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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to end poverty and protect the environment. The Government of Guatemala is prioritizing the SDGs it will focus on and defining lines of action to achieve them. In this paper, we apply the Integrated Economic-Environmental Modelling (IEEM) Platform for Guatemala to evaluate the economic, wealth and environmental impacts of strategies to achieve the second SDG of zero hunger and the sixth SDG of clean water and sanitation. The analytical power of the IEEM approach is driven by its integration of the first international standard for environmental statistics, the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting introduced in an earlier edition of this journal. This integration enables the evaluation of policy alternatives from economic, wealth and environmental perspectives which is essential given the integrated nature of the SDGs. We find that significant additional investment in agricultural productivity and water and sanitation would be required to meet these SDG targets and that the overall pace of economic growth is critical. IEEM applied to the SDGs lends transparency and structure to the prioritization and agenda setting process of the policy cycle and highlights the importance of allocating adequate resources in multi-year budgets if targets are to be met. IEEM can shed light on the need for complementary policies to reconcile lines of action that can make progress toward one SDG while inadvertently moving away from another SDG, as well as identify potential win-wins, where one line of action can make progress toward multiple SDGs simultaneously. • We apply the Integrated Economic-Environmental Modelling Platform to evaluate strategies to achieve the SDGs in Guatemala. • IEEM derives its analytical power from integration of the first international standard for environmental-economic accounting. • Focusing on the 2nd and 6th SDGs, Government strategies fall short to double agricultural output (41% gap) and income (83%). • Nonetheless, over 2.4 million individuals would be lifted out of poverty by 2030. • IEEM proved to effective in shedding light on synergies, trade-offs and the need for complementary policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognising the well-known limitations of economic growth as a litmus test of progress and the call by Target 19 of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 to "develop measurements on progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product", this paper advances understanding of the linkages between alternative measures of economic well-being, the well-being economy and the SDGs. A conceptual model is presented, linking four capital assets to well-being goals and domains, which are connected to related SDGs. An assessment is conducted on the extent to which Gross Domestic Product and five alternative indicators of economic well-being (Environmentally Adjusted Net Domestic Product, Measure of Economic Welfare, Genuine Savings, Genuine Progress Indicator and Inclusive Wealth Index) align with (a) the dimensions of economic well-being, and (b) various environmental, economic, social and institutional targets set by the SDGs. The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is found to be the most comprehensive in coverage, accounting for market-based welfare, services from essential capital, and various environmental and social costs, and linking directly to targets in fourteen of the seventeen SDGs. The paper discusses how greater use of alternative measures of economic well-being by policymakers can encourage transitions to economies which prioritise well-being and desirability objectives. • Conceptual model of wellbeing economy presented – capital asset classes, domains and goals. • Alternative measures of economic wellbeing have far greater linkages to SDGs than GDP. • Genuine Progress Indicator most closely aligned with SDG targets. • Alternative measures of economic wellbeing can promote policy initiatives with SDG benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the role of key industry and other stakeholders and their embeddedness in particular national contexts in driving the proliferation and co-evolution of sustainability standards, based on the case of the global coffee industry. We find that institutional conditions and market opportunity structures in consuming countries have been important sources of standards variation, for example in the cases of Fairtrade, UTZ Certified and the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C). In turn, supplier structures in producing countries as well as their linkages with traders and buyers targeting particular consuming countries have been key mechanisms of standards transmission and selection. Unlike prior research, which has emphasized the role of global actors and structures in promoting – and hindering – sustainability initiatives, we argue that national economic and institutional conditions in consuming and producing countries have not only served as important drivers of standards multiplicity and co-evolution, but also as catalysts for the entire global sustainability movement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Are the achievements of sustainable development and the improvement of environmental standards mutually exclusive in the 21st century? Is there a possibility to combine the two? This study is an effort to investigate the mutual exclusiveness of the two policy areas and asks for the necessity and possibility to combine the two with a reference to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). After describing the historical, geographical, and climatic backgrounds