“Ethical Markets Media’s forthcoming “Green Transition Scoreboard”® confirms much of the news in this SDG Knowledge Update and examines private investments in the planet’s 3% freshwater. We also question why there is so little attention paid to the other 97% or the planet’s saltwater and the thousands of salt-loving plants that can add to our food supply with saline agriculture on desert and scrub-land irrigated with seawater, already in 20 countries and used for food for thousands of years! Read our upcoming report “Capturing CO2 While Improving Human Nutrition and Health” for release late April and this article in Green Money Journal “Global Transition to Halophyte Agriculture may be Inevitable” and our TV show “Investing In Desert Greening” which summarizes these issues.
~Hazel Henderson, Editor“
GUEST ARTICLES
SDG-Tracker: Tracking Global Progress Towards the 17 Goals
Hannah Ritchie, Researcher, Our World in Data
In 2015 the world set a new sustainable development agenda, with the heads of all UN Member States pledging to achieve 17 goals by 2030: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ranging from eradicating poverty to ensuring clean energy for all and reaching sustainable levels of consumption, 169 targets across these Goals were selected to drive efforts in the 15 years leading to 2030.
A Story of Community-Led Total Sanitation: Movement-based Change
Stuart Worsley, Programme Director, Green Economy Coalition
Getting people to do the right thing is a tricky art. For a start, what is the right thing? And who says so anyway? For generations, “experts” have tried hard to persuade people to do what they deem is good for them. Be they development workers or missionaries, their zeal doesn’t often translate into results, and expert-led development has all too often failed to improve the lives of the world’s poor.
POLICY BRIEFS
SDG Knowledge Weekly: Coherence and Effectiveness in Financing Sustainable Development
Adam Fishman, Thematic Expert for 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (US)
Much attention was paid this past week to the EU, the future of its budget, the implications for development cooperation and its relation to the 2030 Agenda. This brief focuses on what is needed for a coherent approach to guiding public finance and fostering private investment for SDG implementation.
FEATURED
IPBES Plenary Approves Regional and Land Degradation Assessments
24 March 2018: More than 700 participants attended the sixth session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-6), which approved the summaries for policy makers and the report chapters of four regional assessments, as well as a thematic one on land degradation and restoration.
UNGA Launches Ten-Year Action Plan on Water for Sustainable Development
22 March 2018: On World Water Day, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) launched the ‘International Decade for Action: Water for Sustainable Development’ (2018-2028). Promoting the integrated management of water resources, the Decade aims to create a platform for sharing good practices, advocacy, networking and partnership-building at all levels.