SDG Update – 16 October 2018 - EthicalMarkets.com

GUEST ARTICLES

Forest and Farm Producers Organize to Fight Hunger, Climate Change

Jeffrey Y. Campbell, Manager of the Forest and Farm Facility

Climate change. Hunger. Poverty. These enormous global challenges and our search for solutions dominate the headlines daily. In countries from Ecuador to Ghana to Viet Nam, smallholder forest and farm producers, including women, youth and indigenous people, are organizing themselves to find practical answers to these challenges.

Closing the Biodiversity Action Gap

Mark Halle, Senior Fellow, IISD

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The graph below, which contrasts media coverage of Climate Change (CC) with that of Biodiversity (BD) over the past 30 years, lays out at a glance one of the central paradoxes of sustainable development.

Metagovernance for Sustainability: A Full Toolbox for Implementing the SDGs

Louis Meuleman, Member, UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA); Leuven University, Wageningen University & Research, University of Massachusetts Boston

Why is governance for sustainability often so difficult, cumbersome, or even failing? Why does the “right” solution – i.e. one that actually works – often seem out of reach while standard but ineffective/inadequate solutions prevail? Some would point at a lack of political will, power, resources or skills. All of this plays a role but it is not the only cause.

POLICY BRIEFS

CETA Joint Committee Adopts Recommendation on Trade, Climate Action and the Paris Agreement

Beate Antonich, Ph.D., Thematic Expert for Climate Change and Sustainable Energy (Germany)

Twenty years ago, critics of free trade and global investment policies mobilized against the negotiations launched by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) towards a multilateral agreement on investment, which were followed by the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization (WTO) protests. Civil Society groups demonstrated their concerns about labor issues and the protection of the environment, among others.

FEATURED

ECOSOC, UNGA Committee Discuss Leveraging Circular Economy to Advance SDGs

10 October 2018: During a joint meeting of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), UN Member States, experts and stakeholders considered ways to leverage the model of a circular economy to advance the SDGs. Participants outlined the need for global agreement on a definition of “circular economy,” and to make the concept appealing to the public and policymakers in order to stimulate action and deliverables.

IOM Provides Guidance on Integrating Migration into SDG Planning

9 October 2018: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has issued a guide to help policymakers integrate the migration aspects of the SDGs into local and national planning processes. The guide titled, ‘Migration and the 2030 Agenda: A Guide for Practitioners,’ discusses the interlinkages between migration and the SDGs and suggests a process for integrating migration and the SDGs into legislation, policies, programmes, projects and other initiatives.

ECLAC, OECD Examine Approach for Leaving No One Behind in Transitions

24 September 2018: A joint report by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) outlines the need for a comprehensive approach to international development cooperation that aligns with domestic policymaking, and supports the movement of countries up the income ladder. The paper on advancing the concept of “development in transition” was launched at an event in New York, US.

UNEP, WTO Paper Considers How Trade Can Promote Prosperity, Resilience

2 October 2018: A joint publication by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP, or UN Environment) identifies how governments can work to ensure that trade and a healthy environment are mutually reinforcing. Titled, ‘Making Trade Work for the Environment, Prosperity and Resilience,’ the report “connects the dots” between sustainability, prosperity and resilience, identifies opportunities for cooperation on trade and the environment, and highlights where and how the WTO and UNEP are working in partnership.