Submission to Talanoa Dialogue
29th October 2018

Maximising multiple co-benefits - How do we get there?

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IGES (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies), Japan2
In collaboration with TERI (The Energy Resources Institute), India

Summary and key messages
Reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other climate relevant emissions isfundamental to achieving the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
Enhancing multiple co-benefits aids further acceleration of such efforts.
In India and Japan, there are many good examples that already show the existence ofmultiple benefits. Multiple benefits are generated by setting climate policies andimplementing measures beyond simply targeting reduction of emissions, and taking
actions at the local level.3 Some key examples are highlighted in this submission:
 Mainstreaming energy transition towards low/de-carbon backed by a government
initiative in India not only lays the foundation to economy-wide actions, but also
brings co-benefits to the transportation sector and urban air quality, as well as
overcoming challenges to industrial energy efficiency.

 Tackling aggravating air pollution in India is an urgent issue. The combined airpollutant and GHG emissions control leads to significant benefits to human andenvironmental health and agricultural production. In addition, reducing short lived
climate pollutants (SLCPs) by promoting alternatives to the traditional practices
through regulation and training assists in improving awareness as well as
overcoming financial and technical barriers.
 Community-based renewable power generation in Japan takes the lead in
accelerating the transition to renewables, generates markets for products, creatingjobs and promoting mutual learning.
To further maximize these co-benefits, it is vital to improve coordination,communication and information-sharing among stakeholders at the local, regional, andglobal levels, through the utilization of existing knowledge platforms and networking.

1We would like to thank the Earth Science and Climate Change division of TERI, CCAC (Climate & Clean
Air Coalition) Secretariat, Dr Hironao Matsubara (ISEP: Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, Japan), Dr
Takanobu Aikawa (Renewable Energy Institute, Japan), and Dr Nanda Kumar Janardhanan (Jawaharlal Nehru
University, and IGES Fellow, India) for their direct and useful inputs on this submission, and Prof. Hironori
Hamanaka, Mr Yusuke Matsuo (IGES), and Mr Yusuke Teraoka (Ministry of the Environment, Japan) for theirvaluable comments.
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Contact regarding this submission: Climate and Energy Area (Dr Kentaro Tamura, Dr Eri Ikeda), 2108-11
Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Miura-gun, Kanagawa, 240-0115, Japan. Tel: +81-(0)46-826-9592, Email: ceinfo@iges.or.jp, www.iges.or.jp, Twitter: @IGES_EN
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This is a combination of bottom-up (climate actions at local level) and top-down (decision-making at thegovernment and international/global levels) approaches, which is also crafted in the Paris agreement.

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29th October 2018

Another key to facilitate such actions is to strengthen policy signals and set quantified
targets by providing a clear policy direction to non-party stakeholders.
This submission is based on a discussion at the Japan-India Climate Policy ResearchWorkshop funded by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ), and co-organised by
IGES and TERI, held on 26 and 27 July 2018 in New Delhi, India. The workshop aimed atanswering three key Talanoa questions, with the particular focus on ‘exploring the enabling
conditions as well as learning from the experiences in further enhancing multiple co-benefitsof climate policies’.4 The workshop consisted of presentations by governmental and nongovernmental participants, and break-out sessions (in three groups), keeping in mind of theopen, inclusive, and collective nature of the Talanoa Spirit. We are of the view that sharing
and learning from experiences, as also emphasised by the Talanoa approach, is crucial inimplementing climate actions, and that this submission aims to highlight the key findingsof the workshop to contribute to the global discussion.

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For further information, please see https://www.iges.or.jp/en/climate-energy/20180726.html

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29th October 2018

1. Introduction
Enhancing multiple co-benefits of reducing GHGs and other climate relevant emissions isevidently one of the key vehicles for accelerating our efforts to achieve the long-term
temperature goal outlined in the Paris Agreement. However, one question remains as to“how to enhance” such co-benefits, while minimising any (unintended consequences of the)damage caused by climate change mitigation measures and potential disbenefits. To answer
this question, especially in the context of the third of Talanoa question of “how do we getthere”, IGES and TERI co-organised a local Talanoa event in July, as part of the annual
Climate Policy Research Workshop.
In this submission, we share views and take-aways from the workshop towards
contributing to the global discussion for raising ambition, especially providing good
examples and lessons learnt. This submission consists of two parts. It first presents existing
successful models and actions that promote co-benefits and that can possibly be replicated,and second, it discusses some challenges associated with the course of implementing suchactions at the general level and how we can overcome these.
2. Actions in place and successful examples/models
During the workshop, discussions evolved around the topics of 1) how to provide enabling
conditions for effectively increasing multiple co-benefits, and 2) any successful models andexperiences that can be formed/replicated. Among many good examples of initiative andcollaboration in generating and enhancing co-benefits that were shared and identified, four
key examples at the policy and/or local levels in India and Japan will be showcased here.
The first three focus on India’s examples of dealing with such key and urgent policy issues
as energy transition and air pollution followed by a leading initiative towards renewables inJapan.
Case 1: Mainstreaming Energy Transition in India’s climate policy
One of the critical steps that define the question of ‘how do we get there’ is the political will
to bring about substantial change in policies to address larger climate and environmental
goals more effectively.
Recognising this, the Indian Prime Minister’s declaration of having 40% of total energy
supply from non-fossil fuel is one of the critical policy steps to mainstream and catalyseenergy transition as a public policy initiative. Such energy transition initiatives do in fact
offer clear co-benefits to the transportation sector and urban air quality as well as
overcoming challenges to industrial energy efficiency. Government-backed initiatives forenhancing energy efficiency in the industrial sector through a market-based mechanism—
Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme—have been contributing to enhancing efficiency.
For the transport sector, India has been preparing for an accelerated transition to electricvehicles through policy-based mandates, by promoting a shift from road to rail-based3Submission to Talanoa Dialogue
29th October 2018

