Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

ICSU Science X newsletter for UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) republished - signup below Dear Friends and Colleagues, Only a few more weeks until the start of HLPF, and last week the zero draft of the HLPF ministerial declaration was published. In its final shape, this will be the outcome document of the conference. Before that, however, it will undergo a lengthy consultation process with the UN member governments and, importantly, stakeholder groups. These are called „Major Groups“ in the UN system (scroll down for an interview with UN expert Felix Dodds to learn more about them). We at the International Council for Science (soon the International Science Council ) are the organizing partner for the Science & Technology Major Group, and as such will be coordinating feedback from the science community. This is where you come in. We’d love to hear your feedback ...

Addressing Solutions to the  Food-Energy-Water Nexus: Cities as Test-Beds for SDG Implementation Tools and Solutions Conference Room 2  UN Wednesday 6 th of June 615pm SDG 11 recognises the central role of cities in sustainable development and calls for making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, and resilient. Advances in science and technology - especially in transportation, communication systems, public health, and agricultural and industrial production – push the evolution of cities. To harness the synergy between cities and the food-energy-water nexus, a community of researchers, technologists, and practitioners is needed to share knowledge, form global partnerships, and bridge worldviews of city stakeholders (e.g. researchers, policy actors, industry, entrepreneurs) through practice-oriented dialogue. This event will highlight currently available technology solutions that are not yet being fully utilized for the SDG...

Guest blog by Anne-Sophie Stevance ICSU  Science Officer The annual session of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), the deliberating body for sustainable development at the UN, took place in New York from 11-20 July. The International Council for Science led an 8-person scientific delegation to the event, and was an active participant in several events during the week. Participants at the ICSU/IRD/Colombia side event on SDGs interactions. This session of the HLPF was the first one following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda reviewing early initiatives to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ICSU, in partnership with the French  Institut de Recherche pour le Développement  (IRD) and the Government of Colombia, organized a side event on 15 July to present  a draft framework for understanding SDGs interactions . This framework was the subject of  a recently published commentary in  Nature . The event was moderated by Felix ...