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Future of the HLPF 'Pop-Up' side event report and link to the video

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Future of the HLPF: Lessons from the proposal for a Sustainable Development Council for the UN General Assembly from Rio+20 for the future of the High Level Political Forum BY · PUBLISHED 13TH JULY 2020 · UPDATED 14TH JULY 2020 On 13 July 2020, a ‘Pop Up Side Event’ webinar during the 2020 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, developed and delivered by Stakeholder Forum, revisited the ideas that were suggested by the Member States and stakeholders in the preparation for Rio+20 concerning the issue of what body should be created to replace the Commission on Sustainable Development.In particular, the webinar looked at the proposal for a Council on Sustainable Development within the UN General Assembly.  Are there any ideas that might help Member States in their present review of the work of ECOSOC and the UNGA second committee?The HLPF has just completed in 2019 its first four-year review, and 2020 is the 75th anniversary of the creation of the United Na…
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Dr Bruno Oberle named IUCN Director General

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Gland, Switzerland, 13 July 2020 (IUCN) – The International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, has announced the appointment of Dr Bruno Oberle as Director General, starting today. He succeeds Inger Andersen who served as Director General from 2015 to 2019 and is now Executive Director at the United Nations Environment Programme. Dr Grethel Aguilar, Director of the Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, has been serving as Acting Director General since June 2019.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome Bruno to IUCN,” said IUCN President Zhang Xinsheng. “He brings an impressive breadth of experience spanning over 40 years at a time when redefining our relationship with nature is more urgent than ever. Bruno has the high-level profile and track-record needed to lead IUCN into the post-2020 period. We are extremely grateful to Grethel Aguilar for an outstanding job leading the Secretariat during what proved to be a very challenging interim period.”
Dr Bruno Oberle …
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Madras Café Unlocked! Madras Café Unlocked, a summer of all-digital, online content in support of Action Village India and partners.Madras Café Unlocked launches its five ‘stages’: the Madras Café Family, Madras Boombox, Food for Thought, Partnerships & Solidarity and Jai Jagat Exhibition on the 24th, 25th & 26th of July (Friday to Sunday) – whats on each stage poster can be seen here.Events will continue through August and September and will complete with ‘The Meal’ on 26th September in support of JaiJagat 2020.Help spread the word – Madras Café Unlocked is asking for your help to share details of the events online – event poster can be seen here. You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, share information on your own social media and use the hashtag #madrascafeunlockedPlease donate, showing your solidarity with Action Village India’s partners’ work on rights and social justice with marginalised and vulnerable rural communities across India. To donate click here.
M…
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Joyce Msuya, Deputy Executive Director, UNEP at HLPF Launching the decade of action at a time of crisis: Keeping the focus on the SDGs while combatting COVID-19

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by Joyce Msuya, Deputy Executive Director, UNEP
As I address you today, the challenges ahead of us seems to be daunting. COVID-19 has brought unimaginable suffering around the world. For the first time since 1998, global poverty is set to rise. Meanwhile, climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution remain the underlying threats facing humanity. The Aichi Biodiversity Targets will not be met. The 2020 objectives of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management will not be met. And COVID-19 has come just as we embark on a make- or-break Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals.
In other words, humankind’s destruction of the natural world has not stopped. 
The IPBES Global Assessment tells us that an estimated 1 million species are facing extinction and are disappearing at a rate hundreds of times higher than the natural rate. This is due mostly to land use change and direct exploitation. We have already altered nearly two-thirds of the face of the earth, an…
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Attend the UN High Level Political Forum 2020 (6-16 July Virtually)

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Dear colleagues,Just a few days to go! Here is the last weekly update of announcements relevant to the Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS) before the HLPF begins. I hope you all have a productive and successful HLPF.Use of the MGoS Mailing ListAs the HLPF approaches it is inevitable that we will all be overwhelmed by emails. Unless it is absolutely necessary, please do not ‘Reply All’ to these emails. If you wish to thank a colleague for sharing information, please respond to them directly and do not copy the MGoS Coordination Mechanism.HLPF Format  [update] The HLPF will be virtual, the new 2020 HLPF Programme is available for you download from the 'Latest' column of the HLPF 2020 website. Please note that the Programme section of the 2020 HLPF website contains links to a Letter from the President of ECOSOC and the Annotated 2020 HLPF Programme.FundingDue to the likely virtual format of the 2020 HLPF, there will not be funding allocated to support travel of MGoS repres…
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Aviation Industry throws out climate agreement

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ICAO Council Bows to Aviation Industry Request to Rewrite First Three Years of Climate Program RulesEDF statement from Annie Petsonk, International Counsel(June 30, 2020) The 36-member Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) today unilaterally changed the rules for the first three years of the agency’s flagship climate program, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The Council decided that if, in 2020, aviation emissions fall by more than 30% below 2019 levels, the program’s rules will automatically change, in effect suspending airlines’ obligations to offset a portion of their carbon pollution.     "The coronavirus pandemic has caused pain and loss around the world – for families, for communities and for working people. Airlines have been hit hard. One effect of the decrease in air travel is that carbon emissions from aviation have declined sharply. And now the industry is at an inflection point.“As airlines scram…
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Volkan Bozkir from Turkey elected the new President of the UN General Assembly and India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway join the Security Council

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Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir was elected President of the forthcoming session of the UN General Assembly in a vote held on Wednesday 17th of June.
Mr. Bozkir, a veteran diplomat and parliamentarian, will preside over the landmark 75th session of the UN General Assembly, which opens in September. He was the sole candidate for the post.
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