Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

  Delegates gather for the opening plenary of the June UN Climate Meetings in Bonn. Credit: Kiara Worth / IISD/ENB EX, North Carolina / SAN FRANCISCO, California, Jun 30 2026 (IPS) - With progress stalled on many issues, this year’s June talks in Bonn—which are supposed to smooth the way towards COP 31 in Antalya at year’s end—were widely judged a failure. What happened? And what does it mean for Antalya? (first published with InterPress Service here) “Deliberately delaying us.” “Spreading misinformation.” “Denying the science.” “Lacking integrity.” “Blocking progress.” “Costing countless lives.” These were just some of the charges delegates leveled at each other during the UN Climate Meetings held in Bonn this June. As delegates took up multiple issues in small “contact groups” and “informal consultations”, negotiations quickly became tetchy and irritable before descending into levels of rancor and even rudeness rarely seen before. And it was not just one issue where tempers fray...

IISD/ENB - Kiara Worth You can watch the book launch on the UN Publications YouTube site here. Felix Dodds - comments at the book launch. (copies still available at the UN Bookshop) I have had the pleasure of working with member states, UN staff and stakeholders on many of the critical issues that have challenged us since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. Over the years, I have accumulated a set of knowledge on how to advance policy both in positive times and in difficult times, such as the ones we live in now. “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Winston Churchill’s famous maxim feels very relevant today, when multilateralism and many environmental causes seem to be in retreat. We now face a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Yet, the existing international environmental agreements and science bodies are not addressing these interconnected crises as effectively as they could. Can we turn the current situation into an opportunity for positiv...

Originally published on Inter Press Service here SAN FRANCISCO, California / APEX, North Carolina, US, Jul 14 2025 (IPS)  - “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Winston Churchill’s famous maxim feels very relevant today, when multilateralism and many environmental causes seem to be in retreat. We now face a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Yet, the existing international environmental agreements and science bodies are not addressing these interconnected crises as effectively as they could. Can we turn the current situation into an opportunity for positive change and progress? Despite the rise in geopolitical fragmentation-or perhaps because of it—many countries appear to be as invested as ever in international cooperation and diplomacy as a means to achieve progress. To take a recent example, last month, negotiators at a meeting in Uruguay agreed to establish a scientific panel on chemicals, waste, and pollution. Not all bad ne...

RSVP here  if you are attending on Wednesday 16th at UN Bookshop 1-2pm  Environmental Lobbying at the United Nations: A Guide to Protecting Our Planet By Felix Dodds , Chris Spence is now available at all good bookshops and online. If bought directly through Routledge then you can have a 25% reduction using tbis code - ELUNCIS25  This is the second book by Felix Dodds and Chris Spence the first was Heores of Environemntal Deiplomacy a must also for anyone interested in how to engage iand succed in multilatralism  Environmental Lobbying at the United Nations provides a step-by-step, insiders’ guide on how to lobby and engage successfully at the United Nations. It reveals how the United Nations, which plays such a key role on issues from climate change to pollution of our air, land and sea, really works. In a world of rapid climate change, a flood of forever chemicals and plastic pollution, and the extinction of so much wildlife around the world, we need the conv...

By  Felix Dodds  and  Chris Spence  | Originally published here on Inter Press Service While it may be difficult and painful, the UN Secretary-General is right to embrace change, believe Prof. Felix Dodds and Chris Spence The world needs the UN, now more than ever. But we have also experienced firsthand how maddeningly inefficient and bureaucratic it can be. No wonder some critics want to defund it, the authors argue. Credit: United Nations SAN FRANCISCO, California / APEX, North Carolina, US, May 16 2025 (IPS)  - The United Nations has been called many things in its time: A champion of human rights. The world’s peacekeeper and provider of disaster relief. A leader on climate change, sustainable development, cutting poverty, and combating disease. The world’s single most important organization.  But also: Bureaucratic. Byzantine. Disorganized. Duplicative. Fragmented. Frustrating. Which is it? The correct answer is, probably...