http://worldviewmission.nl/?page_id=2850
http://worldviewmission.nl/?page_id=5733
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Download the Campaign Toolkit for Days of Action for Development Justice (Spanish and English)
English
Our campaign toolkit for the Global Day of Action for Development Justice is now available! It is intended as a general guide for organizations and movements to create their own campaign plans and strategies (both offline and offline) to mobilize for development justice in their own countries and coordinate with other groups in other countries. Available for download in both PDF and Word formats.
http://peoplesgoals.org/
Spanish
Nuestro conjunto de herramientas de campaña para el Día Mundial de Acción por la Justicia de Desarrollo ya está disponible!
Este conjunto de herramientas está dirigido a organizaciones de base, los movimientos populares, sindicatos, y organizaciones de la sociedad civil que trabajan en las comunidades pobres y marginadas para el desarrollo justo, sostenible y centrado en las personas. El conjunto de herramientas tiene como objetivo ayudar a las organizaciones movilizar gente por la justicia para el desarrollo en sus propios países y en coordinación con otros grupos de otros países.
Descargar agui (solo archivo de Word): http://peoplesgoals.
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Check out this video to learn more about the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, who the researchers are, and the fascinating issues they study.
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GlacierHub – New Climate Change Website
My new website www.glacierhub.org
Ben Orlove
School of International and Public Affairs
Columbia University MC 3323
420 West 118th Street, room 833
New York, NY 10027
Master’s Program in Climate and Society
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Downloadable Visual Props for Global Day of Action for Development Justice
Good day everyone,
We have uploaded on our People’s Goals website http://peoplesgoals.org/campai
These can be customized according to your respective campaign messages. Feel free to send us copies of your visual props and materials. We are also asking for your creative ideas and suggestions to better improve our campaign.
Thank you so much.
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Re: Immediate Sign On to SDG Right to Water and Sanitation Letter
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Appended is an alert from the Medical Mission Sisters regarding a growing concern about the right to water and sanitation as one of the key components of the evolving SDGs. SD Ed. Caucus member Celine Paramundayil has a message for us to circulate and to consider your own organization sign-on to the appended letter of concern [“Call For Signatures”].
All the best,
Pam Puntenney and Bremley Lyngdoh
UN SD Education Caucus Co-Chairs
Dr. P. J. Puntenney
Environmental & Human Systems Management
1989 West Liberty / Ann Arbor, MI 48103 USA
E-mail: pjpunt@umich.edu / Cell: (734) 330-0238
Voice/Fax: (734) 994-3612
Dear Colleagues,
The “zero draft” SDG document <http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/442161> that was
released this week did not contain any reference to the human right to water and sanitation. Please circulate this for sign on among your colleagues and networks and for your consideration if your own organization wishes to add their signature.
many thanks Celine
Subject: Re: Immediate Sign On to SDG Right to Water and Sanitation Letter
Dear Friends,
The Mining Working Group at the UN, with NGO partner organizations to ensure that the human right to water and sanitation is included within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework. Unfortunately the “zero draft<http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/442161>” SDG document that was released this week did not contain any reference to the human right to water and sanitation.
The SDG process will determine the official international development agenda for the next 15 years. Given that the Millennium Development Goal process, which set targets for 2000-2015, failed drastically in the area of sanitation and given MDG targets on drinking water failed to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities, it is vital that the same mistakes not be repeated within the SDG process. Furthermore, we feel that the Human Right to Water and Sanitation will be an important tool in our struggle to prevent the SDG agenda from being co-opted to promote greater corporate access to water resources and services.
Please join this important advocacy by:
Signing onto the letter by sending a message to SDGrighttowater@gmail.com<mailto:SDGrighttowater@gmail.com> with the name of your Congregation, a contact name and country you are based in, by June 11th * Circulating the letter within your networks to sign on at SDGrighttowater@gmail.com<mailto:SDGrighttowater@gmail.com>
Adapting the letter to your Congregation and sending a copy to the ambassador representing your country at the UN (see attached contact list)
Tweeting the need for #owg12 to explicitly name the right to water and sanitation in the #SDGs including #SDGH20 Early next week, the letter will be translated and available in Spanish, French and Portuguese.
Many thanks, Aine On behalf of the Mining Working Group at the UN
Aine O’Connor, RSM, Ph.D. Mercy Global Action Coordinator at the UN Sisters of Mercy, Mercy International Association 777 UN Plaza, 6H, NY, NY, 10017
Celine Paramunda UN Representative Medical Mission Sisters (NGO Accredited to ECOSOC,DPI,UNFCCC) 8400 Pine Road Philadelphia,PA 19111 Tel:215 742 6100 Ext.180 215 722 0403 (R) www.mms-un.org
Voorbeeld van bijlage Right_H20_Letter_June_5th Word (1).docx weergeven
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Agenda post-2015: Emergency objective resolutely dedicated to water.
Dear All,
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Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation – Open Data Webinar
Please share with your colleagues and networks.
My aplogies if you have already received this email, I just want to make sure that folks were not inadvertently left off of the mailing list.As you may know, the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation (HSRC) conducted an Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF) experiment in the North Pacific in 2012.120 tons of iron compound were deposited in the migration routes of Pink and Sock Eye Salmon east of Haida Gwaii over a period of 30 days. The project resulted in a 35,000 km2 plankton bloom that lasted for about 8 months.
The HSRC scientific team collected a massive amount of oceanographic data using autonomous underwater vehicles (Slocum Gliders), Argos Drifters, Multi-Spectral Sonar, Surface Seawater samples, Phytoplankton Tows and other methods.A full list of the HSRC open data set can be found here: http://www.haidasalmonrestoration.com/ index.php/science/scientific- data
The HSRC scientific team tried to answer the following questions:1. Can OIF restore ocean life and fishery stock?2. Can CO2 be sequestered for a long period through OIF?3. Does OIF have harmful effects on the environment?The HSRC data-set may contain answers to these important questions.However, HSRC does not have the budget or resources to further process and investigate this unique data set.HSRC recently approached Oceanea to find out if there are people in the scientific community that are interested to review and process the dataset.HSRC is willing to provide the data-set under an Open Data license free of charge to every scientific party that is interested.To further inform you about the background of the project, the data set and possible collaboration, Oceanea will organize a Webinar on Thu, Jun 19, 2014 11:00 AM PDT.If you are interested to learn more, please sign-up here:You may also contact me directly with all your questions.
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Table comparing Zero Draft (June 2) to Rev.1 (June 30)
sharing this from the women’s major group…
Dear all,Thanks to Frances Zainoeddin for putting this useful comparison table (attached) together for all the goals! I hope it’s helpful as you prepare your analysis and response.Best, Eleanor-Eleanor
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(Corrected Version) TWN Info Service on UN Sust Dev.: SDGs – Means of implementation in latest ‘zero draft’ fall well below expectations
Third World Network-2 <twnet@po.jaring.my>
TWN Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (July14/01)
4 July 2014
Third World Network
www.twn.my
SDGs: Means of implementation in latest zero draft fall well below expectations
New Delhi and New York, 4 July (Ranja Sengupta and Bhumika Muchhala*) Means of Implementation remains the most fiercely contested issue in the negotiations of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
With the release of the Co-Chairs revised version of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Zero Draft on 30 June, the intergovernmental negotiations during the final session of the Open Working Group (OWG) in mid-July becomes even more critical. The OWG Co-Chairs are Ambassadors Macharia Kamau of Kenya and Csaba Korosi of Hungary.
