Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

Guest blog by Stephanie Hodge ,  UN Partnerships Specialist Sevilla, Spain, July 2025. Another UN conference has ended, another lofty declaration adopted—this time the “Sevilla Commitment,” promising to mobilize trillions in financing, tackle the debt crisis, and give developing countries a stronger voice. We’ve been here before. Monterrey in 2002, Doha in 2008, Addis Ababa in 2015—each was billed as a turning point. Each offered earnest compacts to rebalance a system skewed against the Global South. And each failed to deliver the structural change that sustainable development demands. If we are honest, the problem has never been a shortage of ideas. It has been a shortage of courage to challenge the entrenched interests that profit from the status quo. The evidence is clear. As leaders applauded the Sevilla Platform of Action, 3 billion people lived in countries spending more on debt repayments than on health or education. In 2024 alone, low- and middle-income countries paid $443 ...

In    is podcast is from the second chapter of the book  Negotiating the SustainableDevelopment Goals: A transformational agenda for an insecure world  By  FelixDodds,   Ambassador David Donoghue  and  Jimena Leiva Roesch What are the Sustainable Development Goals? The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal set of 17 goals and 169 targets, with accompanying indicators, that were agreed upon by UN member states to frame their policy agendas for the 15-year period from 2015 to 2030. Written by three authors who have been engaged in the development of the SDGs from the beginning, this book offers an insider view of the process and a unique entry into what will be seen as one of the most significant negotiations and global policy agendas of the twenty-first century.  What does the book address? The book reviews how the SDGs were developed, what happened in key meetings and how this transformational agenda, which took more th...

Guest blog by Michael Stanley Jones published on the UN University Institute for Water Environment and Health here. Championing a more inclusive and participatory process to strengthen the Rio Conventions The central role Indigenous Peoples and local communities in addressing climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification has gained widespread recognition over the past decade. Indigenous Peoples’ close dependence on resources and ecosystems, exceptional tradition, and ancestral knowledge are invaluable assets for the sustainable management of our planet’s natural resources. Globally, Indigenous Peoples manage or have tenure rights over at least ~38 million km2 of land across 87 countries or politically distinct areas on all inhabited continents. This represents over 25% of the world’s land surface and intersects with about 40% of all terrestrial protected areas and 37% of remaining natural lands. At least 36% of Intact Forests Landscapes are within Indigenous Peoples’ lands, mak...

Environmental Lobbying at the United Nations: A Guide to Protecting Our Planet By Felix Dodds , Chris Spence is now available at all good bookshops and online. If bought directly through Routledge then you can have a 25% reduction using tbis code - ELUNCIS25  This is the second book by Felix Dodds and Chris Spence the first was Heores of Environemntal Deiplomacy a must also for anyone interested in how to engage iand succed in multilatralism  Environmental Lobbying at the United Nations provides a step-by-step, insiders’ guide on how to lobby and engage successfully at the United Nations. It reveals how the United Nations, which plays such a key role on issues from climate change to pollution of our air, land and sea, really works. In a world of rapid climate change, a flood of forever chemicals and plastic pollution, and the extinction of so much wildlife around the world, we need the convening power of the United Nations now more than ever. What’s more, we need individ...

Varda Group Obituary : It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Remi Parmentier, a dedicated environmentalist, a pioneering leader at Greenpeace, and the visionary co-founder of the Varda Group. Remi passed away on 26 June 2025, leaving behind a legacy of  unwavering commitment to the preservation of our planet and, especially, our ocean. Remi’s journey in environmental advocacy began with Greenpeace in the 1970s, where he emerged as a fearless champion for the oceans and the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems. He famously stood between the harpoons and the whales, aboard the Rainbow Warrior embodying the spirit of activism that defined a generation. His passionate efforts to halt whaling and protect marine life made a lasting impact on global awareness and policy regarding ocean conservation. Throughout his tenure at Greenpeace, Remi was at the forefront of opposition against nuclear and other waste dumping in oceans, spearheading campaigns that brought together ...

This podcast is from the first chapter of the book Negotiating the SustainableDevelopment Goals: A transformational agenda for an insecure world By FelixDodds, Ambassador David Donoghue  and  Jimena Leiva Roesch What are the Sustainable Development Goals? The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal set of 17 goals and 169 targets, with accompanying indicators, that were agreed upon by UN member states to frame their policy agendas for the 15-year period from 2015 to 2030. Written by three authors who have been engaged in the development of the SDGs from the beginning, this book offers an insider view of the process and a unique entry into what will be seen as one of the most significant negotiations and global policy agendas of the twenty-first century.  What does the book address? The book reviews how the SDGs were developed, what happened in key meetings and how this transformational agenda, which took more than three years to negotiate, came together in ...