24 July 2017: Climate change and development are unavoidably intertwined, yet there is a need for greater engagement among the different ministries working on these two issues. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has released an online tool to help bridge this gap through mapping the complementarities between countries’ national climate plans and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

TERI’s web app, titled ‘NDC Footprints,’ helps to bridge the knowledge gap between climate and development policies and goals. The tool is part of a project titled, ‘Developing Country Participation in Addressing Climate Change: Policy Instruments for Achieving NDCs.’ It aims to allow policymakers to design developmental policies that have climate co-benefits, and vice-versa. To do so, it maps linkages within countries’ National Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the UNFCCC and the SDGs, providing an online database that shows how different SDGs factor into the NDCs of various countries.

Initial findings for Asia show that only seven of the 45 NDCs assessed make explicit mention of the SDGs.

While the tool currently only covers Asian countries, its designers aim to expand its focus to other regions during the project. While initial findings for Asia show that only seven of the 45 NDCs assessed make explicit mention of the SDGs, the research identifies keywords linked to each SDG and maps the presence of these keywords in each country’s NDC.

For example, for SDG 1 (no poverty), the research maps the keywords ‘poverty’, ‘vulnerable people’, and ‘eradication.’ Through an assessment of the quality and quantity of such keywords for the different SDGs and targets under the goals, it presents findings a country’s NDC linkages to the SDGs. It also uses a further analysis of whether these keywords represent a “quantitative” or “qualitative” match, with the former seen as an indication of a stronger linkage. For example, the report cites India’s NDC, referring to ‘..more than five times increase in Renewable Capacity,’ as evidence of a stronger NDC-SDG linkage to SDG 7 than Cambodia’s, which mentions ‘promoting energy efficiency by end users.’

The accompanying report titled, ‘SDG Footprints of Asian NDCs: Exploring Synergies Between Domestic Policies and International Goals,’ outlines the main findings. It also features factsheets on ten Asian countries, including key SDG-NDC linkages found in their NDCs, development indicators, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels, and existing policies or commitments to climate action. The countries covered by the factsheets are Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Viet Nam. The SDG-NDC linkage analysis is communicated through a 1-4 marking system for each SDG goal and its targets, with ‘4’ representing the highest degree match of a NDC goal with an SDG target.

According to TERI’s Director General Ajay Mathur, SDG Footprints will contribute to fostering the various linkages between institutions and levels of government that will be required to enable the achievement of both SDGs and NDCs “simultaneously and efficiently.” [NDC Footprints Tool] [SDG Footprints of Asian NDCs]