Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

UN beyond 80: An opportunity to position multilevel collaboration and urbanization to save multilateralism and sustainability Guest  blog by Yunus Arikan   originally published here. The United Nations marked its 80th anniversary in 2025. Over time, numerous UN Secretaries-General have sought reforms of the UN system, but were unable to achieve more than incremental progress due to limited buy-in from Member States.  This year is different. The question is no longer whether the system needs reform, but whether it can deliver significant enough reform in time. With just four years until the review of the 2030 Agenda, the negotiations on what comes next will shape not only the future of sustainability, but also the credibility of the multilateral system itself. In a world shaped by overlapping crises – armed conflict, climate, biodiversity, inequality, and technological disruption – the gap between global commitments and real-world delivery is becoming almost impossible to ...

Guest Blog by Yunus Arikan Director of Global Advocacy ● ICLEI World Secretariat   Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 2500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in 125+ countries, we influence sustainability policy and drive local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development. Our Members and team of experts work together through peer exchange, partnerships and capacity building to create systemic change for urban sustainability. COP26 Updates by Yunus Arikan as Guest at Felix Dodds Blog 29 July -  http://blog.felixdodds.net/2021/07/guest-blog-update-on-glasgow-climate_29.html   20 July  - http :// blog.felixdodds.net/2021/07/glasgow-climate-cop-and-china.html    6 July  - http:// blog.felixdodds.net/2021/07/guest-blog-update-on-glasgow-climate.html 5 June - http:// blog.felixdodds.net/2021/06/guest-blog-...

Guest Blog: Glasgow Climate COP Update by  Yunus Arikan  Director of Global Advocacy ICLEI World Secretariat. ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 2500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in 125+ countries, we influence sustainability policy and drive local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development. 1- UK COP26 Presidency Vaccination Offer:  Building on the previously announced calendar, the UNFCCC Secretariat is inviting accredited observer organizations to confirm, before 23 July, the names of those who wish to apply for the UK COP26 Presidency Vaccination Offer, within the quotas confirmed by 16 July. Numerous concerns are being publicly announced by various stakeholders through media commentaries such as by IIED from LDC perspective or Climate Action Network from environmental groups perspectives . Meanwhile, as of 19 July new COVID-1...

Glasgow Climate COP Update by  Yunus Arikan  Director of Global Advocacy ● ICLEI World Secretariat As of 1 July 2021 , neither the UNFCCC Secretariat nor UK COP26 Presidency have announced any official documents, neither on COP26 Logistics (including capacity and layout of the COP26 Blue Zone), nor on the specific modalities for the engagement of Observers including LGMA Constituency at COP26 in-person and virtual events. UNFCCC announced that UNFCCC managed exhibits in the Blue Zone will be virtual , but UNFCCC managed side events a re announced as in-person (subject to further COP26 Updates), and applications are closed by 2 July 2021 . (“UNFCCC managed” indicates that physical and virtual platforms will be provided for free by the UNFCCC Secretariat and eligible applications will be selected by the UNFCCC Secretariat.) Meanwhile, applications of interested Parties and UNFCCC Accredited Observer organizations for the COP26 Blue Zone Office Delegation and Pavilion Spaces to...

Guest blog from Yunus Arikan, Director of Global Advocacy ICLEI World Secretariat  G7 Summit: The outcomes og G7 Summit are available through the below links:  Carbis Bay G7 Summit Communique (PDF, 430KB, 25 pages) (g7uk.org) : Summary of Carbis Bay G7 Summit Communique (PDF, 248KB, 2 Pages) (g7uk.org) G7 Carbis Bay Health Declaration (PDF, 389KB, 4 Pages) (g7uk.org)   G7 2030 Nature Compact (PDF, 120KB, 4 pages) (g7uk.org) G7 2021 Open Societies Statement (PDF, 355KB, 2 Pages) (g7uk.org) G7 2021 Research Compact (PDF, 356KB 2 pages) (g7uk.org) It can be noted that the enhanced engagement and leadership of the G7 in the global multilateralism through the 2021 Summit was welcome by many stakeholders. However, the commitments, in terms of climate finance, vaccine equity and coal phase-out were particularly fell short of the expectations considering the scale and urgency of actions as well as historic responsibilities and capabilities of G7 nations. It has to ...

Guest Blog by Yunus Arikan ICLEI, LGMA Focal Point (local government) As of 5 June 2021 13:00 CEST, there is no publicly available links for the presentation or recording, but updates may be available here.  1-       No information on capacity of Blue Zone, with breakdown for Parties and observers, layout and costs of pavilion and office spaces are available – these are expected to be made available in the coming weeks. 2- Special COP26 Visas are available only for Blue Zone delegations and visa applications have to be submitted to the UK embassies starting from beginning of August 2021 - no information is available to facilitate visa applications for Green Zone events  3-       Current UK COVID-19 measures asks for a minimum 2 weeks of quarantine upon arrival for most international participants (be it a Party delegate or observer) – this means visa applications have to be adjusted accordingly as well. 4-   ...

Guest blog by Yunus Arikan: ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability  The United Nations is celebrating its 75 th  anniversary in 2020, under the shadows of a once-in-a-century pandemic, serious challenges to multilateralism, and life-threatening climate and biodiversity emergencies. Due to the global pandemic, these celebrations will be taking place online, but the virtual forum by no means reduces the significance of processes and decisions that will take place in 2020. ICLEI – representing our network of over 1,750 local governments – contributed to the  response of the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments to the UN75 , with its commitment to  accelerate localization of the Decade for Sustainability Action . In order to ensure sustainability of the world in 2045 – the 100 th  year of the United Nations – ICLEI is calling for an inclusive new generation of multilateralism that addresses COVID-19 pandemic, responds to climate emergency and adop...