5 November 2015
UNU-IAS Brief Highlights Legal Context for Co-Benefits
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The UN University's Institute for the Advanced Study for Sustainability (UNU-IAS) has published a policy brief on how local, legal contexts can help policymakers adopt "co-benefit" strategies to simultaneously address climate change and development priorities.

The brief covers co-benefit approaches in laws related to energy, waste management and transport, among others.

UNU-IAS3 November 2015: The UN University’s Institute for the Advanced Study for Sustainability (UNU-IAS) has published a policy brief on how local, legal contexts can help policymakers adopt “co-benefit” strategies to simultaneously address climate change and development priorities. The brief covers co-benefit approaches in laws related to energy, waste management and transport, among others.

 

According to the brief, titled ‘The Co-benefits Approach at the Local Level: Legal Perspectives,’ understanding local legal context can help remove barriers, or take advantage of opportunities for adopting co-benefit approaches during initial policymaking.

Author Magali Dreyfus argues that potential co-benefits can become more visible by classifying laws and regulations based on outcomes. This can also enhance evidence-based policymaking, it notes.

The policy brief recommends: identifying sectors under the jurisdiction of public authorities, in which co-benefits can be achieved; assessing international and national legal frameworks, and resources of city governments; ensuring policies and projects are demand-driven and tailored to local circumstances and priorities; ensuring participatory decision-making processes where local stakeholders can articulate needs and capacities; and coordinating with other public actors through dialogue mechanisms that bring together upper-level government representatives and local decision-makers, as well as coordinating across sector-specific policy areas. [UNU-IAS Press Release] [Publication: The Co-benefits Approach at the Local Level: Legal Perspectives]

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