Chilean Initiative to Bolster Domestic Wind Energy Sector in Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Executive Summary

Chile’s national economic development agency, Corfo, has launched a strategic initiative seeking guidance from wind industry stakeholders. The primary objective is to establish favorable market conditions that support the domestic development and manufacturing of wind energy technology. This effort directly aligns with several key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The agency’s consultation process is a targeted measure to advance Chile’s commitment to sustainable development. The initiative’s focus on creating a domestic wind energy market contributes to the following SDGs:

• SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy): By fostering a robust domestic wind energy sector, the initiative aims to increase the share of renewable energy in Chile’s national energy mix, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy for all.
• SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): The establishment of local manufacturing for wind energy components is projected to stimulate sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, creating new jobs and promoting productive employment.
• SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure): This initiative seeks to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation in green technologies within Chile.
• SDG 13 (Climate Action): Expanding wind power capacity is a critical action to combat climate change and its impacts by significantly reducing national greenhouse gas emissions.
• SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals): Corfo’s call for stakeholder input exemplifies a public-private partnership, strengthening the means of implementation for achieving sustainable development.

Strategic Objectives of the Consultation

Corfo is requesting information and guidance from industry experts to achieve several strategic outcomes:

1. To identify and create optimal market conditions for investment in wind energy.
2. To formulate a national strategy for the development of wind power projects.
3. To build a competitive domestic manufacturing and supply chain for the wind energy industry.

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The article discusses Chile’s efforts to foster a domestic wind energy sector. This initiative, led by the national economic development agency Corfo, connects to several Sustainable Development Goals focused on energy, economic growth, industry, and climate action.

1. SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

   The core subject of the article is “wind energy development,” which is a primary form of clean and renewable energy.

2. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

   The initiative is spearheaded by Chile’s “national economic development agency” and aims to create “domestic… manufacturing,” directly linking the project to national economic growth and job creation.

3. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

   The focus on “domestic wind energy development and manufacturing” represents an effort to build new, sustainable industrial capacity and infrastructure within the country.

4. SDG 13: Climate Action

   Developing wind energy is a fundamental strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change, making this goal inherently relevant.

5. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   The article states that Corfo is “asking wind industry stakeholders for guidance,” which highlights a multi-stakeholder, partnership-based approach to achieving its development goals.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the actions described, several specific SDG targets can be identified:

1. SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

   • Target 7.2: By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. The focus on “wind energy development” is a direct action towards increasing the proportion of renewable energy in Chile’s energy system.
   • Target 7.a: By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology… and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology. Corfo’s consultation with “wind industry stakeholders” is a step towards creating market conditions that encourage investment and technology transfer in clean energy.

2. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

   • Target 8.2: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation. Establishing a domestic “manufacturing” sector for wind energy represents economic diversification and technological upgrading for Chile.

3. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

   • Target 9.2: Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization. The plan to create a “domestic… manufacturing” industry for wind components is a clear move towards sustainable industrialization.
   • Target 9.4: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable… with greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies. Building a wind energy industry is a direct application of clean technology to upgrade national infrastructure.

4. SDG 13: Climate Action

   • Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. The action by Corfo, a “national economic development agency,” to create a strategy for wind energy demonstrates the integration of climate mitigation efforts into national economic planning.

5. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships. The article explicitly describes a public agency (Corfo) engaging with the private sector (“wind industry stakeholders”) to formulate policy and market conditions.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

The article does not provide quantitative data, but it implies several qualitative and quantitative indicators that could be used to measure progress:

1. For SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)

   • Implied Indicator for Target 7.2: An increase in the “Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption” (Indicator 7.2.1). The success of the “wind energy development” would be measured by this.

2. For SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)

   • Implied Indicator for Target 8.2: An increase in the “Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person” (Indicator 8.2.1), driven by the new high-value manufacturing sector.

3. For SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure)

   • Implied Indicator for Target 9.2: An increase in “Manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP and per capita” (Indicator 9.2.1) as the “domestic… manufacturing” sector grows.

4. For SDG 13 (Climate Action)

   • Implied Indicator for Target 13.2: The existence of a national strategy for wind energy development serves as a qualitative measure of progress for Indicator 13.2.1, which tracks the “number of countries that have communicated the establishment or operationalization of an integrated policy/strategy/plan” for low-emission development.

5. For SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals)

   • Implied Indicator for Target 17.17: The process described—Corfo “asking wind industry stakeholders for guidance”—is a direct, qualitative example of the formation of public-private partnerships, which is what Indicator 17.17.1 aims to measure in monetary terms.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: windpowermonthly.com