of SSA, negative effects of global warming and local environmentally harmful practices are discussed. Subsequently, the appropriate development measures for the region are elaborated in order to understand their compatibility with regards to improving the environment. It is concluded that to change the dependency on agriculture, the economy needs to be restructured towards technologies. Furthermore, it is found that there is a direct link between global warming and economic efficiency. Theories, which imply that some regions are simply ‘too poor to be green’, are investigated and rebutted by another theory, which states that it is indeed possible to industrialize in an environmentally friendly way. It follows that environmental and development measures are interconnected, equally important and can be reconciled. The paper finally concludes that the threat posed by global warming and the previously practised environmentally-harmful local measures might be so pressing that it may be too tragic to go for ‘develop first and clean up later’ approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Australian affordable rental housing sector has historically faced barriers to green building (GB) adoption due to issues of split-incentives, despite financial support from the commonwealth. This paper explores how a recent shift towards bond-based funding mechanisms offer an opportunity to integrate green building practices, and influence regional social, environmental and economic outcomes. A novel system dynamics model is developed to forecast a business as usual (BAU) and green-building scenario framed around the recently introduced Australian Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator (AHBA) policy framework. The purpose of the model is to examine how a mandate on green building standards together with the use of green versus conventional bonds impact social, environmental and economic outcomes of the framework over a 20-year horizon, within the South East Queensland metropolitan area of Australia. The study determined that the green building framework would deliver 2.37% less housing overall due to higher initial capital costs. However, offers substantial long-term energy and water efficiency benefits, improved affordability for tenants due to reduced utility costs, deferred water and energy infrastructure benefits, and considerable contributions towards Australia's carbon emission reduction targets. Tenants are expected to benefit from a 45–59% reduction in energy and a 27% decrease in water bills. Moreover, a shift to affordable green building policy could contribute to 2.9% of Australia's Conference of Parties (2030) carbon emissions reduction target if applied nationally. The study concludes with a sensitivity analysis to reveal policy refinement recommendations that would yield the benefits of green affordable housing without sacrificing the small reduction in housing stock delivered by the proposed program. • A System dynamics model is applied to determine affordable housing policy outcomes. • A business as usual versus green building policy scenario are compared and analysed. • Three policy recommendations are presented to improve the GB scenario. • GB policy benefits are substantial therefore developer grant scheme is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green innovation is the main force to drive China's intensive pollution industries (IPIs) into sustainable development. Improving green innovation efficiency (GIE) is an effective way to reach this goal. The correct approach to measuring IPIs' GIE and its influencing factors is a hot issue. Based on the panel data of China's 21 subdivided industries of IPIs over the period from 2011 to 2015, this paper applies the Super-Slack-Based Measurement (Super-SBM) and Tobit model to analyse IPIs' GIE and its influencing factors, respectively. The results show that IPIs' overall efficiency fluctuates around 0.67 in the first 4 years and increases to 0.776 in 2015, failing to be DEA-efficient; there are obvious gaps in GIE between the 21 industries, and the ferrous metal smelting and calendering industry has the weakest GIE. The regression results show that, government R&D support and environmental regulation have inverted U-shaped and U-shaped relationship with IPIs' GIE, respectively. Foreign market demand and market competition have significant positive and negative impacts on GIE, respectively, but the impact of market openness is not significant. The results suggest that (1) Chinese government should increase R&D support for IPIs, especially for those with low GIE, and strengthen supervision of the use of government R&D funds to avoid the crowding-out effect, (2) strengthen the intensity of environmental supervision and enforcement of environmental regulation policies, (3) improve environmental protection standards and preferential policies for exportation at the same time, (4) promote industrial restructuring and improve the mechanism of resource and benefit sharing to promote the flow of innovative resources and diffusion of innovative achievements. • Supplementing the evaluation indexes of GIE to reflect the requirements of recycling, low-carbon development, cleanness. • The GIE of IPIs has been improved from 0.67 to 0.776 during 2011–2015, but still fail to be DEA-efficient. • GIE of different industries varies greatly, and the ferrous metal smelting and calendaring industry's GIE is the weakest. • Government R&D support and environmental regulation have inverted U–shaped and U-shaped relationship with GIE, respectively. • Foreign market demand and market competition have significant positive and negative impacts on GIE, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]