Sustainable development and global emission targets: A dynamical systems approach to aid evidence‐based policy making

Abstract

There is broad scientific consensus that increasing global emissions at current rates will lead to irreversible climate change. The global commitment to sustainable development goals and the 2015 Paris Agreement attempt to address this concern with policy changes. But top‐down approaches including voluntary emission cuts do not appear politically feasible in all countries. In this paper, it is shown that moderate voluntary emission cuts (policy) supplemented by technological developments and changes in consumption tastes and preferences induced by educating individuals (stakeholder engagement) could help achieve emission targets. A novel dynamical systems modelling approach based on economic theory is used to show the quantitative tradeoffs between these different approaches. Using this model, it is shown how economic development may be balanced by global reductions in emissions so that, initially, developing economies can continue along their current growth trajectories and eliminate poverty, and eventually bear more of the emissions reduction burden.

Are the Sustainable Development Goals self‐consistent and mutually achievable?

“…Finally, we briefly contrast the analysis here with work by Spaiser et al (); see also Ranganathan, Nicolis, Bali Swain, and Sumpter () and Ranganathan and Bali Swain (). The key difference is that these authors build a dynamical systems model directly from available historic data.…”

Energy, Pollution, and Transport Taxes as Instruments of Sustainable Development of Manufacturing Enterprises in Emerging Economies in the European Union

“…Sustainable development aims to strive for environmental, socio-economic egalitarianism and create favourable living conditions for the present and future generations (Pezzey and Toman, 2002;Dickens et al, 2020). The tasks of sustainable development oscillate around economic goals (related to the results of conducted activities, cost reduction, creation of additional value), social (ensuring a minimum subsistence level, improving the conditions and quality of life of the inhabitants, improving working conditions, increasing access to education, culture and health care, including people at risk of social exclusion), ecological (taking actions aimed at the protection of natural resources, reducing the amount of waste and the emission of harmful substances to the environment) (Ciegis, 2009;Strezov, Evans, and Evans, 2017;Ranganathan and Swain, 2018;Zając-Lamparska et al, 2019).…”

Renewable energy for sustainable development in Asia‐Pacific region: Do foreign direct investment and regulatory quality matter?

“…Thus, it necessitates the unique policy frameworks for emerging and advanced countries in the Asia‐Pacific region and its relevance in climate change mitigation and, further, green energy transition. Renewable energy systems do not make just environmental sense but bring health security for the people, zero dependencies on fossil fuels, and sustainable economic growth (Buonocore et al, 2016; Inger et al, 2009; Ranganathan & Bali Swain, 2018) Further, studies claimed that renewable energy would induce the growth of benefits in education and gender equality (Wang et al, 2018).…”