communities, and provide communities with vital protection against the impacts of climate change.

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Bioenergy and food security assessment for Turkey

This report was developed under the FAO EBRD project on bioenergy with the aim to support decision-making related to bioenergy investment in countries of operations of the EBRD. Turkey, a country of operation, has a large agriculture sector, the requirement to produce 20 percent of its electricity from renewable energy and diversify its energy mix, which currently heavily relies on imported fossil fuels. This report presents the results from the country level assessment to identify the potential to produce bioenergy from crop and livestock residues. The analysis shows there is significant potential in Turkey, identifies the type of suitable feedstock, the most promising locations and profitable bioenergy pathways. The report also provides recommendations for the required next steps to move the development of the specific bioenergy sector forward. The work was implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Turkey, and other key stakeholders.

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Learning from each other: South-South and triangular cooperation in East and Southern Africa

South-South and triangular cooperation has an enormous potential role in agriculture and rural development in developing countries, both in unlocking diverse experiences and lessons and in providing solutions to pressing development challenges. From the cases in this publication, a number of common lessons emerge. Meanwhile, the importance of adaptation also emerged from these documented cases. Inspiring examples in other regions or countries encourage people to take up certain approaches, but they can almost never be copied exactly into any new context.

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Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2016. Education for people and planet: creating sustainable futures for all

The Incheon Declaration for Education 2030 has been instrumental to shape the Sustainable Development Goal on Education to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. It entrusts UNESCO with the leadership, coordination and monitoring of the Education 2030 agenda. It also calls upon the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report to provide independent monitoring and reporting of the Sustainable Development Goal on education (SDG 4), and on education in the other SDGs, for the next fifteen years. The ultimate goal of this agenda is to leave no one behind. This calls for robust data and sound monitoring. The 2016 edition of the GEM Report provides valuable insight for governments and policy makers to monitor and accelerate progress towards SDG 4, building on the indicators and targets we have, with equity and inclusion as measures of overall success.

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New paradigm for Caribbean development: transitioning to a green economy

This study focuses on the exploration of options for greening Caribbean economies in a variety of sectors. An additional goal of the study is also to contribute to knowledge about, and the understanding of the fundamental requirements for transitioning to a green economy in the Caribbean and the attendant implications for policy and institutional arrangements.

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Southeast Asia and the economics of global climate stabilization

South-east Asia is likely to sustain larger economic losses from climate change than most other areas in the world. Moreover, those losses—the collective effect of impacts on agriculture, tourism, energy demand, labour productivity, catastrophic risks, health, and ecosystems—may be larger than previously estimated. When these loss estimates are considered simultaneously in the modelling, gross domestic product (GDP) is found to be reduced by 11% in 2100 under the business as usual emissions scenario of this study, which is 60% higher than the earlier ADB assessment. Climate change is a global concern of special relevance to South-east Asia, a region that is both vulnerable to the effects of climate change and a rapidly increasing emitter of greenhouse gases. From 1990 to 2010, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in South-east Asia have grown more rapidly than in any other region of the world.

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Achieving universal electricity access in Indonesia

This report describes Indonesia’s electrification environment and identifies barriers to achieving universal electricity access. Principles drawn from international best practices such as government commitment, enabling institutional environments, adequate and sustainable financing, and stakeholder coordination are discussed in the context of Indonesia’s energy sector. The report gives recommendations for establishing service standards, streamlining financing, setting appropriate targets, and monitoring and evaluation, as well as near-term steps to help achieve universal electricity access.

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Grid integration of wind power: best practices for emerging wind markets

Issues with grid integration of wind energy has led to curtailment of wind power, delay in interconnection for commissioned wind projects and/or denial of generation permit. This report describes the impact of wind power on the grid, methods to analyze the impact and approaches to mitigate the impact. Countries like Denmark, Germany, Spain, and regions within the United States like Texas and Colorado have achieved high penetration of wind energy with modest changes to the grid. The key to high penetration of wind energy has been flexible grids. The report outlines the lessons learned with a focus on applicability to emerging wind energy markets.

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Water: securing Bhutan's future

Water has been sculpting Bhutan’s landscape for millennia, flowing down from majestic alpine mountains to the narrow valleys and deep gorges that make up the country’s iconic landscape before spreading out toward the southern plains. Water needs to be managed well, and in an integrated and adaptive way. This kind of management is very challenging because it involves many actors and stakes. Water is not a sector in the traditional sense. Rather, it is a complex fabric—particularly in Bhutan—of interconnections between agriculture, ecology and energy that need to be recognized and managed as a system. This view of water management gives coordination a central role. Bhutan’s framework for integrated water resource management (IWRM) adopts coordination as its core management principle. It builds on a strong Bhutanese tradition of water sharing and collective management, examples of which are illustrated in this book.

