Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mohan Munasinghe On Why Climate Action Must Be Aligned With Sdgs

Climate action is a global talking point. But how can it walk hand-in-hand with sustainable development? In 2007, well-known economist and physicist Mohan Munasinghe was the vice chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body advising governments on climate action, that won the Nobel Peace Prize. In Dubai recently for the 'I am Peacekeeper' movement (“aimed at mass mobilisation at the ground level for world peace,” says founder Dr Huzaifa Khorakiwala), Munasinghe spoke at length about a pragmatic approach to climate action.

Edited excerpts from an interview:

In your formative years, what led you to work at the intersection of energy, environment and economics?

After enjoying a very secure and happy childhood, I studied physics and engineering at Cambridge University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. To return to Sri Lanka and help the poor, I decided to also complete an MA in economics - almost becoming a perpetual student, while enhancing my multidisciplinary skills. My interests evolved from physics (first love), engineering, and economics, to applications sectors including energy, water, transport and environmental resources, and finally to multidisciplinary issues such as poverty, disasters, climate change, sustainable development, and peace - my current focus.

I had to summon up my courage to make several transitions that satisfied my social conscience. During my career in the World Bank (1974-2002), it became clear that one could do good development work to help the poor, mainly at a junior level. But once one reaches the management level, there is less hands-on work, and more policy decisions inevitably influenced by geopolitics. So, during 1982-86, I interrupted a promising World Bank career to work as Senior Advisor to the Sri Lankan President.

After this valuable development experience in a developing country, I returned to the Bank, finally taking early retirement in 2002. I moved back permanently to Sri Lanka and launched the non-profit Munasinghe Institute of Development (MIND), which gave scholarships to developing country students and undertook policy research. Part of my research involved working for IPCC for three decades. The work I led as vice-chair of the IPCC clearly showed that climate change and sustainable development are intertwined problems which should be solved simultaneously. This work helped the IPCC win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. That gave me a platform to transition into a champion of sustainability and peace.

You have strongly advocated for sustainomics. How do you see that framework evolving in today's complex global landscape?

The 2021 Blue Planet Prize jury stated that sustainomics was my seminal contribution to sustainability thinking. What is happening now is giving me a lot of hope because the models that I developed are being applied. But, first let us quickly review what sustainomics says. When I originally proposed this framework at the 1992 UN Rio Earth Summit, the ultimate goal was to“make development more sustainable” for everyone.

One core concept of sustainomics focuses on harmonising the sustainable development triangle for balance and integration. It stresses economic prosperity to raise the poor out of poverty, environmental protection, and sharing of benefits socially through empowerment and inclusion. The triangle is the basis for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, and the Balanced Inclusive Green Growth (BIGG) model developed to implement the SDG. The BRICS Group and the Global Majority will play a key role in implementation.

The BIGG path starts by striving for green growth (ie., economic growth combined with environmental protection), but argues that this step alone does not guarantee sustainability, because social problems can worsen. Therefore, among alternative green growth paths, we must select those that are the most inclusive and protect the poorest groups. Humanity faces multiple and interconnected challenges, as evidenced by the SDGs. We have to solve them together - it is not practical to solve them one at a time. We need to integrate economic prosperity, environmental protection and social inclusivity, to help billions of people who are disadvantaged.

BIGG is being embraced in various parts of the world, and here are two successful examples - one large scale and the other on a smaller scale. I am hopeful this kind of model will spread across the globe because we have coalitions now who are interested in peaceful and sustainable development.

Yangtze Delta, China: China's Yangtze Delta is home to 240 million people within 4 per cent of its land area, and contains several mega-cities. The Delta contributes to 25 per cent of China's GDP (larger than Japan or Germany), and demonstrates the BIGG-SSCD transformation over the past century, in three distinct stages:

a) Pre-1950 – Subsistence farming with low environmental impacts.

b) 1950-2000 – Industrialisation and rapid economic growth with environmental degradation

c) Post-2000 – Shift towards sustainability with ecological restoration and policy-driven, BIGG-based socio-economic development.

Thus the Yangtze delta is a textbook model for the BIGG framework. It's economically prosperous. Socially, the benefits are distributed well. The environment is recovering and in fact, most of the electric vehicles are produced there.

Guimarães, Portugal: This is the classic example of a Portuguese city that had adopted the SSCD model. The Mayor and staff of Guimarães have pursued sustainability and environmental goals for over a decade (with my advice). Today, with a population of almost 200,000 people, Guimarães integrates culture, history, and modern sustainability efforts, serving as a global role model for mid-sized urban centers. The landscape of Guimarães is a good example of sustainable co-evolution between humanity and nature.

The city received the coveted European Green Capital Award 2026 - the top award given annually to a European city for excellence in environmental, social and economic sustainability. It was a fitting reward for a decade of dedicated efforts towards sustainability, by the mayor of Bragança, his dedicated and talented management team, and committed citizens. The international panel of expert judges highlighted Guimarães' exceptional performance in seven areas, including air quality, noise, water, biodiversity, green areas and land use, waste and circular economy, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

In your opinion, what do policymakers still misunderstand about climate change?