(The 30 June version is available at:
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/4044zerodraft.pdf)
Means of Implementation (MOI), currently under Goal 17, has witnessed a heated battle between the developed and developing countries through the entire course of the twelve OWG sessions that have transpired since March 2013. In fact MOI was not on the initial agenda when the OWG had its first session to plan out its course of work. This was finally included as a topic for the 6th Session at the insistence of the developing countries.
Developing countries have argued that committing to and achieving the SDGs will be an impossible task without adequate means of implementation and a genuine global partnership for development, in the ethos of an enhanced Goal 8 of the Millennium Development Goals, not partnerships in the plural. MOI must primarily come from the developed countries, the developing countries led by the Group of 77 have insisted. They must include finance and technology but also address global systemic issues such as fair rules of trade and investment, sovereign debt restructuring, financial regulation, intellectual property rights, access to new and additional financing and tax evasion and avoidance, just to name a few.
[Developed countries have also made commitments under numerous United Nations treaties, declarations and programmes to provide financial resources, technology and capacity building.]
The debate over MOI and a global partnership for development has entered a critical stage as the OWG moves towards its concluding session in mid-July. The latest revision of the Zero Draft on SDGs includes goal-specific MOI (i.e. MOI under each Goal) as well as a stand-alone goal on MOI. Goal 17 is classified under the categories trade, finance, technology, capacity building, policy and institutional coherence, multi-stakeholder partnerships, and data, monitoring and accountability with a total of 17 targets covering these areas.
The text released by the Co-Chairs reflects a compromised response to various proposals placed by the Member States during the 12th session of the OWG 16-20 June. That session, which continued in the informal format of its preceding week, saw very clear positions emerging on MOI and global partnership for development as Member States gave their overall as well as target by target positions on Goal 17 based on the first version of the Zero Draft. Prior to the Session, the G-77 and China group of developing countries had submitted a strong and detailed proposal on MOI in which they had outlined a number of MOI for each goal.
During the course of the OWG the developing countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have continuously made strong cases for both goal-specific MOI along with a stand-alone goal. However until the last Focus Areas document released by the Chairs before the 11th Session of the OWG in May, goal-specific MOI had not found its place among the SDGs. As a response, the 2 June version of the Zero Draft included for the first time goal-specific MOI under Goal 17. However, the stand-alone MOI on systemic issues such as trade and finance was then dropped.
[Prior to the Zero Draft, the Co-Chairs had produced a Focus Areas document that reflected their sense of the OWG discussions, from which a set of goals was culled for the Zero Draft document for negotiations. This is made available on 2 June.]
This either-or approach on MOI was unacceptable to developing countries and LDCs, and thus the Co-Chairs integrated both goal-specific and stand-alone MOI into the zero draft for the first time. However, both MOI sections are alarmingly weak and insufficient.
[The chapeau of the Zero Draft states that the SDGs are accompanied by targets and will be further elaborated through indicators focused on measurable outcomes. They are global in nature and universally applicable to all countries, while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities. Targets are defined as global targets, with each government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances.]
FINANCING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND MOI DURING THE 12TH OWG SESSION
During the 12th OWG session, there was a clear divide among the Member States on these issues in several aspects. According to sources, most of the developed countries seemed to want to shift MOI discussions to other UN fora. In a classic case of forum-shifting, developed countries stated that the Financing for Development Conference is fixed for July 2015 and that the report of the International Committee of Experts on Financing for Sustainable Development (ICEFSD) is due in August of this year, and this is the rationale for their demand that all content related to systemic and financing issues should take place in those arenas, not under the OWG. Developed countries argued that the SDGs must show respect for other UN intergovernmental processes and must not supercede them. The OWG could be, at best, a forum for re-affirming earlier commitments but not for making new commitments, they suggested.
The developing countries and LDCs, on the other hand, argued that financing-related issues and MOI in general must be resolved in the OWG as they cannot be expected to commit to the SDGs without knowing what means are available for their implementation. In addition they also argued that given the vast differences in resources available to the developed countries, the North must finance development in the South, especially since the former are historically responsible for much of the underdevelopment in the latter. Developing countries have since the beginning stated that the MOI are at the center of the SDGs; without them, the goals and targets, no matter how visionary and ambitious, are useless at the operational level.
According to several delegates, repeated requests from the developed countries to defer discussions on MOI to other fora received in fact a gentle chiding from the Co-Chair who said that while the OWG had no intention of preempting the mandate of the ICEFSD the important task of the OWG was to look at MOI in detail, disaggregate them and examine goal-specific as well as stand-alone components. He reminded them that in any case the Committee was expected to wrap up its work by end July.
[The International Committee of Experts on Financing for Sustainable Development was also established by the Rio+20 process and has been having consultations both in New York and in regions since last year. It is expected to submit its Report to the Secretary General in August.]
The question of goal-specific versus the stand-alone goal on MOI was an area of aggressive divide. While the developing countries and LDCs welcomed the inclusion of the goal-specific MOI, the developed countries argued very strongly against it. According to some negotiators, several proposals were made by developed countries to club together the goal specific components into thematic categories. Goal 17 of the latest draft seems to be a result of this exercise.
The current structuring of MOI under Goal 17 seems to be a welcome move as there appears to have been a broad consensus between the developing and developed countries on a stand-alone goal on MOI during the 12th OWG session. But the approach differed considerably. While the developed countries saw this as a way to eliminate the goal-specific components, the developing countries felt that only a combination of a stand-alone and goal-specific MOI and on a global partnership for development could address implementation challenges of SDGs. They had argued that a stand-alone goal that reflects especially a global partnership for development and that includes global systemic issues as a whole, was missing in the first Zero Draft of 2 June (though it had included goal-specific MOI). They had also asked that the goal-specific MOI be placed alongside the relevant goal so that each SDG and its implementation instruments are clearly and visibly linked.
MOI UNDER THE REVISED ZERO DRAFT
However, though the current version of the Zero Draft includes both goal-specific and stand- alone MOI, and places the former under the specific goals (and not clubbed under Goal 17), the actual targets are grossly inadequate to cover the necessary instruments and those that are included are often weak. Most of the MOI proposals of the G-77 and China are missed by a long distance. If the attempt of the Co-Chairs was to appease both developed and developing countries they have failed as the whole text on MOI has been considerably weakened in this version. Some of these problems are highlighted below. (A more detailed analysis of the targets on MOI and global partnership for development will follow soon.)
While the stand-alone MOI covers quite a few global systemic issues, the specific targets remain weak and are often over-generalized.
For example, on trade, targets 17.22 and 17.23 in the earlier draft (relating to Goal 8 on economic growth and decent work) have been combined under trade in 17.1. But references to the development friendly outcomes of the Doha Development Agenda are now missing. This had meant special and differential treatment for developing countries, a principle which has been challenged repeatedly by developed countries in later talks in all areas mentioned under 17.23.
The new manifestation in MOI 2.b of target 17.7 on hunger, food security and agriculture in the earlier draft, simply states phase out all forms of agricultural export subsidies. The references to reduce distortions in international trade as well as to the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration are conspicuous in their absence. These were referred to in the G-77 proposal as well. These are crucial components of a fair trade framework for agriculture. For example, distortions in international trade could include addressing the historical inequities in domestic subsidies rules that were unfairly laid down and misused by the developed countries.
The MOI section on finance (targets 17.4 to 17.6) evades almost all of the key areas of international financial and trade architecture and the substantive reforms that have been called for repeatedly by developing countries through the course of the OWG, as well as in various UN resolutions (of the UN General Assembly Second Committee), conference outcomes (Rio+20, Financing for Development, etc.) and intergovernmental processes (ECOSOC, etc.). Debt resolution mechanisms (including debt restructuring), financial regulation and financial stability, governance reform (including voice and representation in international financial institutions), sharing of risks and returns in public-private partnerships, tax evasion and avoidance, and corporate transfer mispricing are glaringly absent from the finance MOI.
