1. SD for CD:
an environmental and governance perspective
Dr. Ingeborg Niestroy
PublicStrategy for SD
www.ps4sd.eu
i.niestroy@psd4sd.eu

2. Overview
1. Environmental integration – sustainable development
2. Rio+20 debates on GE: the conflict on development and environment is
back, or has never disappeared
3. Policy issues: ‘Greening’ and ‘distribution’
4. Environment and Devco communities seem quite separated
this needs to change in all institutions
5. SDGs as opportunity for both (3. and 4.): universality
open how it will go together with the post 2015 MDGs (process)
6. Governance for SD – key elements for CD
7. Supporting instruments/approaches:
SD (and similar) strategies, SD councils, (Sust.) Impact Assessment
do it pragmatic; improve skills for acting as ‘agent’
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 2

3. (1) Environmental integration - SD
• Environmental problems
from end of the pipe to the “environmental integration requirement”
(since 1987 in EC Treaty)
‘greening’ all (sectoral) policies (… incl. aid + dev. coop. …)
… now typically called “environmental sustainability”
• Procedural instruments since 80s/90s, in EU and beyond (US earlier!):
EIA/SEA (also: Espoo Convention for transboundary)
• + social aspects + global dimension (equity) + long-term
“sustainable development” (Brundtland)
• Tension between N and S, between environment and development
sustainable development agreed as concept to reconcile (1992 Rio)
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 3

4. (2) Rio debates on GE
• The conflict is back, or has never
disappeared and becomes (more)
apparent with emerging
economies:
- “first develop then clean up”
- suspicion about GE
(green protectionism,
monetization of nature), fueled
by..
• Despite the well-known links that environmental degradation hits the
poorest first and most
• However: The North has reduced environmental pollution, but not its
ecological footprint, and economies are failing was not so credible
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 4

5. (3) ‘Greening’ and ‘distribution’
• Greening:
- Living within the carrying capacities of the planet (“planetary boundaries”),
environmental “guard rails”
- Notion of limits / resource scarcity
• Distribution / Equity:
- Fairer shares between N and S, but also:
- What about equity within countries of the South (GINI coefficient …)?
• Sustainable production, ok, but sustainable consumption almost more
challenging:
- in the North anyhow (awareness (+), realities not)
- but now also rising middle-class in the South, desiring western (US!) high-
consumption life-styles, follow bad models in urban development etc.
• Efficiency increase is important, but not enough, decoupling does not work,
rebound effects etc.: growth – de-growth debate
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 5

6. Contraction and Convergence
Former Eastern Industrial countries
Use of natural resources pp
European countries
Ceiling (= overconsumption)
Environmental Space
Floor (= dignity life line)
Developing countries
Level of welfare
Based on Rochol

7. (4) Communities: Environment and ‘Devco’
• The communities are strangely apart – along the lines
of the substantial / belief system (?) conflict
reasons ?
• Among NGOs: partly conflicts, partly convergence
• European Commission (DG ENV: DG DEVCO difficult to collaborate with)<
European Parliament: two Committees (competition prevails)
• National Ministries (and Parliaments): look for good practice examples
• Agencies for development cooperation:
some have enshrined SD (e.g. German GIZ), but…
• UN system: also here a rather strong divide?
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 7

8. (5) SDGs: a unique opportunity?! … MDGs
• … to bring the two worlds/agendas/goals together, because of:
universality of the SDGs
• Will be challenging already methodologically – same goals, different targets
• Take the opportunity, - at crossroads!
• Stake is apparently felt high:
- quite some competition about membership in the ‘open working group’
- competition with MDGs post 2015 process – hopefully getting
constructively solved
• SDGs will bring back approaches and instruments that are weaker in the
outcome document than before, in particular:
- SD strategies: much stronger commitment in JPoI
in the South to solve: relation to National Development Plans (and
others)
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 8

9. (6) Governance for SD – key elements for CD
• Multi - level, - sector, - actor (… - polar) situation of governance
• Leadership AND ownership
• Bottom-up AND top-down
• Long-term: finding ways to avoid or soften (political) U-turns
• where to focus on depends on the starting point moving towards the
other ‘end’
More concrete also for UNDP?!:
• Governments to do their job (at all levels):
- there is no way around improving policy coherence and establishing
mechanisms for horizontal and vertical coordination
- this needs to have commitment and need to be (powerful) arrangements
- openness for dialogue (on policies) and partnerships (in action) is a must
• Civil society to engage
• Business to explore opportunities (R&D to be fostered? Top-down
regulation often triggers innovation)
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 9

10. (7) Supporting instruments / approaches
• SD (and similar) strategies:
support needed for the ‘governance of strategies’ (.. do not use it as a ‘plan’
that needs to be implemented, but as a process steering instrument’)
• SD councils:
- invention of Rio 1992, as a tool for better policy coordination and the
involvement of non-governmental actors
- but: the label was used for the governmental coordination mechanism
(closed shops), bodies often died out
- Rio outcome document now: “multi-stakeholder bodies”
• (Sust.) Impact Assessment: European Commission’ system as credible role
model for assessing the impacts of all policy proposals in the 3 SD dimensions
useful, check for simple use, do not get lost in sophistication (e.g. of
modeling etc.)
but not instead of EIA/SEA
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 10

11. (7) Challenges – also UNDP to work on?!
• From an environmental perspective: Governance is key for moving the SD agenda
ahead
• Skills as ‘agent’ is key for people working on SD:
- making the links, being able to ‘webbing’ (into society, between silos ..)
- strong communication skills
- a team-based and collaborative approach is key: people are specialists, but need
to learn to talk and interact with other communities, while some are needed that
have the ‘SD glasses on’ (“champions”?)
- include MGA in training?
- Civil society actors need to learn to develop self-esteem (vs. Calimero)
• Government:
- If high-level horizontal coordination bodies take only short-term decisions
(politicised), ways needs to be found to open it up (with experts and/or CS)
- Set up inclusive systems, with a piece to gain for everybody
- Be a role model with green/sustainable public procurement
- Work on vertical coordination (UNDP to work across levels..)
• Budget rules internal and external:
- not possible to switch between budget lines: amendments are required in
national and international rule
- short term project orientation, and inflexibility, in international funding: to be
revised (finding a balance between flexibility and avoiding abuse)
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 11

12. 2000: but now:
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 12

13. Overview
1. Environmental integration – sustainable development
2. Rio+20 debates on GE: the conflict on development and environment is
back, or has never disappeared
3. Policy issues: ‘Greening’ and ‘distribution’
4. Environment and Devco communities seem quite separated
this needs to change in all institutions
5. SDGs as opportunity for both (3. and 4.): universality
open how it will go together with the post 2015 MDGs (process)
6. Governance for SD – key elements for CD
7. Supporting instruments/approaches:
SD (and similar) strategies, SD councils, (Sust.) Impact Assessment
do it pragmatic; improve skills for acting as ‘agent’
I.Niestroy, 15.10.2012 UNDP Bratislava 13