The IPCC showed how climate is related to human activities and development. Remember that climate is only one of 17 sustainable development goals. If you try to address climate change by itself, you will not succeed. If you treat it as one of the 17 issues, and look for integrated solutions, then you will succeed. It is also a very important message for climate activists, because if they just keep focusing on climate, there will be pushback. People will say,“Are you suggesting we don't use energy? Then how are we going to develop?” But if you go down the path of sustainable development on a united front tackling the SDG, that will take care of climate change as part of the overall solution. Many politicians have not been able to grasp this. They think climate change is going to block other aspects of development. But they have to understand that climate action is an integral part of sustainability.

My own research had stressed this integrative approach, and contributed to achieving two major international achievements in 2015: the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Politics aside, how can climate negotiation focus on practical solutions?

One cannot set politics aside. At the moment, geopolitics is not very conducive to climate consensus because a transformation is underway from a unipolar/hegemonistic world to a multipolar one. If you see the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Tianjin Summit photos, Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin can be seen talking, smiling and working together. I think Asian leadership that is emerging in this multipolar world will help us make progress on peace, climate change, and every aspect of sustainability, that has eluded the past, western-led order. We just have to get over that transition period.

And why do I believe that this transition is happening? Because the GDP of the BRICS+ (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa plus) countries is 44 per cent share of the global GDP, whereas G7 constitutes only 27 per cent. The disparity is growing. It shows the transition in economic power from the West to the BRICS and Global South. We have to show how sustainable solutions can be taken forward, despite fierce resistance by Western powers through tariffs, economic sanctions and even military force. The present status is not conducive to promoting climate action or any other sustainable development goal. Let me give you a shocking number. The global military expenditure is more than $2 trillion per year whereas the amount of money that is devoted to anti-poverty programmes is less than $200 billion. So, we are spending over 10 times more to destroy rather than to save.

What sort of role can the emerging economies play here?

The Global South is much more supportive of the BRICS than the Western countries. We have had a western-led world for more than 500 years. During colonial times, the focus was on extracting as much resources as possible from the Global South through plunder and violence. Post World War II, it has been more about western control through economic domination, information manipulation and even military force. Developing countries have reached a stage where they are now able to see better alternatives in the emerging multipolar world led by BRICS+. They can better protect their sovereignty and dignity. They can forge their own roadmap by not following the environmentally and socially harmful path of the West. The UAE is a very good example of that.

Digital transformation has impacted sustainable initiatives. In your opinion, how has digital technology - and artificial intelligence in particular - enabled action towards sustainability?

I have long been a fan of digital technology. In fact, 40 years ago, I prepared the first informatics policy report in a developing country (Sri Lanka). So, we were pioneers in that respect. Since then, digital technology has moved very far ahead. For example, the current Sri Lankan government has created a ministry for digital economy. The issue is that digital technology is a double-edged sword. It is good for the economy because it makes production much more efficient and reduces the burden on environment, because one can produce more with lower use of resources (like energy, land and water). So, it's a win-win outcome. But on the other hand, it can make the rich-poor divide worse. Because it is usually the richer folk, particularly their children, who have better access to digital technology. So, we have to be careful about this aspect. Environmentally, it is the same story. When you use digital technology, you use less resources, although the other side of the coin is that tools like artificial intelligence (AI) are extremely energy intensive. Furthermore, look at e-waste - the amount of toxic chemicals that are present in the throwaway products. Socially, social media powered by digital technology empowers and connects people. But it can also facilitate crime and violence, which is not good for us. Any disruptive technology has both pluses and minuses. I am hopeful we will be able to harness the good and avoid the bad if we have good leadership and public awareness.

The IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize when you were the Vice Chair in 2007. What does winning the most prestigious award in the world change for the organisation?

The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was unexpected but gratifying. My first reaction was: why IPCC, since there are so many people who are just as deserving? It enhanced my global profile and granted me a platform to share my views on sustainable development, climate change and peace. However, it was a challenge to simplify complex ideas to reach a wider audience, since this was a departure from the technical speeches I usually deliver at expert conferences. Further, post-Nobel activities consumed the time previously earmarked for my research and creative thinking. I was neglecting my intellectual development, while spending too much time on media interviews and public speeches - often to audiences of thousands in a“rock concert” atmosphere. More frequent travel reduced quality time with family and friends and affected my health as well. Eventually, I learned to balance my time more sustainably and productively among research, public appearances, travel, health, family and social life. By trying to make the world a better place, one becomes a better person.

My personal mission is to pass the torch on to the next generation, by lecturing, sponsoring new research, mentoring, and even using less conventional methods to get the message across that sustainability, climate and peace are interlinked. In 2012, at the Rio + 20 Earth Summit, I launched Sustainomusica - a network of international musicians and artists who use their skills to communicate the message of sustainability globally. This new music of sustainability appeals to the heart more than the intellect, to motivate and empower millions of young people.

My generation owes an apology to future generations, because we are leaving them a world that is damaged, divided, and dangerous. But I have faith in youth to lead the way forward - if they learn from the past, and do not repeat our mistakes.

The Nobel Prize has re-activated my passion for peace, which I have been pursuing for over 60 years, since joining the original“Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament” in Cambridge - led by the great philosopher Lord Bertrand Russel. The possibility of World War III appears closer than ever before. This is a“human extinction outcome” that must be avoided at all costs, as wars rage around us. I support the 'I am Peacekeeper' initiative, because world peace relies more on each one of us rather than governments or leaders. The growing global anti-war community must strive to bridge the gap between BRICS+ and the west, to build a more prosperous, peaceful multipolar world. We must unite to save the Earth and ourselves. Let us act now for peace, together.

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