Sustainable development and finance post-pandemic - future directions and challenges

Sustainable development, finance and related global policies and mechanisms have evolved over the decades. Today, regional initiatives for classifying sustainable activities exist, and several decades' research and development of ecosystem services and natural capital have identified and tested alternative economic models. The World Bank has the potential to finance them and sustainability at the landscape scale is achievable. But economic and environmental values can come into conflict. In developing countries, sustainable alternatives exist in business activities such as coastal and marine tourism. Financing small businesses through sound digital infrastructure is critical, as is the use of public fiscal instruments for the sustainable use of natural resources. Despite its developed status, renewable energy policies in the EU are leading to forest destruction. Financial vehicles such as green bonds have a similar potential. To avoid greenwashing, more focus needs to be on meeting the needs of those at the base of the economic pyramid, resourcing them with smart technologies and valuing civic engagement. Climate finance must be ethical and its allocation have integrity;this will foster community resilience. To avoid repeating the mistakes of terrestrial development, the world's oceans need to be protected and new business models adopted in this expanding frontier. Now is the time for all sectors to create a sustainable future for the planet and its inhabitants in the post-COVID, postcarbon era to come. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

Evaluating the governance of sustainable development: The quality and legitimacy of the blue economy

This chapter analyses multi-stakeholder perspectives on the governance and sustainability of different blue economy initiatives from both developed and developing countries. The study was conducted in 2020 using an anonymous online survey following an analytical method based on principles, criteria and indicators. Respondents rated the quality of these initiatives on a Likert scale (1-5) based on 11 indicators. The results show that the Sustainable Ocean Initiative received the highest score, while Marine permaculture scored the lowest. blue economy initiatives were considered inclusive by respondents;however, resources and capacity were deemed insufficient. Respondents from the Global South (developing countries) rated the initiatives higher than those from the Global North (developed countries) perhaps because developing countries are the prime beneficiaries of these programmes and receive more funding and assistance. These findings support policy and decision-makers formulating policies based on stakeholders' opinions and focussing on low-scoring initiatives. The blue economy is a growing sector with high potential for sustainable development;however, various factors, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, are obstructing its advancement. Therefore, effective communication, collaborative efforts and substantial and sustainable finance are vital for ensuring the sustainability of the blue economy in both the Global North and the Global South. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

Sustainable ocean development and the blue economy

Part 5 of this Handbook begins with a general introduction to the concepts and definitions underlying the notion of the blue economy and continues with an exploration of challenges and controversies confronting the sustainable development of the marine environment. The tensions inherent in the idea that the marine environment can be both exploited for human use and protected for its intrinsic natural values, reflect the origins of the concept of sustainable development itself and these are explored in the chapters presented in this section. These cover an examination of the ethics and values underpinning the blue economy, the role that blue finance can play in advancing sustainable development, particularly for tourism and local communities dependent on the oceans for their wellbeing. The views of various stakeholders on the quality and legitimacy of the governance of a range of blue economy initiatives are also explored, as is the extent to which, philosophically speaking, ocean development can be understood as genuinely sustainable, whatever the rhetoric may be. A concluding chapter from practitioners of marine permaculture completes the perspectives of the contributing authors on the complexities and contradictions within humanity's use of the many and various resources of the world's oceans and in the wake of COVID-19. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

Climate finance for sustainable development

Finance is one of the central aspects necessary for combatting climate change and is covered by a wide range of mechanisms, institutional arrangements and governing bodies with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), validating claims that the Convention is indeed both a regime complex and a complex regime. The chapter begins by outlining those arrangements historically and how they, and the responsibilities pertaining to them, have evolved over time. It continues with a summary of some of the main points of contention, not the least of which have been disputes over the provision of resources from developed to developing countries, which have served to reinforce the North/ South divide, notably in the context of climate finance. The remainder of the chapter summarises the key themes and findings of the contributing authors to this section of the Handbook, who discuss the strengths and weaknesses of some of the central mechanisms for financing climate action within the UNFCCC, and beyond. They provide recommendations as to how the integrity of finance can be safeguarded, both within the Convention and beyond, where the impacts of poverty - and COVID-19 - make resilience in the face of the escalating climate emergency especially difficult. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

