Mobilizing the Co-Benefits of climate change mitigation through capacity building among public policy institutions [COBENEFITS]

Successful climate policies depend heavily on the interest in the socio-economic, additional benefits climate protection can generate, including local value creation, jobs, health, water consumption, energy security and access to electricity. The project strengthened the ability of the partner countries’ stakeholders to advise ministries on these additional, socio-economic benefits. Together with national knowledge partners, the project therefore pointed out the additional benefits of national climate change mitigation strategies, with particular emphasis on renewable electricity production. Identified potential was linked to these mitigation strategies in the partner countries, enabling mutual learning between politics, science and multipliers with the ultimate aim of implementing the additional benefits. Communicating this approach also helped to push ahead with the effective implementation of the NDC and to realise planned increases in ambition.

Project data

Countries: India, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Türkiye, Viet Nam
IKI funding: 5,443,216.10 €
Duration: 03/2017 till 09/2022
Status: completed
Implementing organisation: Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) e.V.
Political Partner: Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) - South Africa

Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) - South Africa

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) – South Africa*

Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources - Türkiye

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) - India

Ministry of Environment and Forestry - Kenya*

Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) - Mexico

Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation (MoEU) - Turkey*

Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Türkiye

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) - Viet Nam

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy - India
Implementing Partner: International Energy Transition (IET) - Germany

Renewables Academy AG (RENAC)

Unabhängiges Institut für Umweltfragen e.V. (UfU)
Online: https://www.cobenefits.info/

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State of implementation/results

Project completed.
Update of the COBENEFITS Turkey Study: www.cobenefits.info/…
A new COBENEFITS Policy Report was launched in September 2022, "Maximising co-benefits of the energy transition: enabling policies in countries worldwide." www.cobenefits.info/… www.cobenefits.info/…
Kenya study on co-benefits: expectations of local communities from energy projects, with comparative case studies of proposed coal and wind energy projects. www.cobenefits.info/…
Personal portraits and analysis of the COBENEFITS research trip to South Africa: the growing role of women in the South African energy sector www.cobenefits.info/…
In times of energy crisis and accelerated decarbonization, the IKI COBENEFITS project provides important international data on socio-economic impacts in the areas of energy security, import independence, cost reduction and sustainable employment: www.cobenefits.info/…
COBENEFITS cooperates with IRENA in the Coalition for Action and presents the joint toolbox on employment analyses: www.cobenefits.info/…
Recommendations for opportunity-oriented and activating climate communication presented: "Tales of doom, tales of opportunity. How climate communication can help to overcome psychological barriers to sustainable action" www.cobenefits.info/…
The project presented opportunities for ambitious climate policies at COP26: www.cobenefits.info/…:
- COP26 Kenya Brieﬁng: Community expectations towards climate action and energy development in Kenya www.cobenefits.info/…
- COP26 Mexico Brieﬁng: From igniting community conflicts to un-folding social performance through renewable energy in Mexico www.cobenefits.info/…
- COP26 South Africa Brieﬁng: From coal to renewables in Mpumalanga - Economic impacts, skill requirements and gender inclusiveness www.cobenefits.info/…
- COP26 Turkey Briefing: Reducing electricity prices and increasing economic competitiveness with renewable energy www. cobenefits.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/COBENEFITS-Turkey_COP26-Briefing.pdf
The project, together with the ASEAN Center for Energy, analyzed what this may mean for other ASEAN countries, hence the Vietnamese government is adding a focus on social-economic co-benefits to its NDC update: accept.aseanenergy.org/…
Presentation of COBENEFITS Policy Reports "Making the Paris Agreement a success for the planet and the people. Unlocking the co-benefits of decarbonising the power sector."
- India (2020): www.cobenefits.info/…
- South Africa (2020): www.cobenefits.info/…
- Turkey (2020): www.cobenefits.info/…
- Vietnam (2020): www.cobenefits.info/…
Short film series on core findings of COBENEFITS studies:
- India: youtu.be/…
- South Africa: youtu.be/…
- Turkey: youtu.be/…
- Vietnam: youtu.be/…
In October 2019, the project organized the international conference "Climate Opportunity 2019 - Co-Benefits for Just Energy Futures"
Members of the negotiating delegations from India, South Africa, Mexico and Vietnam deliberated on the strategic role of co-benefits for successful implementation and ambition enhancement of the NDCs at COP24 in Katowice at the invitation of BMU and IASS.
COBENEFITS trainings have been successfully implemented in India, South Africa, Vietnam and Turkey. So far around 300 staff from government agencies and expert organizations have been trained on country-specific socio-economic opportunities of decarbonizing power generation for employment, local incomes, easing the burden on health systems, and securing energy access. In addition, about 1400 participants took part in online seminars on these topics.
Further publications from the project can be found on the project website.