Key Messages

• China has shown strong determination to shift to a low-carbon economy through a series of initiatives and commitments, such as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitment to peaking its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by around 2030; its commitment to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies as part of the G20 and the definition of a reform plan to achieve this in their self-review to fossil fuel subsidies; and Premier Li Keqiang’s 2017 pledge to “make the skies blue again” by tackling air pollution.
• These commitments have an important impact on Chinese health, as climate change and air pollution are a recognized cause of several serious non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer, malnutrition and other diseases linked to the fallout from natural disasters.
• China already has a large set of policies in place that are aligned with the country’s NDC targets. If NDC targets are achieved, recent research models estimate that between 225,000 and 368,000 premature deaths could be avoided in 2050, and research shows that the health co-benefits are higher than the cost of implementing climate policies.
• However, subsidies to fossil fuels in China still remain a main environmental challenge and have an important opportunity cost. They also have an associated cost of USD 1.79 trillion due to externalities (mostly health and climate change costs).

Over the past few years, China has shown strong determination to shift to a low-carbon economy through a series of initiatives and commitments. Health concerns due to significant levels of air pollution are one of the drivers behind that determination. Furthermore, there is strong evidence of the links between health and climate change. Climate change and air pollution from the combustion of fossil fuels are linked to several serious non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer, malnutrition and other diseases linked to the fallout from natural disasters.

This report summarizes the policy efforts that China is already undertaking to achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets, and the related expected health co-benefits, based on recent scientific literature. This report also looks at relevant Chinese budget allocations to health, environment and fossil fuels. It shows that:

• There is a large set of ongoing policies aligned with the country’s NDC targets that focus mostly on the reduction of fossil fuel use and the expansion of cleaner forms of energy.
• If NDC targets are achieved, recent research models estimate that between 225,000 and 368,000 premature deaths could be avoided in 2050, and research shows that the health co-benefits are higher than the cost of implementing climate policies
• Subsidies to fossil fuels in China remain a main environmental challenge and have an important opportunity cost: in 2017, these subsidies represented around 19 per cent of the budget allocation to health and 48 per cent of the general budget to environmental protection. In addition, the use of fossil fuels has an associated cost of USD 1.79 trillion due to externalities (mostly health and climate change costs).

Corporate sustainable sourcing commitments of leading food manufacturing companies are increasing demand for voluntary sustainability standard (VSS)-compliant sugar.

The sector experienced a compound annual growth rate of about 52% from 2008 to 2016, accounting for over 3% of total sugarcane production in 2016. About 90% of VSS-compliant sugarcane comes from Latin America, with substantial volumes also deriving from Australia, India and Malawi. 

However, the sector must overcome significant hurdles to produce VSS-compliant sugarcane. These include limiting air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, conserving water resources, respecting labour rights and worker health and safety, and improving producer profitability.

This new report is the fourth in IISD’s Sustainable Commodities Marketplace Series, which presents sustainable production and consumption market information on agricultural commodities to foster transparency, knowledge and strategic decision making for sustainable development. The first three reports, focused on coffee, cocoa and tea, are online. Future reports will focus on the production of bananas, cotton, palm oil and soybeans.  

Key Messages

• The application of the SAVi methodology helps making a stronger case for a planned public bicycle sharing system in Dwarka, Delhi, by estimating and valuing the environmental, social and economic co-benefits and avoided costs it generates.
• The report provides evidence of how the successful implementation of the bicycle sharing system advances the realization of sustainable mobility targets in Dwarka, improves the quality of life and delivers transport policy objectives defined in the Delhi Master Plan 2021.
• Even if conservative demand numbers and low estimates for the valuation of externalities are assumed, discounted net benefits over the course of 20 years amount to more than INR 3.14 billion (~USD 44.4 million) while the most significant benefits stem from the economic value of time saved, avoided costs of air pollution and increases in retail revenues and property values.

This report presents the results of the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) applied to the planned Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) system in Dwarka, Delhi. To strengthen the business case for the PBS system and encourage public authorities to invest in providing the baseline bicycle and safety infrastructure, it is vital to estimate and value the co-benefits, avoided costs and additional costs expected from this particular non-motorized transport system.

The SAVi assessment consists of the following elements:

• A calculation of three demand scenarios and associated changes in transport use patterns in Dwarka.
• A valuation of nine externalities resulting from a successfully implemented PBS system.
• A scenario comparison of the valued externalities.
• An integrated cost–benefit analysis of the PBS system, including valued externalities per PBS demand scenario.

The results of a conventional cost-benefit analysis indicate that the PBS system is financially deficient under all demand scenarios. If the environmental, social and economic co-benefits and avoided costs valued by SAVi are taken into account, however, the picture changes. The results of an integrated cost–benefit analysis demonstrate that each demand scenario yields a positive net value. The higher the demand for using the PBS system, the higher the positive net results. The most significant benefits stem from the economic value of time saved, avoided costs of air pollution and increases in retail revenues and property values.

