Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

"This is not just a technical issue. Everybody's actions are motivated by their inner life, their moral, spiritual and ethical values. Global agreements will be effective when they are rooted in the individual commitment of people, which arises from their own inner life." Maurice Strong On the 27th of January friends of Maurice Strong met in Ottawa to celebrate his life. Opening  the event Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose late father picked Strong to set up the Canadian International Development Agency in 1968, called him "a truly great citizen of Canada and citizen of the world" who has left behind an incredible legacy as "a brilliant businessman, devoted environmentalist, an inspirational philanthropist."  Also speaking were former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and her husband, author John Ralston Saul, and Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director.  Also messages from former UN secret...

Report of the Secretary-General on critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level Explicit links made by targets among SDG areas By David Le Blanc UNDSD from upcoming book The Water, Food, Energy and Climate Nexus: Challenges and an Agenda for Action  (edited by Felix Dodds and Jamie Bartram Routledge May 2016) Introduction This is one of the most anticipated reports from the Secretary General in recent years. The reality is the report could never be able to address what everyone wanted to see as the views were very different. I commend those that worked on the report and it will offer a very important starting point for a conversation and a reform process that will be vital if the 2030 Agenda is to be implemented. I am someone who would have liked to see an even more disruptive report. I say disruptive because if the agenda 2030 is going to be transformative then the system needs enormous change. ...

CNN under the heading " Foundation founder's guilty plea: I helped fund U.N. official's extravagant life." and the subsequent poor reporting by THREE so called CNN journalists  said " Shiwei Yan has admitted in court of bribing a U.N. colleague and funding his lifestyle full of Rolexes, BMWs, tailored suits and even an in-home basketball court." As i reported in my blog in October the evidences presented is wrong, it isn’t UN or UN staff or even those who were members of staff of the office of the former president of the GA, who are, at the moment, being accused of anything.  It is a representative of a member state of the UN. This is totally different from the organization being involved in any kind of wrongdoing.  It should be reported accordingly. John Ashe was President of the UN General Assembly. Now lets look at the issue of who the President of the UN General Assembly (UNPGA) is. The President of the UN General Assembly is elected by member ...

On New Year's Day  Alan AtKisson released a new song and music video, "We Love the SDGs." It features people (and animals) from around the world, moving to the music. The lyrics translate the SDGs into a danceable pop song. A "rap" in the middle of the song covers the whole list of goals. The song and video have already been informally adopted by some governments and UN training initiatives around the SDGs. And everyone is welcome to use them. Here is a free download of the song, in .mp3 format:  here  Finally, you can get the lyrics -- and even a "study guide" showing how the words to the song reflect the SDGs -- here: This song and video were the product of many people's creativity, and they are now offered by 17Goals (a volunteer-driven, multi-stakeholder partnership on the SDGs) to everyone. Enjoy! - Alan AtKisson alan@17Goals.org

Sustainable Development NOT Development A light show celebrating the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development program.  (Credit: Todd Hunsberger) "On behalf of the peoples we serve, we have adopted a historic decision on a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and transformative Goals and targets. We commit ourselves to working tirelessly for the full implementation of this Agenda by 2030. We recognize that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. We are committed to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner. We will also build upon the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and seek to address their unfinished business."  Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development I...

The HLPF is the central UN platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015. HLPF 2016 will be the first HLPF after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The forum, which adopts a Ministerial Declaration, is expected to start effectively delivering on its mandates to provide political leadership, guidance and recommendations on the Agenda's implementation and follow-up; keep track of progress; spur coherent policies informed by evidence, science and country experiences; as well as address new and emerging issues. National reviews The forum is mandated to conduct national reviews and thematic reviews of the implementation of the Agenda, with inputs from other intergovernmental bodies and forums, relevant UN entities, regional processes, major groups and other stakeholders. The national reviews will provide a platform for partnerships. ...

Katherine Teh-White  @ktehwhite   "Sustainable innovation that hasn't earned societal trust by the time it's available will be meaningless in this consumer era. We need sustainable innovation that has a social licence." We now know that our consumption of resources is exceeding planetary limits with devastating consequences. Only collective, radical action from civil society, governments and corporations will achieve the sustainable development we so urgently need. The Sustainable Development Goals , ratified by 193 countries in September 2015, offer us both a vision and a practical roadmap for how to get there. But achieving these goals will require deep disruption to our current business models. The widening gap between the level of responsibility for sustainable development that society expects from corporations and their actual performance makes a business-as-usual approach an increasingly risky option. Inaction now runs counter to the interests of all p...

  Another   part  of the SDG jigsaw is now in place with the announcement of the 10 stakeholder  representatives  of the support  group  for the Technology Facilitation Mechanism. Another advancement of  stakeholder  engagement in the UN and  inline   with  the approach taken during the SDG process.  UNITED NATIONS 10-MEMBER GROUP TO SUPPORT THE TECHNOLOGY FACILITATION MECHANISM 2016 - 2017 Mr. Peter Bakker   World Business Council for Sustainable Development President and CEO Prof. Elmer William Jr Colglazier    Center for Science Diplomacy, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Senior Scholar, Visiting Scientist Dr. Mirna Cunningham  Center for Autonomy and Development of Indigenous Peoples (CADPI), President Ms. Elenita Daño   Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC Group), Director Prof. Xiaolan Fu  Technology and Manageme...

Heidi Fortes It’s a new year and with that comes a new chance to kick start your social media strategy. Social selling has boomed over the last couple years but there are still so many salespeople out of the game and leaving money on the table. Last year Forbes reported that 78% of salespeople using social media perform better than their peers and LinkedIn reported that salespeople who use LinkedIn for social selling are 51% more likely to exceed their sales quotas. Now with all those attractive stats you must be thinking, it can’t just be about writing a few blogs here and there and sending out the occasional tweet. There must be a method to the madness. From optimizing posts to reaching out to prospects by referencing common connections the social selling to do list goes on. It can get daunting, but before you get started focus on making a plan. Let’s focus on the best times to post on social media.  The infographic below shows the best times to post on social media...

 Johan L. Kuylenstierna The Paris Agreement has given us huge momentum for building a resource-efficient, low-carbon and resilient global economy. Now it’s time to realize that vision, the SEI director writes. Note: This blogpost is translated and adapted from a post that first appeared in Swedish on the Hagainitiativet blog. This is it! When the gavel came down at the Paris Climate Change Conference, and the cheers broke out, the enthusiasm was contagious. After years of negotiations, 196 countries had reached an agreement that did not settle for the lowest common denominator, but actually set quite an ambitious agenda for tackling one of our greatest environmental and development challenges: climate change. The Paris Agreement frames climate action in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, reflecting a fundamental shift in how we think about the climate. This is no longer “just” an environmental issue – it is about building a future in which all...

Global Population Health and Well-being in the 21st Century: Toward New Paradigms, Policy, and Practice George R. Lueddeke, PhD “ This is is a remarkable, much-needed book that fills a significant gap in the health and social care literature in the early decades of the 21st century—public, global, clinical, ecological. It is powerful, ambitious, comprehensive, and sweeping at the same time that it is visionary, focused, and deep. Its power and passion are about the potential of population health and well-being optimally applied around the globe to help in creating a world that is healthier, safer, more just, and more sustainable.” Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, Alumni Distinguished Professor and Dean, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (From the Foreword) “ Covering the most crucial topics related to global population health in the early 21st century, this book is focused, insightful, practical, and capable of making a...