A year of activities and the books I have planned for 2021

I am sure like me you are pleased that 2020 has finished and we can hope for a 2021 which will bring a new President in the White House, the critical rejoining of the Paris Climate Agreement by the USA and hopefully sooner rather than later UN meetings in person.

As you may know i do a number of consultancies and promotion on the SDGs and climate change here are a few things from 2020 that i have been engaged in which you may be interested in:

• Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development - held four workshops in 2020 which can be found here.
• Eight hour training on how to engage in UNEA - organized by Stakeholder Forum in English and Spanish
• An interview with me on the SDGs and climate change   on Inside Ideas  a podcast by Marc Buckley
• Launch of a new coalition the Working Animal Alliance  a strategic alliance of stakeholders seeking to raise awareness of the contribution working animals make towards achieving the SDGs
• I act as the PI for a six university three year project on governance of disasters risk reduction and resilience to boost the sustainable development goals
• An article for IPS on the Glasgow UNFCCC COP.  picked up by POLITICO 
• On facility for SUNx for a Climate Friendly Travel Diploma 

If you are interested in my consultancy do contact me :-)

Books coming in 2021

In 2021 I will have two books coming out.

The first is a Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development publication "Volume 5 of Governance for Sustainable Development" it will be out in March 2021. 

The second is "Tomorrow's People: The Impact of Disruptive Industries on our lives by 2030" (working title)  which should be out in September 2021. 

I'm still looking for some reviewers for chapters of the Tomorrow's People book....so if anyone is interested contact me. The book is aimed at the general public as well as the academic community and policy makers. 

The chapters are (1) the industrial revolutions (2) where we are now (3) Home Life (4) Travel and Tourism (5) Education, Health and Working Life (6) Entertainment  (7) Social Life (8) Living around the globe (9) Beyond 2030  

The first book Volume 5 of Governance for Sustainable Development will have chapters on: 

• Implementing the  Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review of UN system operational activities (QCPR)
• Closing the COVID-19 transparency gap
• Resilient institutions in times of crisis: transparency, accountability and participation at the national level key to effective responses to COVID-19
• COVID19 and Voluntary National Reports
• The United Nations And the COVID-19 Global Emergence
• Opportunities and Challenges for UNGA Special Session on Corruption  
• Recommendations of the High-Level Panel on International  Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity
• 2021 HLPF Review of Goal 16 and how, illicit financial flows, including corruption, and governance will be addressed. 
• Challenges for the UNFCCC Glasgow COP 2021
• Natural Disasters and the Impact of Climate Change
• Do we need national ‘Coalition of the willing’ to help deliver the climate target?
• The challenges of Private Sector Financing of Climate Change – what can the Glasgow COP achieve?

Volume 4 (2020)

Volume 5 and other Volumes can/will be downloaded from the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development website here.

Or on amazon as a print to order

• Volume 1
• Volume 2
• Volume 3
• Volume 4

The Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development, an informal government group, was created in the autumn of 2011. The main objective of the Friends group is to create an informal space for governments to have discussions among themselves, backed up by expert papers when requested, on issues relating to good governance and the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD) in relation to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It builds on a rich tradition of ˜Friends of Groups” in New York which serves as a useful informal space for governments to discuss ideas and papers relating to a particular topic.

My 2019 book Stakeholder Democracy: Represented Democracy in a Time of Fear is very relevant to the world of 2021. 

"It’s democracy, period! This book is a must-read for all who want to understand how to work the 21th century politics. Having worked long years as eminent advisors, actors, and advocates the authors offer deep insider knowledge. Stakeholder are more than just the opposite to economic shareholder. Stakeholder democracy is part of the mainstream institutional and parliamentary governance. Even more so, engagement of people helps keeping democracies lively, effective and resourceful. This book carefully sketches out how stakeholder democracy came to be the prime important ingredient to our common future. When it comes to ensuring a decent life for all within the planetary boundaries being transparent, reliable, constructively positive are the virtues of cooperation - as opposed to being absorbed in elitist turf battles and selfish positioning in the global awareness economy. For public and stakeholder politics there what can be learned from the rich narrative of this book might simply start a new Stakeholder Social Responsibility." - Günther Bachmann, General Secretary to the German Council for Sustainable Development and activist in a series of stakeholder setups

If you are new to the SDG world then  a great read that explains how the SDGs came about  I cowrote the history of the SDGs with Ambassador David Donoghue and Jimena Leiva Roesch you can buy a copy here: 

Negotiating the Sustainable Development Goals: A transformational agenda for an insecure world