By Forus International
SDG Watch Europe members and other activists who have been promoting the importance of PCSD for many years now are encouraged by the growing political attention paid to the issue by the EU & its MS. As an example, the European Parliament recently passed a Resolution on PCSD.
In addition, the global CSO network Forus and its Asian partner, the Asia Development Alliance (ADA), and Janic, recently released an important new report on Climate Justice and PCSD. This report is entitled “Climate Justice and Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development- Lessons from the Asia Pacific Region”. The report, which is a study on Climate Justice & PCSD in the Asia Pacific Region, contains case studies drawn from 17 countries from 4 different sub-regions in Asia and the Pacific.
See the report’s Executive Summary here and the full report here.
During the launch of the report, experts and institutional representatives from the EU, OECD, UNESCAP, as well as civil society organisations, including CONCORD, PIANGO, KRC, and Climate Watch, discussed the importance of policy coherence between climate action and sustainable development. Watch the recording here.
According to the report, a credible approach to PCSD includes both vertical coherence (between local, national, regional, and international levels) and horizontal coherence (between environmental, economic, and social policy areas and sectors and governance mechanisms).
In the study, target 17.14 and global indicator 17.14.1, which measures policy coherence for sustainable development, are noted as useful tools for monitoring PCSD.
There are several recommendations in the report for national-level actors, including the development of clear PCSD roadmaps with time-bound targets, the establishment of functioning PCSD governance mechanisms, as well as the creation of different avenues and spaces for CSOs and people to participate in PCSD discussions, as well as the dissemination of positive narratives.
Additionally, the report recommends that a global PCSD institution be established with a global steering body to develop standards and recommended processes and structures for PCSD, which should be flexible and adaptable to different countries’ contexts, and to monitor progress toward that standard as time goes on.
For further information about the Forus/ADA report, please contact Deirdre de Burca, Forus Advocacy Co-ordinator, at Deirdre@forus-international.org