“We at Ethical Markets are enthusiastic supporters of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and feature them in many of our TV series “Transforming Finance“ distributed globally at www.films.com to business schools and colleges, as well as in our Green Transition Scoreboard® 2017 “Deepening Green Finance“ access at www.ethicalmarkets.com . We thank IISD and their SDG Knowledge Hub, for their great service.
~Hazel Henderson, Editor”
GUEST ARTICLES
Leveraging Interlinkages for Effective Implementation of SDGs Charles Arden-Clarke, Head, 10YFP Secretariat, UN Environment
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 focuses on “ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns” (SCP). This objective is transversal to the SDGs, with the targets for this Goal and twelve others clearly depending on a shift to more sustainable consumption and production patterns. At least 49 of the 169 targets included in the SDG framework are dependent on this shift, with implications for key economic sectors as well as systemic implications for policy making, investments and other decisions taken by all stakeholders engaged in consumption and production.
Report from Local and Regional Governments Provides Input on Localization of the SDGs at HLPF 2017 Edgardo Bilsky, Director of Research and Intelligence at United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG); and Andrea Ciambra, Research Officer at United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG); and Luc Aldon, Research Officer at United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
This year, national governments are reporting to the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York from 10-19 July, to assess progress on the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. United Cities and Local Government – the global network of local and regional governments (LRGs), which represents over 240,000 sub-national authorities in more than 175 countries– and the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments are contributing to the global conversation with a report on the process of “localization” of the SDGs.
FEATURED
18 July 2017: High-level representatives of governments, private sector, international organizations, and civil society discussed the role of business in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), during the second annual SDG Business Forum. Participants stressed the need for: developing a clear mechanism for monitoring business investment in the SDGs; designing projects that incentivize private investments by offering enticing returns on investment; and increasing awareness of the SDGs in the private sector.
19 July 2017: The second dialogue of the Environment Management Group (EMG) Nexus Dialogue Series opened on Thursday, 13 July 2017, in New York, US, on the sidelines of the 2017 session of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). Discussions on the theme, ‘Enabling new partnerships – implementing the SDGs at the poverty-environment nexus at country level,’ took place during a full-day technical segment on 13 July. A policy segment convened on 14 July, and deliberations of the dialogue were reported during a side event for the HLPF on 19 July.
12 July 2017: The Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI) has published a report on social and environmental policy for sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The report aims to improve policy tools by providing practical examples of an integrated approach for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in LAC, with a focus on the poverty-environment nexus.
NEWS
17 July 2017: The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and Bioversity International have launched reports on improving food security and nutrition (FSN). The CFS report discusses the role of trees and forests, while Bioversity focuses on the contributions of agrobiodiversity to reducing hunger while meeting other basic service needs and development priorities.
WHO Estimates Cost of Reaching SDG Health Targets17 July 2017: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that achieving the health-related targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will cost up to US$134-371 billion a year over current health spending – a price tag of US$58 per person each year. In addition, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WHO highlighted the existing immunization gap around the world, noting that approximately one out of every ten children were not immunized in 2016. The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is reviewing progress on SDG 3 (good health and well-being), among six others.
UN Environment Reports Progress on Green Finance
UN Environment Reports Progress on Green Finance
14 July 2017: The UN Environment Programme (UN Environment or UNEP) Inquiry: Design of a Sustainable Financial System has published a report titled, ‘Green Finance Progress Report.’ The publication highlights progress made in G20 member countries, and internationally since 2016, to mobilize private capital for green investment through a range of finance measures, including green financing mobilized policies, regulations, standards, guidelines, principles and fiscal incentives.
13 July 2017: The UNFCCC Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Expert Group (LEG) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have ramped up their support for developing countries’ national adaptation plans (NAPs).
10 July 2017: Intergovernmental negotiations around a global migration compact have emphasized Member States’ sovereignty over borders, while recognizing that safe, orderly and regular migration will require greater international cooperation and conformity with international human rights standards. Proposals to improve migration governance include promoting policy coherence at the national level, ending child detention, building regional and national capacity, and monitoring migration-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
July 2017: The UN Global Compact has established a Corporate Action Group for ‘Reporting on the SDGs,’ which is part of a comprehensive toolbox to help companies achieve sustainability and advance the SDGs. Other recent private sector actions include: the UN Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) partnerships to make cities more sustainable; the insurance industry’s efforts to implement the SDGs; the Partnership for Action on Green Economy’s (PAGE) encouragement of investments in the green economy; and Dutch fund managers development of a standard for SDG investments.