Footprint methodologies and their role in policy development and communication

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a holistic view of sustainable development, including targets on all its three dimensions: environmental, economic and social. Moreover, these goals are universal and apply to all countries, high- and low- income ones. This means that it is crucial to implement the SDGs in an integrated way across policy areas, sectors and countries, understanding trade-offs and synergies between goals and targets. One significant trade-off has originated by rising incomes in many countries, which has led to the improvement of socio-economic indicators (i.e poverty); but it has also been accompanied by higher environmental pressures (i.e. emissions) due to various reasons.

Given the clear need to improve the environmental sustainability in achieving social outcomes, the panel discussed the relevance of sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12) in the context of sustainable development and international cooperation. It focused on, and explored, the estimation and use of carbon and environmental footprints of final consumption as a tool to analyse trade-offs between different goals. Finally, the panel aimed at bringing together researchers and policy makers to: (i) understand the needs and challenges faced by both communities in relation to SDG12; and (ii) point out the most important gaps to tackle in the near future in terms of both policy and research.

Panel participants

• Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven (Director-General, Department for Global issues – sector policies and programs, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ))

• Imme Scholz (Acting Director of the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE))

• Mathis Wackernagel (Founder/President, The Global Footprint Network)

• Guido Schmidt-Traub (Executive Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)).

Moderator

• Holger Hoff (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)/the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI))

This event is part of a workshop and research project funded by BMZ.