Private finance for sustainable development

Private financing is an important aspect of sustainable finance for economic development and financial inclusion. Various forms of private sector financing need to be mobilised to achieve environmentally or socially sustainable outcomes as well as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Strategically leveraging public finance through systemic change and stimulating private investment are both necessary to achieve a paradigm shift in the global economy (Clark, Reed, and Sunderland 2018). In the absence of the private sector progress will remain insufficient. A wide variety of impediments to incentivising private sector engagement persists. For private finance to make a positive contribution, fundamental systemic modifications and policy reforms are required to ensure that sustainable socioeconomic development happens within planetary boundaries (Steffen et al. 2015). This chapter consequently explores the unlocking of private sector finance to fulfil sustainability goals. However, not all is well in the private realm. Green bonds, while an innovative vehicle for investment, are problematic and wealth generation continues to be propped up by extreme poverty at the base of the economic pyramid. While new technologies, such as blockchain, offer a way forward for those at the base, progress will be limited unless and until the activities of all sectors are recognised and valued to the same extent as business as society emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

Public finance for sustainable development

Part 2 of this Handbook provides an introduction to some of the key concepts, approaches and challenges to public finance necessary for sustainable economic development, using examples from both developing and developed economies. There are two primary ways to finance sustainable development designed to support the transition to a low-carbon, smart and efficient economy. The first is to integrate the agenda of sustainable development into a country's public finance and tax system. Since governments play a key role in mobilising internal revenue by formulating budgets, it is important to emphasise the role of public finance in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. The second is to incentivise private investment in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).While the public sector is crucial in freeing up the flow of private finance, governments in developing economies often fail to provide incentives for private investors to facilitate pathways for the implementation of low-carbon investment. Some guidelines for policymakers to design and reform internal revenue mobilisation initiatives considering the context and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are also offered. The implications of effective collaboration between government, civil society and the private sector, which in turn can configure and endure sustainable development, are highlighted. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

Origins and evolution of sustainable development and finance

This introductory chapter provides a broad-brush presentation of the intergovernmental regime for sustainable development that has arisen since the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Earth Summit, and beyond. The chapter begins with an outline of the origins of sustainable development as an intergovernmental and international policy agenda and delineates some of the main outcomes arising from UNCED. These include the various conventions guiding global environmental policy today, as well as the Global Environment Facility, one of the most significant channels of finance for sustainable development. Also explored are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 2000-2015 and their successors, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is followed by a discussion of the role of the private sector in financing sustainable development and the challenges inherent in unlocking private finance. The chapter continues with an exploration of the future for sustainable development and finance in the light of the alternative approaches to understanding and valuing capital and in the context of COVID-19. A final section summarises the contributions of the various authors in this section, who explore a range of issues confronting the current practice of, and potential for, sustainable development and finance. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

De Gruyter Handbook of sustainable development and finance

The De Gruyter Handbook of Sustainable Development and Finance explores the difficult and challenging issues confronting society and the environment, in the contexts of unprecedented climate change, bio-diversity loss and the global pandemic. In this seminal text exploring a wide range of topics, and in the devastating wake of COVID-19, scholars and practitioners analyse the effectiveness of current and proposed actions to build a sustainable future, and the public and private finance necessary to prevent an impending planetary catastrophe. The first section of the handbook introduces readers to the origins and evolution of sustainable development. An examination of public and private finance follows in the next two sections, presented from the perspectives of authors from both 'developed' and 'developing' countries. Climate change, one of the largest sectors of finance for sustainable development, is investigated in detail, as is the new and emerging development frontier, the 'blue' economy of the world's oceans. Suitable for students, policymakers and the public at large, the handbook highlights the lessons learned and points the way forward for sustainable development and finance in the wake of the global pandemic, and the challenges to come. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.