Early Stage Researcher: Eszter Szedlacsek

Research Directors: Prof. Dr. Philipp Pattberg (Faculty of Science, Environmental Policy Analysis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands); Prof. Dr. Mathilde Maurel (Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne, University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, UP1, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, France)

Objectives:
The objectives of the project are to analyse Kenyan and South African NDCs in a comparative perspective and how they relate to SDG1, to assess possible synergies and conflicts among NDCs and SDG 1, and to develop concrete management options for improving positive feedback between NDC implementation and delivering SDG1. A special focus will be on the interaction of various policy-levels, including the national and local. The project will include a desk-based assessment of the Kenyan and South Africa NDCs; a survey of national, regional and local-level policy-makers and their awareness of interactions between climate change policies and SDG1; case studies on local climate actions and their interaction with SDG policies.

Expected Results:
Synergies and conflicts in implementing the ambitious Paris Agreement and SDG1 in Kenya and South Africa are identified. Survey results show policymakers’ awareness of potential conflicts between NDC implementation and SGD 1. This knowledge will inform policy development among governments, NGO’s, and multilateral organisations.

Secondments:
The project involves a strong collaboration between VU Amsterdam and the Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne at UP1 and t and therefore includes mandatory research stays of the ESR in Paris for six months in total.
Further secondments are planned at Agence Française de Développement (3 months) and as field research periods (1,5 months each) supervised by the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and Moi University (Kenya).

Publications:

Lapeyronie, Hugo and Szedlacsek, Eszter (2025), Mining in Africa: Are local communities paying the price of the global energy transition?, The Extractive Industries and Society, 21, pp. 101565.

Szedlacsek, Eszter and Hickmann Thomas and Biermann, Frank et al. (2024), 'Scoping article: research frontiers on the governance of the Sustainable Development Goals', Global Sustainability. (Online First).

Conferences:

October 2024: Earth System Governance (ESG) Forum 2024.

August 2024: Global Goals Conference 2024 in Utrecht, Netherlands and ECPR 2024 Conference.

October 2023: Earth System Governance Conference 2023 in Radboud.

September 2023: European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) General Conference at Charles University.

December 2022: International Symposium of Sorbonne Sustainable Development, Paris.

October 2022: Earth System Governance 2022 Annual Conference, Online.

August 2022: European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) General Conference, University of Innsbruck.