One of the most regressive alterations is that of the previous language on debt, in target 10.12 in the goal on inequalities among nations: assist developing countries in attaining long term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring has been reduced to simply assist developing countries in attaining long term debt sustainability. Chopping off the measures by which to attain debt sustainability undermines the very point of an MOI on sovereign debt, which is arguably one of the most critical and long-standing systemic problems in the global economy.
The MOI on strengthening domestic resource mobilization in target 17.5 stops at international support to improve domestic capacity for tax collection and fails to address the key structural impediments to domestic resource mobilization in developing countries that of chronic tax evasion and avoidance, including practices such as transfer mispricing by multinational corporations that operate in developing countries. While mobilizing additional international financial resources from multiple sources is addressed, the critical word new is missing. Financial resources need to be both new and additional as committed to by developed countries in order to avert the common trend of fungible donor money (funds being shifted from one category to another). Global civil society in particular has tracked the phenomenon of fungible donor financing for years, and has stressed that financing for sustainable development should not come out of financing for other areas.
While earlier commitments on official development assistance (ODA) are repeated in target 17.4 (without an increased allotment of GDP) it does not come with a year-based deadline, in the manner that most of the targets are presented. This consistent practice of attaching deadlines to the targets but not to the MOI demonstrates a lack of urgency ascribed to the MOI compared to the targets. This will undermine the operational means by which to achieve the targets, thus running the risk of undermining the targets themselves.
However, there is inclusion of two new MOI targets under Goal 10 that addresses inequality: 10.a: respect the principle of special and differential treatment for least developed countries in relevant international agreements including the World Trade Organization and 10.b: direct ODA and encourage financial flows, including foreign direct investment, to states where the need is greatest, in particular LDCs, African countries, SIDS, and LLDCs. These are positive developments, however they too are not given tangible deadlines.
On technology, the MOI always seems to be limited to environment-friendly technologies and not to socially relevant, or economically productive technologies which are also essential for sustainable development. The technology discussion so far seems to be largely confined to the environment pillar but not to the economic and social pillars of sustainable development. Furthermore, technology transfer is never mentioned, as target 17.7 confines itself to international collaboration and access and target 17.9 focuses on the Technology Bank and capacity building mechanism for LDCs. Thankfully however, the latter includes a deadline of 2017.
On another positive note, target 17.8 mentions the full use of TRIPS flexibilities, which is a key demand of all developing countries in the area of technology. Developing countries use of TRIPS flexibilities has also survived in the MOI for the health goal (3.b) on access to vaccines and essential medicines; however, it does not include language on strengthening public sector-led production of vaccines and essential medicines in developing countries, which in the long-term is equally important to the more urgent need for affordable access to life-saving medicines in the short term.
The most serious challenge to Goal 17 comes from the segment on multi-stakeholder partnerships. First, this section fails to underpin that the framework of international development cooperation between developed and developing country governments must lie at the heart of the SDGs. Secondly, while this section ignores the specific role of civil society as a development partner, the role of the private sector is highlighted as a key component of partnership, especially under target 17.14. This target specifically mentions initiatives such as GAVI (on vaccines and immunization), SE4All (sustainable energy) as models to be replicated whereas problems related to these are well known. For example GAVI, in spite of some positive aspects, has posed a major challenge to national level low-cost development of vaccines in developing countries. During the 12th OWG session, particular developed countries reportedly mentioned GAVI as a good example to be placed under the Health MOI, and the result has been its elevated inclusion as an exemplary model in a big stand-alone MOI Goal target.
The MOI on multi-stakeholder partnerships also fails to include any language on ex ante assessments, accountability measures, selection criteria of partnerships, or guidelines on reporting by the partnerships to the General Assembly. Without such critical accountability and transparency measures, multi-stakeholder partnerships are given undue freedom and power, further undermining the role of the state and the sovereignty of UN Member States.
While the global partnership for sustainable development that is essentially about inter-state partnership is in the title of Goal 17 it is not substantively addressed in the document. Far from enhancing MDG Goal 8 into a meaningful pact for global development and progress, the MOI on multi-stakeholder partnerships institutionalizes the private sector into the operational framework for sustainable development without the necessary checks and balances.
A large swathe of global civil society organizations and networks has been raising public alerts to exactly this occurrence, as recent research and reports have demonstrated the growing role and influence of multinational corporations and philanthropic foundations in the UN. While there may be positive potential for the participation of the private sector at large, the absence of accountability, transparency and reporting measures is a serious blind spot that can have long-term adverse consequences for countries and communities globally, especially the most vulnerable.
Another critical gap remains the inability to make the MOI time-bound, accountable and monitor-able. Many of the MOI and global partnership for development targets are obviously non-quantifiable thus making them weak and easy to evade. This was clearly one of the largest failures of MDG 8. But it is also evident that more accountability, measurability and timeliness can be built into these targets. The G-77 and China proposal on MOI included very specific timelines for several targets, and had also attempted to quantify some, but most of that language is not included in this version of the Zero Draft. For example, while the G-77 had clearly suggested timelines for elimination of agricultural export subsidies and transfer of environmentally sound technologies, these timelines are not mentioned in the draft.
Without specific timelines and deadlines, the MOI will be hard to track and easy to ignore. The actions of implementation then risk being delayed or stalled, at best, and at worst, ignored or flouted. In this case, the entire SDG framework at large will be rendered dysfunctional. Unless Goal 17 targets and goal specific MOI are made more accountable it is likely that the SDGs will follow the example of the MDGs and end up being a car without fuel and sustainable development will remain as elusive as ever.
(* With inputs from Mirza Alas.)
Paul Quintos, / IBON International
3rd Flr., IBON Center / 114 Timog Avenue, / Quezon City 1103
Philippines / Telefax: +63 2 9276981 / Skype ID: paul.quintos
Websites: iboninternational.org / peoplesgoals.org
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TWN Info on UN Sust Dev: SDGs – The disappearing act of the “inequality” goal
Contents:TWN Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (Jun1/14) 20 June 2014 Third World Network www.twn.mySDGs: The disappearing act of the “inequality” goalNew York, 20 June (Ranja Sengupta) – A stand-alone goal on addressing inequality continues to see a serious divide between developing and developed countries.Member States in the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals that is meeting at its 12th session on 16-20 June in New York are negotiating a set of goals and targets based on a “zero draft” prepared by the OWG Co-Chairs Ambassadors Macharia Kamau (Kenya) and Csaba Korosi (Hungary). They met in “informal-informals” mode on 9-11 June with intense work on the first seven proposed goals as the July deadline for the OWG’s work draws closer.After several OWG sessions where developing countries have been pressing for a specific goal related to inequality, especially inequalities between countries, this was included in the zero draft that was circulated by the Co-Chairs and posted on the UN website on 2 June. In the letter accompanying the zero draft, the Co-Chairs stated:“As we promised at the close of the last session of the OWG, we are now pleased to share with you the “zero draft” of goals and targets, in preparation for the next session to be held in June. As indicated during in the previous session, we have included in this draft a proposed focus area to ‘reduce inequality within and among countries’, bringing the total number of focus areas to 17.”(Before the zero draft, the Co-Chairs had prepared a “focus areas” document reflecting their sense of the Member States’ inputs to the formulation of sustainable development goals, and this document was refined with further inputs at subsequent OWG deliberations. The zero draft has evolved from that.)A twist came with the unofficial release of a new set of goals that was also proposed by the Co-Chairs on 16 June. These include 15 goals instead of the 17 of the zero draft. The reduction in number came from the merging of Goal 1 on poverty eradication and Goal 2 on inequality. The combined goal 1 now reads: “End poverty and reduce inequality in all their dimensions everywhere”.The other merger happened between Goal 12 on Sustainable Consumption and Production and the Goal 13 on Climate Change. The proposed new goal (now numbered 11) was titled: “Promote sustainable consumption and production and actions to address climate change”.This re-disappearance of the stand alone inequality goal has assumed significance given the clear divide between developed and developing countries on its inclusion and the repeated disappearance act of the goal indicates the flexing of muscles in the OWG landscape, according to an observer. The Co-Chairs’ 2 June zero draft was seen as a significant development with its inclusion of the goal on inequality. This crucial issue was dropped from the April version of the focus areas document earlier prepared by the Co-Chairs, and restored back as Goal 10 in the zero draft. Goal 10 was titled “Reduce inequality within and among countries” and included both within country and between country inequalities.This restoration of inequality as a stand-alone goal in the zero draft had come as a result of repeated interventions of the developing countries, in particular the Group of 77 and China, as well as other countries, which had expressed gross dissatisfaction that it had been dropped earlier. The developing countries have insisted that inequalities between countries have been a major driver of inequalities globally and historically and must be included as a stand-alone goal among the SDGs. This is also in keeping with the principle of universality that is part of the terms of reference of the OWG from the Rio+20 Outcome Document, “The Future We want.” This means that both developed and developing countries have to undertake commitments across the goals but based on their national circumstances. Targets on “within country” inequalities tend to put a disproportionate burden on developing countries, according to the G77 and China, whereas “between country” inequalities will assign due responsibilities to developed countries as well. In spite of rather weak language on between country inequalities in the zero draft, its re-installment had signaled an openness to engage with complex and difficult issues that matter critically for sustainable development.
