The fourth and final workshop on integrated analysis with the Climate, Land, Energy and Water Systems (CLEWs) took place in La Paz, Bolivia on the week of 4–8 of February 2019. The workshop, organized by UNDESA in collaboration with the Social and Economic Policy Analysis Unit (UDAPE) of the Ministry of Development, the technical expertise of the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and the in-country support of UNDP Bolivia, provided an opportunity for the inter-ministerial analytic team to continue working on data preparation and scenario analysis to inform sustainable development strategies with the CLEWs framework. The team is led by officials from UDAPE, with participation from the Ministry of Environment and Water, the National Electricity Supply Company, and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons.
During the workshop participants were engaged in developing scenario analysis on key policy issues that were previously identified by Government counterparts; namely: i) bioethanol production from sugarcane to meet mandated volumes for gasoline blending as required under the new biofuels law, while also ensuring sugar production for food security; ii) biodiesel production from soybean as a means to maintain output from the soy sector, which has been negatively impacted by falling exports due to changes in regional preferential tariffs; and iii) analysis of the costs and benefits of large scale investments in multi-purpose dams and reservoirs. The areas of analysis are directly related to Goal 2 Zero Hunger, Goal 6 Clean Water and Sanitation, and Goal 7 Affordable and Clean Energy. Indirectly, the policy issues being analyzed also touch on Goal 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production.
The interministerial team will now prepare policy notes to report on the main findings to inform policymakers at a dissemination conference planned for the second quarter of 2019.