Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

This is taken from the Brazilian COP30 Amazonia website On April 16 (Wednesday), the federal government and representatives of the hotel sector in Belém are expected to sign a preventive Conduct Adjustment Agreement (TAC) to guarantee a balance in accommodation prices during COP30, to be held in November 2025. The decision was taken at a meeting between the federal government and representatives of the hotel sector in Belém. The meeting was led by the Ministry of Tourism and the Extraordinary Secretariat for COP30/Office of the Chief of Staff ( Casa Civil )and was attended by ministers Celso Sabino and Rui Costa. The TAC aims to ensure that Belém, host city of COP30, is prepared to receive the thousands of visitors expected, including government leaders, international delegations, journalists, and representatives of civil society, without abusive hotel prices. The key concern is to ensure that the negotiations needed to tackle climate change are successful, with the participation of a...

  Felix is discussing with Luke how to do podcasts  I just had a wonderful weekend in Stare Hollow (New Milford CN) at the Gilmore Girls' Weekend in the Life celebration. I had the chance to visit the inspiration for the Independence Inn, a few miles away in Washington CN. The Mayflower Inn and Spa  is a great place for dinner and a coffee (of course). This is where Amy Sherman-Palladino had stayed and was inspired to create the Indpendence Inn for the Gilmore Girls. The weekend had some great meet-and-greets with seven of the stars from Gilmore Girls. In addition to Luke, I had the chance to meet Michel (Yanic Truesdale), who will star in Amy's new TV series about to start called Etoile on the 24th of April on Amazon Prime  "The drama follows the dancers and artistic staff of two world-renowned ballet companies — one in New York, one in Paris — as they take on an ambitious plan to save their storied institutions: swapping their most talented stars. The eig...

The following s even podcast episodes  are adapted from the book  "Only One Earth" by Felix Dodds, Maurice Strong (the father of sustainable development), and Michael Strauss .   The podcasts will cover the development of the first environment and then sustainable development internationally from the 1960s to the Rio+20 Summit in 2012. Episode 3: The Journey to the Rio Earth Summit and its Outcomes A global movement was forming before stakeholder voices were common in UN negotiations. In this episode, we explore how diverse actors—from trade unions to youth activists—fought for a seat at the table leading up to the 1992 Earth Summit. Discover how this new era of participation helped shape the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, the climate change and biodiversity conventions and the future of global sustainable development. "At a time of mounting threats to the sustainability of the planet, and as we prepare for the 20-year review of the original Rio Conference, it i...

 Important Conference Reminders We would like to share some reminders regarding the 2025 UNC Water and Health Conference: The Abstract portal  for the 2025 UNC Water and Health Conference will be closing soon. The deadline for submission of research abstracts is May 2, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST . Please register and join a special webinar to support you in preparing a strong abstract submission for the Conference.  Register here  for the webinar scheduled for April 21, 2025 at 10:00 AM EST. The Side Event portal  will be closing on June 2, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST .  Please submit your Side Event proposal on time. For more information about the conference and our submission process, visit the  2025 UNC Water and Health Conference   website. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at water...

With the multilateral system fracturing more by the day, is it time to declare the Sustainable Development Goals dead? Prof. Felix Dodds and Chris Spence examine the patient for signs of life. Is it only a decade since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change were agreed? The two deals were inked to a groundswell of hope. The world had come together and reached consensus on how to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. A collaborative spirit was in the air. Fast forward ten years and it feels like a century has passed and we’ve fallen over the abyss into an alternate reality. When he was elected for a second term, President Donald Trump promised extraordinary, history-making change. Whether you support his world view or not, no one can deny he has been true to his word. The previous multilateral consensus is shattered. With tit-for-tat tariff escalation, cuts in overseas aid, a rise in regionalism and the return of transactional...

Guest  article UBS Philanthropy Insights full report is downloadable  here . Originally published here. An enormous amount of wealth is set to be transferred to the Next Generation ov er the coming decades. Wealthy Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation will be handing the torch to the Next Gen – which includes Gen X, Millennials and, eventually, Gen Z.  The level of anticipated wealth transfer to these younger generations is considerable. The 2024 Cerulli US HNW & UHNW Markets Report estimates that USD 124trn is expected to be transferred across generations over the next 25 years, with USD 105trn flowing to heirs and USD 18trn going to philanthropy. Given this reallocation, the opinions and preferences of these Next Gens will increasingly influence the approach of HNWs and UHNWs to giving. We have spoken with our clients about the preferences and habits of Next Gen individuals and family members across numerous meetings and advisory sessions and during UBS. Collecti...