During the informal discussions so far this week, it is clear that the issue of inequality continues to remain an area of clear divide. Developing countries are arguing for the stand-alone goal on inequality. Several developed countries have argued quite the opposite with many of them stopping short of saying they do not want a stand-alone goal, though they suggested moving each and every target out of the inequality goal and placing them under other goals. The future of the stand-alone goal thus remains uncertain in spite of strong interventions by CSOs to retain it. Several civil society presentations to the Co-Chairs during the morning interactive sessions have suggested that a stand-alone goal on inequality be retained in addition to referring to inequality in the goal on poverty. (It is the practice of the OWG Co-Chairs to meet regularly with CSOs attending the OWG sessions in what are called “interactive sessions”.)
The other merger proposed by the Co-Chairs did not find much enthusiasm either. Ambassador Kamau of Kenya clearly admitted that there was no acceptance by Member States. In looking at climate change, which is a again a much debated area in terms of its stand-alone existence, he outlined 3 options before the Member States. The first was to keep a stand-alone goal, the second was to drop it and mainstream it across the other goals, and the third was to keep it but after merging with other goals. Since the sustainable consumption and production merger was rejected, other combinations (such as with energy) were floated. But from the informal discussions, there was not much headway on this.
CSO participation at the OWG “informal-informals”
The current OWG session also had its share of undue excitement on the first day over the presence of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the informal-informals.
The June session of the OWG saw the beginning of the “informal-informals” as Member States moved closer to the deadline for the completion of the work of the Working Group. The informals were launched mainly at the behest of the developing countries which sought line-by-line discussions on the proposed sustainable development goals that thus required extra meeting time in addition to the agreed formal sessions. The previous OWG session in May agreed to schedule informal-informals before the final two sessions in June and July. (The final formal session of the OWG will be on 14-18 July, with 5 days of informal-informals preceding that session.)
The 12th session of the OWG on 16-20June was preceded by 3 days of hectic informal negotiations on 9-11 June where Members discussed Goals 1-7 based on the zero draft released by the Co-Chairs on 2 June.
When the formal session opened on 16 June, the Co-Chairs proposed extending the informal-informals to go through the rest of the 17 goals. While there was some difference of opinion on this, the procedure was adopted by the Co- Chairs. However, no specific discussion had taken place on civil society participation, and members of CSOs who were present in the room were politely but firmly asked to leave the room as discussions resumed on Goal 8.
Not surprisingly, the CSO representatives, many of whom had spent significant financial resources and time to be present in New York for the OWG-12, united across the Major Groups and other stakeholders to voice their strong opposition to the fact that an officially open process had just become secret without any prior official notification. The CSO representatives presented a letter endorsed by a significant number of global CSOs during their interaction with the Co-Chairs on Tuesday morning, 17 June. The Co-Chairs asserted that in spite of the “confusion” of Monday, the session would be kept open to civil society members who were physically present though the informal talks will not be shown, as is usual, through the live UN webcasting.
This has been a rather surprising turn of events considering the whole mandate of the OWG comes from the Rio+20 Conference where accredited CSOs were allowed to be present during the informal talks. When this took place in Rio in June 2012, it was lauded as a positive step towards more transparency in UN intergovernmental proceedings. Many Member States had also appreciated the value of CSO inputs that were generated through CSO presence in the informals.
(Paragraph 248 of the Rio+20 Outcome Document, The Future We Want, states: “We resolve to establish an inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process on sustainable development goals that is open to all stakeholders, with a view to developing global sustainable development goals to be agreed by the General Assembly. […]”)
However, after everyone settled down, the ongoing OWG talks in New York resumed with CSO presence though the talks are still informal in nature. The session is now continuing with additional evening meetings from 6-8 pm.
The informal OWG deliberations are supposed to move back to the formal mode on Friday, 20 June.+
Copyright Third World Network – www.twnnews.net All Rights Reserved
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Partnerships with civil society organisations a key to sustainable development
Civil society organisations (CSOs) may work in diverse areas but they all share special understanding and experience of the issues they focus on. The value of partnerships with CSOs and the connections between gender, effective climate change responses and sustainable development are the subject of a forum in Nadi, Fiji, with participants from 13 Pacific Island countries.
Over 30 representatives from Pacific CSOs, including youth organisations, are taking part in a two-day civil society forum as part of the week-long meeting, ‘Pacific Partnerships to Strengthen Gender, Climate Change Response and Sustainable Development’, convened by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Diverse Voices and Action for Equality and the Pacific Youth Council.
The two-day workshop is part of efforts to engage with CSOs to strategically advance a transformative development agenda that is inclusive of gender equality, climate justice and sustainable development and to strengthen CSO advocacy positions in communicating with states, United Nations agencies, regional organisations and each other.
To learn more about this event, visit SPC website http://www.spc.int/en/
And visit Facebook: https://www.
Brigitte Leduc, Gender Equality Advisor Human Development Programme
Secretariat of the Pacific Community B.P. 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia Ph: + 682 26 20 00 Email: brigittel@spc.int Website: www.spc.int
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Subject: Ready for CoP 20? New on-line course on Climate Change Diplomacy: Negotiating Effectively under the UNFCCC (22 September – 16 November 2014)
Workshop on the structure, drafting and adoption of United Nations resolutions 30/6/2014
30 Jun – 30 Jun 2014 New York, United States
Dear Climate-l readers,
We are pleased to inform you about the new on-line course on Climate Change Diplomacy: Negotiating Effectively under the UNFCCC that will take place from 22 September to 16 November 2014.
Please do not hesitate to contact us in case you have any questions.
Multilateral Diplomacy Programme United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Palais des Nations, CH -1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland
Email: mdp-elearning@unitar.org Tel: +41.22.917.8716 Fax: +41.22.917.8993 Website: www.unitar.org/mdp
This Course Announcement is a UNITAR e-publication. Featured photos or images are property of UNITAR or royalty free. Photo credits: UN Photo, UNESCO photobank, UNITAR, istockphoto, Fotolia. Copyright © 2013 United Nations Institute for Training and Research. For further information, please contact us at: mdp-elarning@unitar.org or visit our website www.unitar.org. Legal.