Even if conservative demand numbers and low estimates for the valuation of externalities are assumed, discounted net benefits over a course of 20 years amount to more than INR 3.14 billion (~USD 44.4 million). The more optimistic high-demand scenario would yield INR 12.19 billion (~USD 172.3 million) net results if high valuation estimates for the externalities are assumed. These net results also indicate a benchmark for deciding on the investment volume for additional bicycle and road safety infrastructure in Dwarka.

Altogether, this SAVi assessment provides evidence that the PBS system is a worthwhile investment, as it advances the realization of sustainable mobility targets in Dwarka, improves the quality of life and therefore delivers transport policy objectives defined in the Delhi Master Plan 2021.

This publication serves as a technical document for the development of IISD's Sustainable Asset Valuation tool (SAVi) for materials management infrastructure, a simulation tool that integrates knowledge from various disciplines and sectors for sustainable asset valuation.

Key Messages

• There are several approaches to the design of new WTO rules on subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, each of which could have different results vis-à-vis the negotiating mandate's environment and development priorities. 
• Subsidy rules will need to help ensure fisheries are exploited sustainably if WTO Members are to achieve development priorities like food security and poverty reduction in the short and long terms. 
• Combining different approaches could help WTO Members to build a set of rules that helps to balance the mandate's environment and development priorities. 

This discussion paper analyzes the different approaches under discussion in the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiations for new rules on subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.

The paper argues that achieving the development priorities articulated in the negotiations mandate—food security as well as broader industrial development—in the long and short terms requires a balance between flexibilities for further subsidization and ensuring that subsidies do not deplete the fish stocks on which food security and successful industrial development depend.

The paper examines how the different proposed approaches balance the mandate's priorities. It then examines how the various proposed approaches relate to the negotiating mandate's environmental and development priorities. It provides a high-level analysis of the value of combining different approaches to find a balance that ensures that rules can contribute to development priorities in both the short and long terms. 

The Peg report 2019 Our City is a window into how Winnipeg is progressing and where we need to focus more energy to move toward targets set by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The report comes from Peg—an online tool that graphically presents more than 60 data indicators to shed light on the well-being of our city and encourage evidence-based policy.

As a collaboration by United Way Winnipeg and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Peg is a way to not only measure our progress but also inspire Winnipeggers to work together towards positive change in our community and beyond.

Peg provides leaders in all sectors of our city with knowledge and insights to see how we can make a difference and ensure that nobody is left behind.

Want to spend a year at the world's freshwater laboratory in beautiful northwestern Ontario from the comfort of your very own sofa/footstool/seating vessel of choice?

IISD Experimental Lakes Area's 2018-2019 annual report is a handy wall calendar for 2020 that takes you through a year in the life of our research—from braving the freezing January temperatures to monitor lakes to welcoming visitors and students in the summer and throughout the year.

You can read the annual report here, and buy your very own IISD-ELA 2020 wall calendar here.

Key Messages

• The southern longline tuna fishery in the Western and Central Pacific suffers from economic overfishing. Stocks of tuna (albacore, yellowfin and bigeye) are healthy, but the number of vessels operating in the fishery means that the quantity of fish that vessels are able to catch with the same amount of fishing effort has been declining.
• Several fleets in the fishery appear to be subsidized, but to different effects. Catch revenues may not cover operating costs for vessels from some distant water fishing nations, which account for most of the total catch in the fishery. A subsidy prohibition could thus have an impact on some of these vessels’ ability to operate and the level of fishing effort in the fishery.
• The exit of vessels affected by new subsidy rules may have an impact on Pacific Island countries’ domestic processing in the short term. However, if sufficient fishing effort were removed from the fishery, it is possible that the overall economic situation of the fishery could improve, providing the Pacific Islands with opportunities to develop their domestic tuna industry.

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes a specific target (Sustainable Development Goal 14.6) of completing, by 2020, negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to discipline fisheries subsidies. In the context of these negotiations, new rules are discussed in three specific areas: (1) subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, (2) subsidies to the fishing of stocks that are already overfished and (3) subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity more broadly. To help build an understanding of how possible subsidy rules might apply in practice, the International Institute for Sustainable Development has produced three case studies to explore the possible impact of such WTO subsidy disciplines in three fisheries in distinct geographical areas.

This case study looks at the southern longline tuna fishery in the Western and Central Pacific ocean. It provides an overview of the fishery and its governance, examines the subsidy patterns of fleets operating in the fishery and assesses qualitatively the impacts that different possible WTO rules on fisheries subsidies could have on different fleets. It also provides insights about potential pathways for the reform of harmful fisheries subsidies.

Key Messages

• Major gaps in knowledge are limiting better targeting of energy access subsidies in India. The latest distributional analyses of energy consumption subsidies—that is, how benefits are shared across different income groups—are based on 2011 census data that are now significantly dated.
• This report identifies a number of specific targeting interventions that could better target energy subsidies. It calls for dedicated research to estimate the distributional performance of existing subsidies and various targeting options in order to better inform policy design.

