Page - 27 - in options, Volume summer 2017

institute news 27 news at iiasa www.iiasa.ac.at summer 2017 ◼ options Discussions at the Vienna Energy Forum 2017 contributed to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement I n May 2017, Vienna’s Hofburg Palace once again opened its doors to a unique international meeting—the Vienna Energy Forum, co- organized by IIASA, the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Austrian government, and Sustainable Energy for All. High-level government officials from around the world interacted with top experts in the fields of energy, development, and environment, exchanging knowledge on how energy fits into the broader context of global development and climate targets. Central to this year’s discussions were the two major international agreements of 2015: the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As UN Deputy Secretary- General Amina Mohammed said at the meeting, “The 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement are mutually reinforcing and inseparable. And it is why member states have overwhelmingly endorsed both. Implementing the 2030 Agenda and addressing climate change must go hand-in-hand.” Also clear was that policymakers need more analysis on the interactions between the targets. “The SDGs provide us with the destination for where we would like the world to go by 2030. But to arrive at that point, we need a roadmap that shows the pathways and their potential pitfalls, the trade-offs and synergies between policies,” said IIASA Director General and CEO Pavel Kabat, who spoke at the opening session and moderated a panel on the Energy, Food Security, Land, Water, and Health Nexus. He also took part in a high-level discussion co-hosted by IIASA, UNIDO, and the Financial Times entitled Moving SDGs & the Paris Agreement Forward: Clean energy’s role in addressing implementation challenges. IIASA researchers came to the meeting with early results from three major projects focused on SDG interactions. At a side event, they presented recent research and upcoming projects looking at linkages between energy and other SDGs. IIASA Deputy Director General Nebojsa Nakicenovic introduced The World in 2050 initiative, which employs a backcasting method to assess feasible pathways for achieving all SDGs by 2030 and beyond into 2050. Shonali Pachauri described her recent research looking at how climate policies could affect energy access. Simon Langan, IIASA Water Program director, presented the new Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land project. And Keywan Riahi, IIASA Energy Program director, showed first results from a new IIASA-led project, Linking Climate and Development Policies - Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge Sharing (CD-LINKS). Members of the CD-LINKS project also joined Riahi for a second side session highlighting case study results for India and China. IIASA researcher Luis Gomez-Echeverri co-led organization of the event and took part in a high-level panel on innovation and technology in the implementation of the SDGs and Paris Agreement. He said, “This year was the most successful Vienna Energy Forum yet, with more public interest, more media coverage, and more sponsors. Important side events provided key contributions to the discussions, and a greater focus on gender mainstreaming, which reflects the key role of women in energy development, innovation, and impacts.” KL www.iiasa.ac.at/events/VEF-17 Energy is at the heart of sustainable development