Subject: Climate Change Daily Feed – 16 June 2014 – Climate Change Policy & Practice
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Subject: ICAP Newsletter – Global Trends in Emissions Trading
Dear climate-l readers,
We are pleased to share the ICAP newsletter, a quarterly summary of the latest developments in emissions trading around the world and activities here at the International Carbon Action Partnership.
You can subscribe to this newsletter on the ICAP website. For more information on cap-and-trade programs in force and in the works around the world, please visit the ICAP Interactive ETS Map. It is updated regularly as new information becomes available.
Kind regards,
The ICAP Secretariat
In this issue: ETS around the world
- US EPA moves to address power sector emissions
- Push for emissions trading in Washington State
- Republic of Korea publishes ETS cap
- Chinese pilots approach compliance deadline, Chongqing pilot prepares for take-off
- Mexico announces ETS plans and introduces a carbon tax
- Chile to adopt carbon tax
News from ICAP
Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) around the World
US EPA moves to address power sector emissions
In June 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its Clean Power Plan to address greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector, the first major initiative of its kind on the US federal level. The proposed rule aims to reduce emissions in the sector by about 30% by 2030 from a 2005 basis. States are given rate-based reduction goals for CO2 emissions according to their respective energy mixes; it is then up to state governments to decide on their own policy instruments to reach the goals. The targets and corresponding expected policies draw on what the EPA calls “building blocks” of process efficiency, fuel switching, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. States can also convert their targets to absolute reductions and establish their own cap-and-trade programs or join existing schemes such as RGGI or that of California. The proposed rule, which is now subject to a public comment period, is to be finalized by June 2015. States will then have to submit implementation plans by June 2016.
Push for emissions trading in Washington State
In a push to strengthen climate mitigation policies in the US State of Washington, in April Democratic Governor Jay Inslee established a multi-stakeholder Carbon Emissions Reduction Task Force. The task force is to come up with proposals for market mechanisms to achieve defined emission limits as a basis for draft legislation in 2015. The final recommendations, due by the end of November, will shape the debate about how Washington is to achieve its goals of limiting 2020 emissions to 1990 levels, reducing them to 25% below 1990 levels by 2035, and to 50% by 2050. Washington was previously active in the Western Climate Initiative, and currently works with its West Coast partners through the Pacific Coast Collaborative.
Republic of Korea publishes ETS cap
In an important step towards the planned launch of the Korean emissions trading system in January 2015, the Korean Ministry of Environment published a draft national allocation plan setting the aggregate amount of emissions permitted under the scheme at the end of May (press release). According to the plan, emissions under the Korean ETS are to be capped at 1.68 billion tCO2e for 2015-2017, making the system the second largest in the world after the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. The cap is significantly below what experts project as participants’ business-as-usual emissions and covers about 500 companies from industry and the power sector. Participating entities will initially receive free allocation for 100% of their historic emissions over 2011-2013, a share that will decrease to 90% by the start of the third trading period in 2021. The government is currently holding stakeholder consultations on the draft allocation plan, which is scheduled for adoption by the cabinet before the end of the month.
Chinese pilots approach compliance deadline, Chongqing pilot prepares for take-off
Two and half years after the Chinese government selected the provinces of Guangdong and Hubei and the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, and Shenzhen to pilot emissions trading, six of the seven schemes will soon finish their first compliance periods. Together, the six systems cover about a gigatonne of emissions, more than the total annual greenhouse gas output of countries like Brazil or Indonesia. The end of the first compliance period is a milestone in China’s plan to establish a national emissions trading scheme by the end of this decade and provides an opportunity for a first evaluation of emissions trading in China. The incoming data and the compliance process itself should help address challenges like the lack of market liquidity in most pilots, where limited information on emissions data, cap and allocation details have made price discovery difficult so far.
Meanwhile, the last designated pilot, the city of Chongqing, is about to launch its system and has recently published a more detailed outline of its scheme. The cap for the first year will be set at 125 MtCO2 and will cover 242 companies. During the pilot phase, allowances will be freely allocated, mainly based on historical emissions. Other companies and individuals will also be allowed to take part in the trading that is scheduled to start later this week on 19 June 2014.
Mexico announces ETS plans and introduces a carbon tax
The Mexican Secretariat of Energy announced a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions from the energy sector in February (press release – Spanish). The ETS is one of a number of measures included in the recently approved energy reform. The announcement comes shortly after the introduction of a carbon tax on fossil fuels in January. The tax is set at approximately USD 3.50 per tCO2e, though firms will be allowed to use offset credits (from CDM offset projects) to fulfill their tax liability. It remains to be determined how the different policy instruments (cap-and-trade for energy, the carbon tax, and a potential voluntary ETS under the 2012 General Law on Climate Change) will work together.
Chile to adopt carbon tax
Carbon market policies also received a boost in Chile. In May, the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) in Chile approved a general tax reform (press release – Spanish) including a new tax on carbon emissions. The bill introduces a USD 5 charge per tCO2e for thermal power plants with a capacity of more than 50 megawatts from 2017. As of 2010, thermal power accounted for about 65% of total installed capacity in the Chilean electricity sector. Chile would be the first country in South America to adopt a carbon tax. The bill has now been referred to the Senate, where a final decision on the reform is to be made by September. An ETS in the energy sector remains an option for the medium term.
News from ICAP Recent activities
- ICAP Members adopted the ICAP Work Program for 2014-2015
- The 10th ICAP Training Course on emissions trading was held in Chile from 5 to 14 May 2014, involving 29 participants from 11 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
- ICAP Members discussed EPA’s proposed rule for existing power plants and its implications for emissions trading in North America during a recent webinar
Upcoming events
- ICAP-IETA High-Level Dialogue on Carbon Pricing, New York, USA, 24 September 2014
- ICAP Meeting and internal workshop on linking ETS, Montréal, Québec, 25-27 September 2014
- ICAP Training Course on emissions trading, Paris, France, 25 August-5 September 2014
International Carbon Action Partnership Secretariat
Köthener Straße 2
D-10963 Berlin
Germany
Subject: Ready for CoP 20? New on-line course on Climate Change Diplomacy: Negotiating Effectively under the UNFCCC (22 September – 16 November 2014)
Dear Climate-l readers,
We are pleased to inform you about the new on-line course on Climate Change Diplomacy: Negotiating Effectively under the UNFCCC that will take place from 22 September to 16 November 2014.
Please do not hesitate to contact us in case you have any questions.
Multilateral Diplomacy Programme United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Palais des Nations, CH -1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland
Email: mdp-elearning@unitar.org Tel: +41.22.917.8716 Fax: +41.22.917.8993 Website: www.unitar.org/mdp
This Course Announcement is a UNITAR e-publication. Featured photos or images are property of UNITAR or royalty free. Photo credits: UN Photo, UNESCO photobank, UNITAR, istockphoto, Fotolia. Copyright © 2013 United Nations Institute for Training and Research. For further information, please contact us at: mdp-elarning@unitar.org or visit our website www.unitar.org. Legal.
Subject: Climate Change Daily Feed – 16 June 2014 – Climate Change Policy & Practice
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IISD: Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
http://uncsd.iisd.org/sd-update/2014-06-13/
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Post-2015 Webinar: Influencing the Post 2015 Development Agenda – Save the Date
Friday 13 June 2014
Thursday 12 June 2014
SD2015 has produced an Advocacy Toolkit and Media Guide for civil society and other stakeholder organisations, coalitions and individuals that want to influence the post-2015 development agenda, including the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Representatives from CIVICUS and Stakeholder Forum will introduce these two new publications and walk you through how to use this information and the guiding activities to develop an effective advocacy strategy that will help you and your organisation shape the post-2015 agenda.
