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Formally adopting climate change mitigation policies does not necessarily translate to tangible change on the ground. Here, we analyse 31 semi-structured interviews with climate policy government officials and consultants from 11 low-income and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) as well as the respective climate policy context, and find high average degrees of perceived discrepancies between formally adopted climate change mitigation policies and their actual implementation. Our results suggest that for our LMIC sample, both the global political process to limit climate change and domestic environmental threats have been key to drive the formal adoption of climate change mitigation policies, but have had limited effect on implementation. By contrast, momentum for implementation of climate change mitigation initiatives and projects on the ground emerges where climate policies are firmly embedded within economic and social development policies, the economy and society are comparably well-positioned to embrace the associated change, and where they have been governed by cross-ministerial institutions capable of implementing wider climate-compatible development pathways. Thus, to help translate climate policy into action, national LMIC governments and the international community need to find context-specific ways to successfully integrate climate with economic and social development policies, identify and build on feasible opportunities and competitive advantages through which the local economy can benefit from green growth, build adequate social capital, and actively create institutional spaces and processes for well-equipped and meaningful cross-ministerial co-benefit governance. The importance of unlocking co-benefits for implementing climate policies underlines both the urgency with which the international community needs to increase finance for LMICs for climate change mitigation, as well as the associated development opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactive dynamics in the food, water, and energy system as a nexus (FWEN) are critical to the sustainable development of global cities, and they can be mediated by green and blue infrastructure (GBI) in the urban area. Here we provide a comprehensive literature review to examine how GBI affects FWEN in urban centers, an area which is currently understudied. In order to do this, we undertake a systematic review of the literature using a meta-analytic approach and topic modelling. Based on our synthesis, we develop a conceptual framework of the key links between urban GBI and FWEN and the direction and magnitude of the relationship. We found that GBIs can benefit food supply, energy saving, and climate change mitigation but at a price of food safety and water contamination. Well-designed urban construction can help curb the negative effects. Therefore, we need to make deliberate and integrative policy to link GBI with each element in urban FWEN. Moreover, the focus of studies on GBIFWEN links is also heterogeneous across cities: urban agriculture and food security are priorities in cities located in Africa and Asia as well as in lower income and larger cities (but not metropolitan areas), while the cooling effect of green space has been a focus for cities of middle or high income. Finally, current research focuses on isolated analysis, lacking integrated studies needed for decision making supporting tools. While isolated analyses lead to connectivity failures and can result in adverse impacts, integrated analyses can identify interdependencies of environmental resources between parts of a cycle and across different scales, which can increase resource efficiency and minimize environmental degradation. Therefore, our key findings point out the importance of linking the effects of GBI on each component of FWEN in both research and policy making. • Studies exploring the effect of GBI on FWEN in cities are rare. • GBI-FWEN links mainly focus on food and green infrastructure. • GBI can have positive and negative effects on urban FWEN. • GBI-FWEN links are heterogenous in global cities (size, location and income level). • The management of urban GBI-FWEN should guide the development of a goal-based framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation in the smallholder agricultural sector towards more sustainable and cleaner production systems is needed in Southern Africa. Climate-smart agriculture could be an opportunity in this respect. The paper presents a cost-benefit analysis of the public investment program to promote climate-smart agriculture in Lesotho. Economic profitability of investing in such program in nationwide crop, livestock and aquaculture smallholders' production is assessed, considering costs and benefits at private level and those that accrue to society. Given uncertainty about the future, a development pathway commercially oriented is compared with a pathway aimed at increasing households' capacity to adapt their farming systems to the changing climate. Investment returns are above the opportunity cost of capital, under both pathways, indicating the convenience for farmers and the whole society in investing in climate-smart agriculture. The program also leads to a decrease in the greenhouse gas emissions' intensity, positively contributing to climate change mitigation. The economic evaluation of the carbon-balance increases societal profitability of the investment program. • Climate-smart farming increases smallholder households' income in Southern Africa. • Investing in climate-smart production generates profitable returns to the society. • Benefit-cost analysis can orient climate-smart agriculture policy planning. • Including economic evaluation of Carbon-benefits increases societal convenience. • Farmers actualize agriculture sector's sustainable transformation and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation is a topical issue with growing debate in the context of the renewable energy transition, global partnership, governance, and economic growth. The complexness of climate change makes it difficult to predict relationships and formulate policies across varied countries. Motivated by the core mandate of the Kyoto Protocol, we examined the individual, combined and interactive impact of growth in income, renewable energy, foreign direct investment, and governance on greenhouse gas emissions. We decomposed the relationships to account for the theories of scale effect, composition effect and technique effect. The study utilized a dynamic heterogeneous estimation technique with a panel data from 1990 to 2017 in 47 Sub-Saharan African countries. Our adopted empirical framework made it possible to account for heterogeneity, a situation that may be prevalent in countries with varied economic and environmental policies. The empirical results revealed that increasing the share of renewable energy by 1% declines greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 35.32% (95% Confidence interval) while a 1% increase in the coupling effect of income level, governance, and renewable energy consumption intensifies climate change by 0.79%. The interactive effects of scale, composition, and technique indicators were found to worsen climate change. The decoupling effect revealed that while foreign direct investment, income level, and governance exacerbate climate change, renewable energy consumption lessens climate change and its impact. From a policy perspective, the magnitude of the technique effect of renewable energy consumption depends on, inter alia , its share in the energy portfolio, technological innovation, and country-specific policy instruments. The study demonstrated that decoupling renewable energy from economic growth propels the transition from fossil fuels, leading to energy efficiency— explaining the decline in GHG emissions. • Dynamic heterogeneous method is used to develop 13 conceptual tools for mitigating climate change. • Climate change is decomposed into scale, composition and technique effects. • Increasing renewable energy consumption reduces climate change in Sub-Saharan African. • Income level exacerbates pollution intensities which affect climate change and its impact. • The study confirmed the validity of the Pollution Haven Hypotheses in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]