My books of 2021 and those coming out in 2022

2021 was a good year I had two books out. T

he first was an edited volume from the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development and came out in March Governance for Sustainable Development Volume 5: Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Governance Challenges.  

It has produced to share widely the papers that were presented at the workshops for member States to discuss. The Group recognizes that there is an inextricable link between good governance and sustainable development and that, as the 2030 Agenda is implemented, governance challenges will need discussion and action at all levels and by all institutions.

In 2020, the Group of Friends convened UN officials, experts, and representatives from government at four participatory workshops on relevant governance issues. 

The workshops were organized in partnership with UN-DESA Office of Intergovernmental Support and Coordination for Sustainable Development focusing on advancing the 2030 Agenda into the HLPF’s Second Cycle, and lessons learnt from the first cycle.

The Group of Friends in 2021 will continue to be a place for discussions of the institutional architecture for the 2030 Agenda’s implementation, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Paris Climate Agreement and their follow-up and review.

We expect the present publication to be a useful input for the ongoing discussions about the institutional architecture for the 2030 Agenda. The first workshop looked at Implementing the 2016 QCPR resolution and this agenda has already captured the imagination of this generation.

 The second workshop looked at the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on global governance and issues of transparency, responsiveness and accountability. With the upcoming High Level Political Forum, how could the pandemic be reflected in Voluntary National Reports? 

The third workshop looked at the imperative of combating corruption, illicit financial flows and recovering and returning stolen assets as a means for financing for development in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The final one looked at climate change and governance preparing for the now 2021 Glasgow UNFCCC COP.We know that sustainable development will only become a reality if we have the enabling environment for it to happen. Good governance will be pivotal for implementing, reviewing and improving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We hope that this publication contributes to addressing the challenges we will be facing over the coming years to 2030.

The second book was Tomorrow's People and New Technology which came out in October.

"I simply love Tomorrow's People and New Technology. Teasingly playful, inquisitive rather than just another turgid tome trying to be politically correct and accurate with each forecast, the authors' bandwidth is wonderfully broad, the insights incisive, and the writing welcoming. This book is a speculative triumph. It invites us into an imaginative world of endless fascination and ingenuity, at once allying suspicions that the future belongs only to the smart machines we have created and are in the process of letting loose."

Richard David Hames, Executive Director, Centre for the Future

As we witness a series of social, political, cultural, and economic changes/disruptions this book examines the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the way emerging technologies are impacting our lives and changing society.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterised by the emergence of new technologies that are blurring the boundaries between the physical, the digital, and the biological worlds. 

This book allows readers to explore how these technologies will impact peoples’ lives by 2030. It helps readers to not only better understand the use and implications of emerging technologies, but also to imagine how their individual life will be shaped by them. 

The book provides an opportunity to see the great potential but also the threats and challenges presented by the emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, posing questions for the reader to think about what future they want. 

Emerging technologies, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, cloud computing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, the Internet of Things, fifth-generation wireless technologies (5G), and fully autonomous vehicles, among others, will have a significant impact on every aspect of our lives, as such this book looks at their potential impact in the entire spectrum of daily life, including home life, travel, education and work, health, entertainment and social life.

Providing an indication of what the world might look like in 2030, this book is essential reading for students, scholars, professionals, and policymakers interested in the nexus between emerging technologies and sustainable development, politics and society, and global governance.

"Though many books describe tech and AI’s impact on our future, few paint an intimate and detailed picture of how our lives – at home, work, and with friends – will be completely reshaped by the innovations that are just beginning to take root today. Tomorrow’s People and New Technology is a fascinating forecast at life by 2030 and the ways in which we must change to harness technology’s promise in every facet of our daily lives."

Maria Figueroa Kupcu, Partner and Head of New York Office, Brunswick Group; Chair, Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University

2022 books from me

As with 2021 I will have two books out this year. the first will be 'Volume 6 of the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development' and will be out in March and cover the three workshops that we organized in 2021.

The second which i co-edited with Chris Spence is 'Environmental Heroes in Diplomacy - Profiles in Courage'. We look at ten people who have influenced the good agenda. Each chapter looks at who they are and their story to the particular intergovernmental meeting and what they did there and then what happened to them and the issue after the event.

Some of the people we look at in the book are President Obama (Copenhagen Climate Summit), Maurice Strong (1992 Earth Summit), Paula Caballero (the Sustainable Development Goals), Christina Figueres (Paris Climate Summit). More on this book in coming weeks and months. It will be out for Stockholm+50.