There will be time at the end of the webinar for Q&A and sharing of post-2015 advocacy experiences, with reflections on approaches that have worked well and practical advice on lessons learnt from SD2015 partners and networks.
Advocacy Toolkit: Influencing the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Provides a guide to the strategic use of traditional media and social media in the context of post-2015 advocacy. It also provides advice and guidance on how to target your messages for broadcast, press and social media; identify and build relationships with journalists; conduct interviews and hold press conferences, in order to deliver your post-2015 advocacy messages to a wider audience.
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Please sign! Climate change has to be part of the Sustainable Development Goals! BY 12 JUNE!
Deadline 12 June, 14 GMT
Your support is needed! Please sign the letter to support the inclusion of climate in the SDGS.
Dear all,
As you may know, in only one week the next Open Working Group (OWG) which is negotiating the post-2015 development framework including the Sustainable Development Goals will start (on the 16th of June).
The Co-chairs of the OWG have prepared a text as the basis for discussions with 17 main proposed goals, including one goal on climate change. But this climate change goal is in risk to disappear due to opposition from a couple of countries.
Several NGOs working on this matter have come together here in Bonn and identified the need for a sign-on letter to raise support for strong and credible reflection of climate change in the SDGs.
In this sign-on letter we urge the Co-Chairs and Member States of the post-2015 process to have climate adequately reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals. We felt that at this stage this message is most important, and we did not regard it as effective to go too much into the details of commenting on the proposed targets.
The letter will be send to the Co-chairs of the OWG and the Member States. However we are also working on proposing some further communication activities, pitch it to media etc. once it is ready and signed-off by many. We are happy for any suggestions and engagement in such outreach activities, but we will also come back to signatories with details.
More information on the OWG is available here: http://
You find the letter for your organisational sign-off below and attached. Please include the name of your organization and contact details in the google doc. https://docs.google.com/
Deadline for signature is the 12th of June at 14GMT. Apologies for the short deadline, but this is a fast-moving process.
Do not hesitate to come back with any questions you may have.
Best,
Sven Harmeling, CARE International
Lina Dabbagh, CAN International
SIGN-ON Letter on climate change in the SDGs
To:
Co-chairs and members of the Open Working Group (OWG) on SDGs
Cc:
Amina J. Mohammed, Special Adviser on post-2015 to the UN Secretary General
X June 2014
Your Excellencies,
Dear Members of the OWG on SDGs,
We are writing to thank you for your ongoing efforts to ensure that climate change is appropriately reflected in the latest version of the focus area document.
We believe that climate change is an existential threat to humankind and global efforts to overcome poverty and achieve sustainable development. Therefore, we also believe that climate change must be visibly reflected in the future Sustainable Development Goal framework.
A SDG framework without climate change action as a strong backbone would not be sustainable or credible, nor would it help to lay the foundations for future international action and cooperation on sustainable development and poverty eradication.
Therefore, the framework must address climate change in a manner that recognises the urgency and importance of dealing with the most fundamental challenge of our time. This includes targets under relevant goals as well as a separate climate change goal.
Ahead of the next two meetings of the Open Working Group, we are asking for your continued commitment to maintain and increase the visibility of climate change in the suggested goals and targets, especially as difficult choices (and necessary sacrifices) clearly lie ahead as the overall number of goals and targets are reduced.
Specifically, the post-2015 development framework must contain a coherent set of goals and targets which a) contribute to a global low-carbon development pathway and to keeping global warming below dangerous levels through significant emissions reductions, b) support the achievement of poverty eradication and sustainable development and c) promote human rights and build community resilience through adaptation to the harmful impacts of climate change.
We believe that a robust framework of this nature will help to support the scale of ambition needed to achieve the UNFCCC’s aims and help to ensure the delivery of a strong climate deal at COP21 in Paris in 2015.
Yours sincerely,
Xxx
[here we would list the organisations signing, but no real signatures to keep the process efficient]
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UN CC: Learn Programme Leverages USD 1 Million in National Funds for Climate Change Teacher Training
Japan For Sustainability
Fine Particle Measurements Fail to Meet Standards at Majority of Air
Monitoring Stations in FY2012
The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) released on March 28, 2014,
measurements of airborne particles below 2.5 micrometers in diameter
(called PM2.5, or fine particulate matter) in fiscal 2012. According to
the measurements, 43 percent of Ambient Air Pollution Monitoring
Stations (AAPMS) and 33 percent of Roadside Air Pollution Monitoring
Stations (RAPMS) met the environmental standard for PM2.5 concentration.
The environmental standard for PM2.5 in Japan is an annual mean
concentration below 15 micrograms/cubic meter and daily mean
concentration below 35 micrograms/cubic meter.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/
Students in Okayama Win ‘Supporting Next Generation Award’ for Efforts
to Tackle Seabed Waste
Students belonging to the Geography and History Club of Sanyo Joshi
(girls) Junior and Senior High School in Okayama City, Okayama
Prefecture, won the Supporting Next Generation Award as part of the
third Mainichi Earth Future Awards hosted by The Mainichi Newspapers
Co., and were honored at the award ceremony held in Osaka City, Osaka
Prefecture, on February 16, 2014. The students were recognized for their
efforts to tackle the problem of seafloor waste in the Seto Inland Sea.
The Supporting Next Generation Award is given to young people who are
engaged in proactive activities to address environmental and other
issues to create a brighter future.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/
-:*:-:*:–:*:-:*:–:*:-:*:–:*
What’s New This Week from Miracle Miracle
— A Place for Global Kids to Create the Future
( 3 – 9 Jun. 2014 )
-:*:-:*:–:*:-:*:–:*:-:*:–:*
Miracle Report: Plastic Waste is Mountain of Treasure
Plastic waste is scattered all over at the beach. Mountains of waste
have become an issue everywhere. A project to transform these into the
mountains of treasure started at the Marshall Islands, a country
consisting of small islands in South Pacific.
http://miracle-kids.net/en/
What Do You Think?:
What do you consider when you throw away plastic bags and products?
http://miracle-kids.net/en/
# # #
Japan for Sustainability (JFS) is a non-profit communication platform to
disseminate environmental information from Japan to the world. We are
grateful that people in 191 countries have found an interest in our free
e-mail publications, and will continue to do our best to deliver useful
information to our readers all around the globe.
Please feel free to forward this message to your colleagues and friends
wherever the Internet can reach. If you know colleagues or friends there
with an interest in sustainability, please do forward them one of our
newsletters and invite them to try our service. To subscribe for JFS
Newsletters, visit www.japanfs.org/en/
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If you find our information and activities unique and valuable,
we appreciate your support!
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We welcome your comments. Please send them to: info@japanfs.org
Japan for Sustainability (JFS)
Website: http://www.japanfs.
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Copyright (c) 2014, Japan for Sustainability. All Rights Reserved.
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Stakeholder Consultation: Open for comments on the Proposed SLoCaT Results Framework on Sustainable Transport
Dear colleagues,
To promote the integration of sustainable transport in global policies on sustainable development, the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) started the development of a Results Framework on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport in October 2013. It is intended that this Results Framework will result in:
- An agreed common set of targets and indicators, defining sustainable, low carbon transport by 2030; this to guide the transport and development community in the development of transport infrastructure and services in support of economic and social development;
- The integration of sustainable, low carbon transport in the Sustainable Development Goals and Targets as being developed by the Open Working Group (OWG) on SDGs.
