Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

  Felix Dodds is an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina.   Felix chaired the 2011 UN conference that proposed the first set of indicative Sustainable Development Goals.  From 1992 to 2012, he served as the Executive Director of the Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future.  He established the Network for Regional Government for Sustainable Development in 2002, the Water and Climate Coalition in 2007, and the Communitas Coalition for the UN’s SDG 11 in 2013.  His most recent books are both with Chris Spence: last year's Environmental Lobbying at the United Nations and the 2023 book Heroes of Environmental Diplomacy: Profiles in Courage.    The United Nations, through its international conferences, research studies, agency programs, and collaboration with civil society, has been one of the most significant proponents of discussions on the climate crisis and clean energy.  Many countries have bypassed the USA in achieving en...

Introduction The idea of a g lobal pact on environmental rights presented last week at UN is clearly a bold idea and those associated with it should be commended for thinking outside the box. But having looked at what they are proposing I don't think it is the right direction to go and I worry it will absorb a lot of time and effort which could be focused on achieving real change. The proposal would also likely water down present agreements and I cant see the US, China, India and others signing up for it. Which some of them did actually say. Clearly, one thing that needs to happen is that present agreements need to be implemented much better than they are.  There is a very good review of why the pact is perhaps not a good idea  in a paper by Susan Binaz called  10 Questions to Ask About the Proposed  “Global Pact for the Environment” which you can read    here.  So, what is the Pact attempting to address? One of the critical issues ...