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Bangladesh: consolidating export-led growth - country diagnostic study

Bangladesh has transformed its economy over the last 2 decades, graduating to middle-income status as average annual growth remained strong at 5%–6%. The country’s goal to become an upper-middle-income country by 2021 will require even stronger annual growth of 7.5%–8%. The study finds that the most critical constraints to growth are (i) insufficient reliable energy supply, (ii) policies that indirectly stunt development of economic activities unrelated to ready-made garment exports, and (iii) insufficient security about property and land rights due in part to inadequate registry systems. If policies are designed to urgently tackle these constraints, Bangladesh will be free to harness its potential for inclusive and sustainable growth.

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Improving energy efficiency in South Asia

Opportunities for energy efficiency in South Asian power systems exist mostly in the areas of operation of thermal power plants, electricity transmission and delivery systems and in demand management and conservation at the user-end. This paper concludes that there is scope for significant improvement in coal-fired power plant efficiency improvements and loss reduction in transmission and distribution systems. On the demand side expanded application of time-of-use electricity tariffs and appliance standards along with demand control through smart metering will improve efficiency. These improvements can be realized with appropriate policies and programs that can be readily implemented with the existing institutional framework.

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Nature-based solutions for building resilience in towns and cities: case studies from the Greater Mekong Subregion

Urban populations are projected to increase from 54% to 66% of the global population by 2050, with close to 90% of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. Cities and towns—a growing source of greenhouse gas emissions—will need to address challenges posed by climate change. A nature-based approach in identifying climate change vulnerabilities and developing relevant adaptation options was conducted in three towns of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Working with local governments, non-government organizations, women’s groups, and professional associations, town-wide adaptation measures were defined by overlaying climate change projections on town plans and zoning schemes for strategic infrastructure. This publication captures valuable experience and lessons from the project.

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Cobenefits and trade-offs of green and clean energy: evidence from the academic literature and Asian case studies

This paper assesses the positive cobenefits of promoting green and clean energy in Asia, and discusses four case studies where cobenefits have been delivered in practice in Indonesia, People's Republic of China, Japan, and Singapore. It first defines what is meant by “clean” energy across the four technological systems of cooking, renewable electricity, energy efficiency, and urban transport. It summarizes at least four general types of cobenefits to investing in these systems.

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Myanmar: energy sector assessment, strategy, and road map

Myanmar has abundant energy resources, particularly hydropower and natural gas. However, the country’s energy sector has been underdeveloped due to global isolation and lack of financial and technical capacity. This is the first energy sector assessment, strategy, and road map for Myanmar prepared by ADB's Southeast Asia Energy Division. It highlights energy sector performance, major development constraints, government plans and strategy, past ADB support and experience, other development partner support, and future ADB support strategy. This document is linked to and feeds into ADB’s country partnership strategy for Myanmar and will be updated as strategic developments and program changes are needed.

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The economics of greenhouse gas mitigation in developing Asia

This study uses an economy–energy–climate model to assess the long-term effects of Paris Agreement pledges on developing Asia, in comparison with business as usual and more ambitious scenarios to limit warming to 2°C. It finds potential for modest macroeconomic costs of ambitious mitigation, but that clean energy investment needs are substantial. When costs, benefits of avoided climate change, and cobenefits are considered together, investment in mitigation policy is found to have substantial economic returns for the region—if action is taken rapidly and international carbon market mechanisms are implemented to allow mitigation to occur where it is least costly.

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State of the Least Developed Countries 2016

The current report builds on the first and second editions, which considered the issues of productive capacity building as well as extreme poverty eradication in the least developed countries (LDCs) and the post-2015 development agenda. These reports provided analysis relating to the inclusion of LDC issues in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. This year’s report is dedicated to the implementation of the SDGs in LDCs using synergies with the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA). Part 1 of the report assesses progress towards achieving the goals and targets of the IPoA, particularly in the eight priority areas; reviews efforts towards this end; and identifies challenges ahead. The report argues that enhanced, coordinated and targeted support to the LDCs fulfilling ODA commitments but also going beyond, will remain critical to effectively implementing the IPoA. Part 2 of the report assesses the complementarities of the IPoA and the 2030 Agenda. It maps the goals, targets and actions of the IPoA with the SDGs, focusing on means of implementation. Furthermore it looks at how the implementation of the SDGs in LDCs can be fostered, including its mainstreaming and monitoring and followup. The conclusions and policy recommendations cover the findings in both parts of the report. As the report finds significant synergies between the IPoA and the Agenda 2030 it highlights the importance of leadership and political will and effective global partnership.

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Supporting vulnerable countries on their path to poverty eradication and prosperity

From the General Assembly in 1971 that established the LDC status, to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, this brochure will highlight the evolution of the different international mandates supporting the UN’s most vulnerable countries, and UNIDO’s intervention within them, taking into account previous achievements and unmet challenges. The brochure concludes with a discussion of the future path for these countries, emphasizing issues that development strategies must address in order to reach their goal of poverty eradication and increased prosperity. Effort is being made to highlight selected UNIDO interventions, however the mentions in this brochure are non-exhaustive.

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