The proposed Results Framework calls for targets to improve rural, urban and national access as well as regional connectivity in combination with targets to reduce road crashes, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The Results Framework was developed in consultation with over 30 organizations and was discussed in various stakeholder consultation events. A first formal round of stakeholder consultations was conducted in December 2013. Comments received were integrated in the current draft of the proposed Results Framework.
We are now soliciting comments on the proposed Results Framework. In your comments we would like you to address the following questions:
- Are any major social, economic or environmental issues not covered, or not covered sufficiently, in the Results Framework on Sustainable Transport?
- Does the Results Framework sufficiently recognise the special mobility needs of vulnerable, poor or otherwise disadvantaged population groups and transport system users?
- Are the proposed targets and indicators measurable in terms of the monitoring and evaluation approaches outlined in the Results Framework and its Appendix on measurability?
In order to help us further improve the Results Framework, and to make your feedback relevant, please keep in mind the following:
- The structure of the Results Framework and its targets is the outcome of detailed discussions. Proposed changes in the wording of the targets may be considered, if well-reasoned and aligned with the overall structure of the results framework.
- Please carefully read the existing document before proposing any additions to the number of indicators, implementation and enabling measures. In order to provide a practical framework the number of indicators must be limited and duplication must be avoided.
- Methodologies for measuring the proposed indicators and targets are generally available and well-proven. While some indicators and targets are already measured today, others require further efforts to improve data quality on the global level and/or in particular countries, regions and cities. Implications for currently available methodologies, measurement and monitoring systems have been outlined in the document.
We look forward to receiving your feedback on the proposed results framework. Please send your comments using this form to Talya.Enriquezromano@
All comments received will be integrated in a comments matrix and published on www.slocat.net/
Best regards,
Cornie Huizenga,
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Human Right to Water and Sanitation for immediate sign on
Dear All,
Please support sign-on request below calling for inclusion of Right to water in the SDGs… -paul
Dear Friends,
As many of you are aware, we have been campaigning to ensure that the human right to water and sanitation is included within the Sustainable Development Goals framework. Unfortunately the “zero draft” document which was released this week did not contain any reference to the human right to water and sanitation.
The SDG process will determine the official international development agenda for the next 15 years. Given that the Millennium Development Goal process failed drastically in the area of sanitation and given MDG targets on drinking water failed to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities, it is vital that the same mistakes not be repeated within the SDG process.
Furthermore, we feel that the Human Right to Water and Sanitation will be an important tool in our struggle to prevent the SDG agenda from being co-opted to promote greater corporate access to water resources and services.
Please join us in our call by:
1. Signing your organization’s formal title, contact, country, and if applicable, major group or other stakeholder constituency (e.g., Farmers, Indigenous Peoples, Youth, etc.) onto the letter by June 11th at SDGrighttowater@gmail.com
2. Circulating the letter within your networks to sign on at SDGrighttowater@gmail.com
3. Forwarding a copy of the letter to the ambassador representing your country at the UN (see attached contact list).
4. Tweeting the need for #owg12 to explicitly name the right to water and sanitation in the #SDGs including #SDGH20 In solidarity, Aine O’Connor on behalf of The Mining Working Group at the UN and Blue Planet Project
Aine O’Connor, RSM, Ph.D. Mercy Global Action Coordinator at the UN Sisters of Mercy Mercy International Association 777 UN Plaza, 6H, NY, NY 10017
— Paul Quintos IBON International 3rd Flr., IBON Center 114 Timog Avenue, Quezon City 1103 Philippines Telefax: +63 2 9276981 Skype ID: paul.quintos Websites: iboninternational.org peoplesgoals.org
— You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Campaign for People’s Goals for Sustainable Development” group.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group
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- Zayed Prize-UNEP From Protecting Bluefin Tuna to Saving the World’s Wetlands and Championing Sustainable Development Causes: Zayed International Prize Honours Top Environmentalists
- Dubai, 7 May 2014 – His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco was among those awarded the prestigious Zayed International Prize for the Environment Award in Dubai today. A renowned conservationist and advocate for the earth’s marine and polar environments, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco was honoured for the prolific environmental work carried out by the Prince Albert II Foundation, which he founded in 2006 after traveling to the North Pole and witnessing the effects of climate change on the Arctic’s weakening ice. The Foundation has tackled a number of issues related to biodiversity, water security and energy efficiency. It took up the protection of the Bluefin tuna in 2008, and, as a result of its efforts, a moratorium on the fish has been implemented in Monaco – the world’s first ‘Bluefin tuna free’ country. Winners of the other two Zayed awards—the 2nd category for Scientific and or Technological Achievement in Environment and the 3rd for Environmental Action Leading to Positive Change in Society—were also announced today.
- The 2nd Category is jointly shared between:
- * Dr. Ashok Khosla (India) , Founder of the Development Alternatives group (DA), whose mission is to help make national development strategies in India more environmentally and socially sustainable.
- * Dr. Zakri Abdul Hamid (Malaysia), Co-Chair of the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report, he was instrumental in developing a number of the report’s key findings, including the fact that humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly over the past 50 years than in any comparable period of human history.
- The 3rd Category is jointly shared between:
- * Paula Caballero Gómez (Colombia), Director of Economic, Social and Environmental Affairs for Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Under her leadership, Colombia was an early proponent of the SDGs, which rapidly evolved as one of the most significant outcomes of the Rio+20 Summit.
- * Dr. Luc Hoffmann (Switzerland),
- a renowned ornithologist, was honoured for his work in philanthropy and the conservation of wetlands. He conducted some of the earliest studies of waterbird populations and wetland ecology.
—————-The Zayed International Prize for the Environment was established in 1999 by UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to acknowledge the environmental commitment of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It is the most prestigious and valuable international environmental award worldwide worth US$ 1 million. Previous Global Leadership winners include: Jimmy Carter, the former President of the United States, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, and former President Lee Myung-Bak, of the Republic of Korea. Former winners in the other categories include: Dr. Badria Al Awadhi, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ms. Angela Cropper, Environment Development Action in the Third World, Prof. V. Ramanathan, Prof. Jane Lubchenco, Tierramérica, Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, Sir Partha Dasgupta.
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Category 1: Global leadership in environment and sustainable development –US$5 00,000
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His Serene Highness Albert II of Monaco was honoured by the jury for the prolific environmental work carried out by the Prince Albert II Foundation, which he founded in 2006 after traveling to the North Pole and witnessing the effects of climate change on the Arctic’s weakening ice. Since its inception, the Foundation has supported more than 127 sustainable and ethical projects focusing on climate in locations as diverse as the Mediterranean Basin, Kenya, Mali, Indonesia and Brazil. Among other issues, it has also supported projects related to developing renewable energies; combating the loss of biodiversity; improving universal access to clean water; and fighting desertification. In 2008, the Foundation took up the protection of the Bluefin tuna, and, as a result of its efforts, a moratorium on the fish has been implemented in Monaco – the world’s first ‘Bluefin tuna free’ country. In January 2009, Prince Albert II undertook a three-week scientific expedition to Antarctica where he visited 26 scientific outposts and met with climate change experts. During the trip he also visited at the South Pole. Prince Albert II served as International Patron of UNEP’s ‘Year of the Dolphin’ (2007-2008). In 2009, he was awarded the Roger Revelle Prize by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, for his efforts to protect the environment and promote scientific research.