India’s energy access policies have succeeded in achieving almost universal electricity access and a massive uptake in clean cooking. Connection and consumption subsidies for electricity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have played an important role in driving these changes. But the policies are also costly: in 2017, electricity and LPG consumption subsidies alone cost INR 87,830 crore (USD 13.1 billion).

Efforts have been ongoing for years to reduce costs by better targeting subsidies. Most recently, this includes discussions around a Direct Benefits Transfer for Power (DBT-P) for electricity and a possible “Ujjwala 2.0” for LPG. In many cases, however, knowledge gaps are limiting evidence-based decision-making. The last distributional analysis of energy consumption subsidies—that is, how benefits are shared across different income groups—is based on the 2011 census. It is also unclear who would be included or excluded under different targeting approaches.

This report calls for dedicated research on targeting energy subsidies to better inform policy. This includes data collection and analysis in the following areas:

1. Estimating the distributional performance of existing subsidies.
2. Identifying and evaluating targeting interventions. Based on a review of options, this paper recommends that this should include:
   • Opt-out schemes
   • Quota-based and volumetric targeting
   • Categorical targeting
   • Income-, asset- and consumption-based targeting, including related proxies.
3. Evaluating opt-in schemes.
4. Exploring how basic income transfers affect energy consumption.

Elementos principales

(English below)

• Las pesquerías de camarón en el Pacífico Oriental Tropical son económicamente valiosas, pero han sufrido de sobrecapacidad y de sobrexplotación secuencial.
• De los subsidios concedidos a estas pesquerías, aquellos al combustible parecen ser los más frecuentes; sin embargo, su impacto varía: los subsidios parecen ser importantes para la rentabilidad de algunas flotas camaroneras, pero no parecen significativos para otras.
• De las opciones para las reglas de subsidio consideradas en este estudio, las que podrían tener mayor impacto en estas pesquerías en la región son: aquellas que prohíben los subsidios a la pesca de poblaciones sobreexplotadas (ya que muchas especies de camarones están sobreexplotadas) y los subsidios al combustible, particularmente para aquellas flotas para las cuales estos apoyos parecen ser importante para su rentabilidad.

La Agenda 2030 de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo Sostenible incluye un objetivo específico (Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible 14.6) de completar, para 2020, las negociaciones en la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC) sobre los subsidios pesqueros. En el contexto de estas negociaciones, se discuten nuevas reglas en tres áreas específicas: (1) subsidios que contribuyen a la pesca ilegal, no declarada y no reglamentada, (2) subsidios a la pesca de poblaciones que ya están sobreexplotadas y (3) subsidios que contribuyen de manera más general a la sobrepesca y al exceso de capacidad. Para esclarecer cómo las posibles reglas a los subsidios podrían aplicarse en la práctica, el Instituto Internacional para el Desarrollo Sostenible ha producido tres estudios que exploran el posible impacto de disciplinas sobre subsidios en tres pesquerías en distintas áreas geográficas.

Este caso de estudio analiza las pesquerías de camarón del Pacífico Oriental Tropical. El estudio empieza por un análisis general de la pesquería y su gobernanza. Luego examina los subsidios que reciben las flotas que pescan camarones y ofrece una evaluación cualitativa del impacto que las diferentes normas de la OMC sobre los subsidios pesqueros podrían tener en esta pesquería. También proporciona información sobre posibles maneras de reformar los subsidios pesqueros dañinos.

Exploring the Potential Impacts of WTO Fisheries Subsidies Rules: The Case of Shrimp on the West Coast of Latin America

Key Messages

• Shrimp fisheries in the Eastern Tropical Pacific are economically valuable, but have suffered from overcapacity and sequential overfishing.
• Fuel subsidies appear to be the most common subsidy provided in these fisheries, but their impact varies: subsidies appear to be important to the profitability of some fleets, but not significant for others.
• Of the options for subsidy rules considered in this study, those that might have the most impact on shrimp fishing in the region are: those that prohibit subsidies for fishing of overfished stocks (as many shrimp species are overexploited) and those to fuel, particularly for those fleets for which fuel subsidies appear to be important to profitability.

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes a specific target (Sustainable Development Goal 14.6) of completing, by 2020, negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to discipline fisheries subsidies. In the context of these negotiations, new rules are discussed in three specific areas: (1) subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, (2) subsidies to the fishing of stocks that are already overfished and (3) subsidies that more broadly contribute to overfishing and overcapacity. To help build understanding of how possible subsidy rules might apply in practice, the International Institute for Sustainable Development has produced three case studies to explore the possible impact of such WTO subsidy disciplines in three fisheries in distinct geographical areas.

This case study looks at the shrimp fisheries of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. It provides an overview of the fishery and its governance, examines the subsidy patterns of fleets fishing shrimp and gives a qualitative assessment of the impact that different possible WTO rules on fisheries subsidies could have in this fishery. It also provides insights about potential pathways for the reform of harmful fisheries subsidies.