With the ratification of the Paris climate agreement from 2015, member states of the UNFCCC made the committment to implement national plans for climate change mitigation and adaptation (NDCs). The promotion of renewable energies is an important part of these plans, but is also essential to meet development targets.

From a „yes“ to wind- and solar power does not only profit the climate: The priorization of renewables goes along with social and economic opportunities, the so-called co-benefits.

These opportunities include public health, the protection of natural resources, improved energy safety, accelerating access to electricity, improved investment opportunities and local value-creation.

Climate and energy policies in countries with a fastly growing energy demand, like India, South Africa, Vietnam and Turkey are currently at the crossroads. Their decisions on energy investments can create path dependencies for decades to come.

In national discussions about future energy policies, co-benefits are important arguments which can support the decision for more renewable energies. They can contribute positively to enter a sustainable and climate-friendly development path.

Here it is especially important that co-benefits do not stay abstract and un-specific, but are tailored to meet the political and social needs in the individual countries.

The COBENEFITS project starts here by offering ministries, public authorities and non-governmental organizations in its project countries a „tailor-made“ consulting to this topic.

In collaboration with national knowledge partners in India, South Africa, Vietnam and Turkey, the project elaborates country specific co-benefits of climate policies, with emphasis on the opportunities presented by renewable power generation.

It enables international mutual learning and capacity building among policy makers, knowledge partners and multipliers on seizing the social and economic co-benefits of climate change mitigation, through

• Country-specific assessment reports of social and economic co-benefits of renewable power generation
• Training materials, online courses and face-to-face trainings on seizing co-benefits of renewable power generation
• Mobilising the co-benefits of Climate Change Mitigation through capacity building among public policy institutions
• Political dialogue sessions on enabling political environments and overcoming barriers to seize the co-benefits

COBENEFITS connects the social and economic opportunities of renewable energies to climate change mitigation strategies. It thereby builds strong alliances and lowers political barriers to revise and effectively implement the Nationally Determined Contributions to the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.