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Category II: Scientific and/or Technological Achievement in Environment–US$300,000 Dr. Ashok Khosla
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A pioneer in the academic study of environmental issues, Dr. Khosla was recognized by the Zayed International Prize for his global leadership in advancing knowledge and practice on environmentally sustainable development approaches. Among other things, he has been a major thought leader on the importance of biodiversity and ecosystems to human well-being, and in the relationship between technology and policy. He has also been instrumental in building bridges between government and civil society. In the early 1960s, before the environment had become a prominent public issue, Dr. Khosla was a leading member of the team that designed and taught the first undergraduate course on the environment at Harvard University. He also became the founding director of the Government of India’s Office of Environmental Planning and Coordination, the first national environmental agency in a developing country. In 1983, he founded the Development Alternatives group (DA) of organizations, whose mission is to help make national development strategies in India more environmentally and socially sustainable. DA’s achievements include the introduction of more than 15 new environmentally sound and commercially viable technologies, such as machines for weaving handloom textiles, making recycled paper and fabricating low-cost roofing materials. The organization is also known for the creation of more than 300,000 sustainable jobs in India. The jury recognized Dr. Khosla’s long-standing roles with UNEP, IUCN, the International Resource Panel, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the World Bank and many other institutions.
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Dr. Zakri Abdul Hamid Dr. Hamid is a researcher, educator, administrator and diplomat spanning the science-policy interface. The Zayed International Prize recognized his wide-ranging contributions to the environmental and sustainable development agendas, including through his roles in the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the scientific subsidiary body of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies. As co-Chair of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report – a ground-breaking study with over 2,000 individual authors – Dr. Hamid was instrumental in developing a number of the report’s key findings. These included the conclusion that humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly over the past 50 years than in any comparable period of human history. Among other things, the milestone report found that approximately 20 per cent of the world’s coral reefs were lost and an additional 20 per cent degraded in the last decades of the 20th century. At the national level, Dr. Hamid has worked closely with Malaysia’s Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council and the National Professors Council. In 2010, he was appointed Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Most recently, he was a founding Chair of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board.
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Category III: Environmental Action Leading to Positive Change-US$ 200,000 Paula Caballero Gómez
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Paula Caballero Gómez – Director of Economic, Social and Environmental Affairs for Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – was recognized by the Zayed International Prize as having been instrumental in the early conceptualization and promotion of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under her leadership, Colombia was an early proponent of the SDGs, which rapidly evolved as one of the most significant outcomes of the Rio+20 Summit. Through a joint proposal with the Government of Guatemala at Rio+20, Colombia noted that the SDGs “could provide a logical sequence and structure to the process launched almost 20 years ago” – at the first Rio Summit in 1992 – namely, the roadmap towards sustainable development. In 2012, the proposal said, the scientific, environmental and political communities were better equipped to identify goals, gaps and needs to provide a more structured implementation of the principles defined in 1992. During the Rio+20 Summit, Ms. Caballero Gómez presented her country’s “Dashboard” approach to sustainable development. Through this concept, the post-2015 development agenda was designed around a “nucleus” of common global goals measured by a set of internationally agreed-on targets and indicators. The global goals would also be accompanied by more specific targets and indicators geared to national circumstances and priorities. In addition to her work during the Rio+20 Summit, the Zayed International Prize jury also considered Ms. Caballero Gómez’s many contributions towards the national social and environmental affairs of Colombia.
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Dr. Luc Hoffmann Dr. Luc Hoffmann, an ornithologist and renowned philanthropist, was honoured for his work in the conservation of the world’s wetlands. He conducted some of the earliest studies of waterbird populations and wetland ecology. Among other things, Dr. Hoffmann served as Director of Wetlands International and Vice-President of IUCN and established the Fondation Internationale du Banc d’Arguin in West Africa. He was a key figure in the original fight to save Spain’s Coto Doñana wetland reserve and a driving force behind the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the world’s only international environmental treaty for a single biome. Dr. Hoffmann was also instrumental in establishing the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which in the 1960s helped to successfully reintroduce the white rhino to several countries in East Africa. He also helped to set up key environmental foundations, including the Tour du Valat and MAVA, which funds nature conservation projects worldwide. These have played a critical role in global environmental and sustainable development. In addition, Dr. Hoffmann has authored more than 60 books and other publications on birds and their habitats.Notes to Editors The International Jury for the Sixth Cycle of Zayed Prize include: Prof. Klaus Toepfer (Chair), H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, United Arab Emirates, H.E Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Prof. Dr. Oktay Tabasaran, Secretary General of 5th World Water Forum and Prof. WU Siegfried Zhiqiang, Academician, IVA Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Vice President, Tongji University. For more information, please contact: Dr. Meshgan Al Awar, Secretary-General Zayed International Prize for the Environment,
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Mobile + 971 50 4537733.
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Please also visit www.zayedprize.org.ae
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Civic Entrepreneurship: A Civil Society Perspective on Sustainable Development
http://www.bu.edu/ir/files/faculty/CV’s/najam.pdf
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Sustainable Development Solutions Network [SDSN]: Revised working draft of “Indicators for Sustainable Development Goals” now available
Dear colleagues,
The revised working draft of the report “Indicators for Sustainable Development Goals” is now available on our website. We are very grateful for the large number of comments that have reached us. They have helped us improve the report substantially. On the website you will also find a synthesis of the comments received.
Let me also take this opportunity to draw your attention to our revised website, which now describes in greater detail the goals and targets proposed by the SDSN. We have also uploaded the presentations given at the OWG side event organized by the SDSN in early May.
As always, we welcome your comments on our work and will circulate a detailed newsletter at the end of the month.
Best regards, Guido Schmidt-Traub
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Starting from Tohoku: Tohoku Kaikon Aims to Reform Primary Industry
through Information Sharing and Communication
JFS Newsletter No.140 (April 2014)
About 100,000 people have been abandoning farming every year in Japan.
This decrease in the farming population is a food problem as well as
problem of aging farmers.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/
More than 90% of Sapporo Citizens Taking Action to Save Energy
A public opinion survey conducted by the municipal government of
Sapporo, a city on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, revealed
that more than 90% of its citizens are making efforts to save energy, it
was learned on December 25, 2013.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/
Kitakyushu to Realize Zero-Emission Transportation System Using
Solar-Powered Electric Buses
Kitakyushu in southern Japan, with the aim of creating “a world
environmental city,” announced on February 10, 2014, a plan for a
zero-emission transportation system that would not produce any pollution
like carbon dioxide (CO2). Electric buses to be charged by large
rechargeable batteries which store electricity produced by solar power
will run on two city bus routes.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/
JAEA Develops Lithium Recovery Technology from Seawater
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) announced on February 7, 2014,
that it has developed a world-first technology to separate and recover
lithium from seawater while generating electricity at the same time.
Lithium is a vital material for lithium-ion batteries and fusion
reactors.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/
Japanese Market Research Firm Unveils Plant Factory Market Trends in
Japan
Yano Research Institute, a Japanese marketing research firm, announced
on February 14, 2014, the results of its plant factory market study in
Japan. According to the study, plant factories make it possible to
control plant growth, and consequently, make planned production
possible. Moreover, the market size of crops harvested at plant
factories is on the rise and expected to grow even larger in the future.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/
More than 200 Sets of the World’s Smallest Power Station Installed in Japan
Ecology Online, a Japanese non-profit organization that strives to
promote renewable energy, had sold more than 200 sets of the miniature
solar photovoltaic system “Tiny Light Nano Power Station Set” as of
March 2014.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/
Nagano Company Adds New Local Products to Gift Catalog
Jimoto, a Nagano-based company working to help revitalize local
communities by promoting local businesses and products, added new items
produced in three areas of Nagano Prefecture (Kitashinshu, Nakashinshu,
and Minamishinshu) to its gift catalog lineup in February 2014.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/
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