Emerging market sustainability dialogues (EMSD)
Context
The global community is facing numerous sustainability challenges, especially relating to the transformation of global economic, production and financial processes. These challenges are increasingly being discussed at international level in the context of drafting global agendas. Various actors, including corporations, financial market institutions and think tanks are working through a diverse range of networks and forums to propose solutions.
The growing economic and political significance of emerging economies, additionally home to 80 per cent of the world’s population, mean that they have a key role in designing and implementing proposals for solutions. The Emerging Market Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD) comprise three dialogue platforms, each dealing with a specific sustainability challenge: the Economic Policy Forum (EPF), the Emerging Market Multinationals Network for Sustainability (EMM), and the Emerging Markets Dialogue on Finance (EMDF). Through these platforms, actors from emerging economies can develop joint approaches, positions and instruments to address the challenges.
Objective
The solutions proposed by participating emerging economies for tackling the global sustainability challenges relating to economic policy, finance and entrepreneurial activity are taken up by key actors in (inter)national policy processes. These key actors include the G20 decision-makers and their engagement groups: T20 (think tanks and academia), B20 (business) and W20 (women); the BRIC states, and the follow-up processes of the UN Climate Change Conference Paris 2015 (UNFCCC-COP 21).
Approach
In cooperation with representatives from all relevant interest groups, the project works transnationally and across different policy areas in three fields of activity:
1. It supports partnerships and knowledge sharing, especially between emerging economies. EMSD partners propose ideas and cooperation projects via a steering structure. A Challenge Fund provides funding for project proposals. Financial contributions made by the partners themselves strengthen the sustainability of the exchange processes.
2. EMSD partners contribute to selected sustainability topics in international forums and processes, for instance through position papers, draft resolutions and presentations at international conferences. Various methods and tools are also developed, for example for green bonds.
3. The outcomes of the Emerging Market Sustainability Dialogues are processed in a manner suitable for implementation in follow-up processes.
Results
The project and the previous measures have produced proposals for addressing global sustainability challenges and successfully incorporated them into (inter)national policy processes. These proposals have included economic recommendations (EPF) for energy policy issues at the Munich Security Conference, and for innovation policy and technology transfer in the G20 engagement group T20 (think tanks and academia).
Within the EMM platform for entrepreneurial activity, methods and tools for sustainability issues in sectors such as mining, infrastructure and agriculture and for social standards have been developed. They have been presented at international conferences and are now being used by corporations. Proposals for designing sustainable infrastructure have been submitted to the G20 engagement group B20 (business).
The EMDF network, which focuses on finance, has developed an instrument for integrating water risks into assessment procedures for corporate bonds. This is now being used by banks.
To safeguard the sustainability of the exchange processes the project has generated over 600,000 euros in additional funds through partner contributions. The project has secured combined financing of 1.75 million pounds Sterling from the Department for International Department (DFID), and formed a strategic alliance with the Swedish bank SEB.