movement, and by improving efficiency of the land transportation and aviation sector. To
accelerate and enable large-scale replication in integrating clean energy, there is also a
critical need for adequate and additional capital, requiring reduced risks and transaction
costs, which need to be raised through domestic fiscal measures as well as throughinternational support and collaboration.
Case 2: Solving air pollution in India
India’s per capita GHG emissions are rather small on a global scale, but aggravation ofdomestic air pollution, especially in major cities, has become a serious social and public
policy issue. As scenario analysis by TERI 5 highlighted and confirmed, the abovementioned low-carbon energy transition using policy measures in the domains of energy
efficiency improvement, fuel-switching, and promotion of renewables is also key to address
air quality improvement (through the reduction of air pollutants such as SLCPs), which also
results in long-term co-benefits to human health and agricultural production.
While the above-mentioned energy transition initiatives are under way to implement
identified actions in addressing the growing air pollution in Indian cities, three specificapproaches are gaining attention. First, national policies that directly address pollution
issues within the country need stronger implementation mechanisms and adequate legal
support. In this regard, more attention should be put on strengthening policy frameworks
and establishing adequate punitive measures for non-compliance for polluting sectors orentities. Second, policy formulation and implementation can be strengthened only throughcollaborative mechanisms that involve multiple stakeholders, including nationalgovernment, sub-national government, city or municipality authorities and civil society andprivate sectors. Third, international collaboration and the use of best practices fromother countries adapted to the local context will be key to addressing air pollution. This
includes city-to-city collaboration as well as accessing low-carbon energy technologies
from energy intensive sectors.
Case 3: Initiatives by international partnerships in tackling air pollution in India
Across India, international organisations and global partnerships such as the CCAC
(Climate and Clean Air Coalition)6 are supporting a number of mitigation options withbenefits for health, climate, economic and agriculture at the local level. CCAC particularly
focuses on reducing SLCPs,7 in efforts to respond to several common challenges such as

5See presentation by Dr Sumit Sharma by TERI. https://www.iges.or.jp/files/research/climateenergy/PDF/20180726/6.pdf
6The only voluntary multi stakeholder partnership addressing short lived climate pollutants at a global level.
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Mitigation of SLCPs (methane, HFC and black carbon) globally to supplement and enhance scaled-up
actions on CO2, has the potential to avoid 0.6 C of predicted global warming by 2050, thereby making a verysignificant contribution towards achieving the Paris Agreement temperature goal. Full implementation ofSLCP measures by 2030 would avoid 2.4 million annual deaths by 2030; would avoid 52 million tonnes ofannual staple crop losses after 2030; and would slow sea-level rise by 20% by 2050.

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Submission to Talanoa Dialogue
29th October 2018

limited knowledge of the impacts of SLCPs, lack of tools and knowledge about mitigation
options, as well as regulatory, financial and technological barriers. Their initiatives include
the promotion of agricultural ‘no burn’ alternatives to farmers in areas that are particularly
sensitive to the warming effects of black carbon (“Agriculture initiative”); the promotion ofa cleaner and more sustainable traditional bricks sector with local development benefits
through policies, training and emissions measurements (“Bricks initiative”); thedevelopment of sustainable waste management systems and strategies at the city level
including technical assistance, training and assessments by bringing together different
stakeholders to solve the issue (“Waste initiative”); and the promotion of clean cookstoves
through development and implementation of standards, new finance mechanisms, researchand policy support.
Case 4: Community-based renewable energy promotion in Japan
Across Japan, initiatives to accelerate the Figure 1: Activities of Community Power in Japantransition to renewable energy have been
rapidly introduced and expanded,
especially at the local level— more so
after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 (seeFigure 1). Such initiatives typicallycreate a hub of power generation andtransmission including the local power
generator, dealers, facility manufacturers
and customers, and this provides
electricity in a secure, sustainable andself-sufficient manner at the community
level. For the development of better
services and systems, integration oftraining and knowledge-sharing is vitalThree Principles of Community Power

OwnershipGovernance

Benefit sharing

Japan Community Power
Association is established in 2012(JCPA) Established in 2014

As of Oct. 2016
Source：data of ISEP, People’s Power Network,Kiko Network

among the stakeholders and local people as well. In many cases, 8 community-based
initiatives have led to a wide range of significant co-benefits especially in the revival of theregional economy, job creation, improvement for social work services including elderlysupport, and enhanced climate resilience.

