Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

Reproduced from the FAO website here. FAO’s  80th anniversary   was also a pivotal year for the teams working under the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment.   From Biodiversity and Climate communities convening in Rome to COP30 in Belém, and from  Sahelian rangelands  to  Cambodian rice fields , OCB worked across FAO to make the case that food and agriculture are not only affected by climate change and biodiversity loss; they are central to solving them.   Agrifood systems in the global spotlight  The year opened with the  resumed session of the Biodiversity COP  at FAO Headquarters. Bringing together the biodiversity world at FAO HQ sent a clear signal that biodiversity goals cannot be met without transforming agrifood systems. This includes the vital...

This is reproduced from the World Economic Forum launch page The Global Risks Report ( downloadable from here ) explores some of the most severe risks we may face over the next decade, against a backdrop of rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, a warming planet and conflict. As cooperation comes under pressure, weakened economies and societies may only require the smallest shock to edge past the tipping point of resilience. A deteriorating global outlook Looking back at the events of 2023, plenty of developments captured the attention of people around the world – while others received minimal scrutiny. Vulnerable populations grappled with lethal conflicts, from Sudan to Gaza and Israel, alongside record-breaking heat conditions, drought, wildfires and flooding. Societal discontent was palpable in many countries, with news cycles dominated by polarization, violent protests, riots and strikes. Although globally destabilizing consequences – such as those seen at the initia...

We, the Ministers and other heads of delegations, having met in person in Kunming, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, and remotely, on 12 and 13 October 2021, on the occasion of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, and at the invitation of the Government of the People's Republic of China,  Recalling the relevance of the 2050 Vision “Living in harmony with nature”,  Emphasizing that biodiversity, and the ecosystem functions and services it provides, support all forms of life on Earth and underpin our human and planetary health and well-being, economic growth and sustainable development, Concerned that the ongoing loss of biodiversity jeopardizes achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,  Recognizing that progress has been made in the last decade, under the 2011-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, but deeply concerned that such progress has been insufficient to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets,  Acknowledging with grave concern that the...

by Joyce Msuya, Deputy Executive Director, UNEP As I address you today, the challenges ahead of us seems to be daunting. COVID-19 has brought unimaginable suffering around the world. For the first time since 1998, global poverty is set to rise. Meanwhile, climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution remain the underlying threats facing humanity. The Aichi Biodiversity Targets will not be met. The 2020 objectives of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management will not be met. And COVID-19 has come just as we embark on a make- or-break Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals. In other words, humankind’s destruction of the natural world has not stopped.  The IPBES Global Assessment tells us that an estimated 1 million species are facing extinction and are disappearing at a rate hundreds of times higher than the natural rate. This is due mostly to land use change and direct exploitation. We have already altered nearly two-thirds of the face of the ea...

SEPTEMBER 2-13 th September UN Convention to Combat Desertification ( UNCCD) -COP14: New Delhi, India 4-6 September Korea International Water Week: Daegu, Republic of Korea 17 th September Start of the 74 th UN General Assembly: New York, US 20-23 September IPCC 51 st Session : Monaco 21 September Youth Climate Summit: New York, US 22 September Launch of the Principles for Responsible Banking : New York, US 23-29 September Climate Week: New York, US 23 September UNGA will hold a one-day high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage : New York, US UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit : New York, US Climate Week: Creating Value in a Climate Emergency :   International Federation Of Accountants (Ifac) And Association Of Chartered Certified Accountants (Acca) Climate Week: Eliminating the Effects of Racism on Our Work to Sustain All Life : Sustaining All Life And United To End Racism Climate Week: Expressing Climate Grief : Sustaini...

For those in lockdown and need some reading material I thought I would bring into one blog a set of books that I have written or edited on sustainable development. I have grouped the books into themes that will help the reader to focus on areas they are interested in. These are: The Vienna Cafe Trilogy: T he books look at the history of sustainable development from the 1960s to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. So far there are three these are: Negotiating the Sustainable Development Goals: A transformational agenda for an insecure world From Rio+20 to a New Development Agenda: Building a Bridge to a Sustainable Future  and  Only One Earth   The environmental security/insecurity books: which started with:   Human and Environmental Security: An Agenda for Change (2005) Climate Change and Energy Insecurity: The Challenge for Peace and Development (2009) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Insecurity: A Planet in Peril (2011) The Water, F...

Dear Ambassador, what a rich and interesting contribution to this afternoon’s session. The role of Science and technology will be increasingly critical to the challenges of today and tomorrow. I was interested in how the Minister discussed the issue of financing --- The new Expert Committee on Sustainable development financing needs to be collecting all the ideas on funding SD. Perhaps it should be looking to provide menus of funding options perhaps around the Human Development Index levels of development – clearly ODA will play a continued significant factor for  some countries but as Adnan said this morning even this is changing in sub Saharan Africa. Matching the new development goals and targets with effective and realistic funding to enable a real opportunity for integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions hasn’t been done since 1992 when of course that was not then delivered. I wanted to ask us to take a step back for a moment....