240
International Research Cooperation Model: The Conceptual
Framework of the Agadir Platform
The framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—adopted by
world leaders in September 2015, and officially coming into force on the 1st of
January 2016—widely acknowledges the interconnectedness between climate
change and global warming and sustainable development and human well-being.
Thus, in order to fulfill its goals and targets, the measures employed must tackle the
limited adaptation capabilities of certain geographic areas, especially in developing
regions, and strive to mitigate vulnerabilities with a view of contributing to sustainable development.
11
For every nation, but particularly for developing and least
developed countries, climate change is congruent with many environmental and
socioeconomic issues, including but not limited to: biodiversity loss, desertification,
deforestation, decline in resource availability, energy distribution, income generation, security, and health. This tight interweaving of issues poses the risk of negative
interactions between climate change and sustainable development, but also suggests
that improving one could in turn reduce vulnerability of the other.
Across the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda, as many as 42 of the targets as well as
the entire 17th goal are dedicated to the challenges of implementation. However,
these targets are largely unconcerned with the interconnectedness of these goals,
and leave the door open, at best to unrealized synergies, but also to potentially perverse outcomes. Therefore, greater attention ought to be paid to these interdependencies, notably across sectors, across societal actors, and among low-, medium-,
and high-income countries (Stafford-Smith et al. 2017).
Indeed, the outcome of solutions that depend on the efforts of countries and organizations to deal with the economic, social, and political ramifications of climate
change cannot be measured with cause-and-effect linearity (Stiglitz et al. 2006). The
issue at hand is therefore to determine how the relationship of national sustainable
development planning vis-à-vis its environmental consequences can be used to promote policy coherence and enforce coordination among fragmented sectors. Owing
to its complexity and unpredictability, climate change has increasingly been deemed
a wicked problem (Head 2008), that is, a problem occurring at the confluence of
human and environmental concerns, to which new solutions only beget new problems (Sun and Yang 2016). When elaborating major proposals for change, keeping
this image in mind ensures one is cognizant of the particular dynamics engendered
by contending inputs, variable outcomes, and their degree of interaction over time.
Research has recently revealed the necessity of moving away from linear solutions—solutions that involve setting targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions for each country, industry, and organization—and of expecting
people to change their practices for the sake of common good (Sun and Yang 2016).
11 Article 7 of the Paris Agreement.
A. Rizzo et al.
International Research Cooperation Model: The Conceptual
Framework of the Agadir Platform
The framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—adopted by
world leaders in September 2015, and officially coming into force on the 1st of
January 2016—widely acknowledges the interconnectedness between climate
change and global warming and sustainable development and human well-being.
Thus, in order to fulfill its goals and targets, the measures employed must tackle the
limited adaptation capabilities of certain geographic areas, especially in developing
regions, and strive to mitigate vulnerabilities with a view of contributing to sustainable development.
11
For every nation, but particularly for developing and least
developed countries, climate change is congruent with many environmental and
socioeconomic issues, including but not limited to: biodiversity loss, desertification,
deforestation, decline in resource availability, energy distribution, income generation, security, and health. This tight interweaving of issues poses the risk of negative
interactions between climate change and sustainable development, but also suggests
that improving one could in turn reduce vulnerability of the other.
Across the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda, as many as 42 of the targets as well as
the entire 17th goal are dedicated to the challenges of implementation. However,
these targets are largely unconcerned with the interconnectedness of these goals,
and leave the door open, at best to unrealized synergies, but also to potentially perverse outcomes. Therefore, greater attention ought to be paid to these interdependencies, notably across sectors, across societal actors, and among low-, medium-,
and high-income countries (Stafford-Smith et al. 2017).
Indeed, the outcome of solutions that depend on the efforts of countries and organizations to deal with the economic, social, and political ramifications of climate
change cannot be measured with cause-and-effect linearity (Stiglitz et al. 2006). The
issue at hand is therefore to determine how the relationship of national sustainable
development planning vis-à-vis its environmental consequences can be used to promote policy coherence and enforce coordination among fragmented sectors. Owing
to its complexity and unpredictability, climate change has increasingly been deemed
a wicked problem (Head 2008), that is, a problem occurring at the confluence of
human and environmental concerns, to which new solutions only beget new problems (Sun and Yang 2016). When elaborating major proposals for change, keeping
this image in mind ensures one is cognizant of the particular dynamics engendered
by contending inputs, variable outcomes, and their degree of interaction over time.
Research has recently revealed the necessity of moving away from linear solutions—solutions that involve setting targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions for each country, industry, and organization—and of expecting
people to change their practices for the sake of common good (Sun and Yang 2016).
11 Article 7 of the Paris Agreement.
A. Rizzo et al.