8For example, Maniwa, Shimokawa, Iida, Miyama, and Higashi Matsushima.

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Box 1: Example - Local alliance model in biomass sector
Although woodchip is price Figure 2: Local alliance model<Before>competitive against conventional
fossil-fuels,majorbiomass Manufacturer A Dealer B
resources are untapped in Japan.
Facility α
The key source of the problem is aity αlack of shared knowledge andFacilityβ
experiences by manufacturers/
Facility β
dealers in the biomass sector, which<Future>Manufacturer A

Dealer B
Facility

Facility α
FacilityLocal allianceαFacilityβ
Facility β

Alliance
Facility

Facility
Facility
Facility

Facility γ
Relevant engineering for each owners

has resulted in a high initial Poor engineeringinvestment cost for bio boilers and High investment cost
 Reasonable investment costa lack of a sustainable fuel
 Limited installation
 Expecting installation growth in local
procurement chain. The newlyintroduced alliance model is expected to promote community learning to improve facility
development and management, as well as to lead the efficient use of biomass resources andfacilitate creating a hub for potential customers (see Figure 2).

3. Identified challenge and suggestions for improvement
While we have managed to identify positive examples that provide useful insights andlessons, the workshop participants also pointed out that stronger efforts are required tomaximise co-benefits. This section presents the main issue raised at the general level anddiscuss possible ways to make improvements.
The key observed challenge is how to sustain, scale up, and improve existing andfuture climate-related projects in a more sustainable and collaborative manner tofurther generate an overall long-term impact/co-benefits and achieve the climate goals.
There are already a large number of climate change-related projects, and with increasingawareness that climate change presents not just cost but also opportunities and co-benefits,
more actors are joining this trend. However, there has been a lack of coordination in theplanning and decision-making processes across institutions and organisations. This often
makes it difficult to maximise their strengths in delivering expected outcomes, regardless
how strong the will is to engage in climate action.
To address this challenge, the following ideas were put forth by participants at theworkshop:− Strengthening global, regional and local coordination.

 The first step is to review what, how and where the projects are implemented. At
the global level, one immediate possibility would be promotion of the use of the6Submission to Talanoa Dialogue
29th October 2018

existing NAZCA platform,9 while further work is required to expand on each areaof project information as often the details of the project are not available. There isalso a need to institutionalise the information and integrate other work/information
into the database, such as the collected stories of the Talanoa Dialogue. Anotherpossibility, at the local level, would be for donors or proponents of the project toassign responsibility to implement careful field research or to consult with aclearing organisation before developing a plan for a new project, so as to identify
any gaps in existing projects including those carried out by other organisations.
 Networking and local coordination through participating in regional and local
initiatives,10 work by the umbrella organisation and regular conferences could also
help in filling the gap, especially for sharing information and building confidence
to taking their own actions (see also Box 2).
Box 2: Example – Role of Associations and global networking
In renewable energy promotion in Japan, associations such as Japan Wooden Bioenergy
Association (JWBA) and Japan Community Power Association (JCPA) play key roles inproviding opportunities for networking, mutual learning, matching up business needs, andcollaborative research among stakeholders. To share ideas and knowledge globally, JWBA
is seeking the possibility to collaborate with the German Association for Bioenergy, and the2nd World Community Power Conference11 will be held in Mali in November, 2018.
− Strengthening top-down approach of policy signals (especially incentive
mechanisms and setting clear goals).
 Non-state initiatives including the above-mentioned ones strongly exemplify thebottom-up approach. However, there is a strong need to increase thepredictability in policy direction, create synergies among stakeholders andgive comfort for non-state actors to engage fully in the climate actions (see foran example, Box 3). It is also suggested that policymakers incorporate the outcomeof these actions into their policy decision-making processes.
Box 3: Example – Initiative by government institutions
MOEJ has endorsed and joined several private-led global initiatives. For example, MOEJ
participated in RE100 as the first public entity,12 demonstrating its commitment to increase
the use of renewable-based electricity in government buildings. This signals the shift awayfrom nuclear energy dependency and generates positive expectations for non-Party

9NAZCA http://climateaction.unfccc.int/
The large scale actions by the non-stake actors include the Global Climate Action Summit, We Are Still
In, Japan Climate Initiative etc.
11See https://www.conference.community/
12See http://there100.org/ The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Japan is also seeking to endorse
RE100.
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29th October 2018

stakeholders who are willing to shift to de-carbonisation. The MOEJ also support the private
sector in meeting climate targets, such as SBTs (Science Based Targets). MOEJ gives
economic incentives by providing consultations and facilitating information-sharing, andthis has resulted in a drastic increase in the number of companies that commit to the SBTs
(making Japan one of the top countries13).

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See https://sciencebasedtargets.org/approved-targets-map/

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