Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

17 – 28 August | 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification | UNCCD COP 17 | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 8 – 22 September | 81st Session of the UN General Assembly, Opening and General Debate | UNGA 81 | New York, United States 18th September  | The Sustainable Development Goals Moment  22-26th September  | High-Level Week (and the 28th) 23rd September  | High-level meeting to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development 23rd September  | The Secretary-General will convene a high-level meeting on climate action and the just transition, focused on accelerating a just and orderly energy transition to renewables; mobilizing and scaling up affordable finance and investments for developing countries; and delivering adaptation and resilience support in an era of climate overshoot 24th September  |    High-level meeting to address the existential threats p...

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...

The Presidency of the European Union  Poland (January–June 2025), Denmark (July–December 2025), and Cyprus (January–June 2026).  South Africa takes over the Presidency of the G20 Canada takes over the Presidency of the G7 Iraq Chair of the Group of 77 , In Geneva it is Peru May 3rd Australian election 7-8 UN Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum ), New York, USA 12 Philippines election 14-16  Informal Consultations of States Parties to the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (ICSP/18): eighteenth round  19-27 World Health Assembly , Geneva, Switzerland June 2-6 Global Platform for Disaster Rick Reduction, Genea, Switzerland (Overall Theme: Every Day Counts, Act for Resilience Today) 9-13 Third UN Ocean Conference, Nice, Provence-Alpes-Cote D'Azur, France 16-26 62nd sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies ICOP29 preparatory meeting ), Bonn, Germany 16-20  United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Ocea...

In 2014 The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina hosted conference on the Water, Food, Energy and Climate Nexus. It played an important role in the discussion in the SDG Open Working Group on the interlinkages between Goals. In 2016 Jamie Bartram head of the Water Institute and I brought together some of the key presentations from the conference into a book ' The Water, Food, Energy and Climate Nexus: Challenges and an agenda for action'. We invited the then Prince of Wales to write the Foreword which he agreed to do. The issues he raised in 2016 have moved even more to the centre of the political agenda. The climate crisis has accelerated and the links between their impacts on food, water and energy are now clear to anyone who is looking. In 2016 the idea of the circular economy was not yet being discussed in the negotiations. In 2022 the new negotiations on a Plastic Convention have it as a central part of the negotiations. His insights into the challenges we f...

This is the annex to a letter to member states by The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP COP President on Glasgow expectations Annex - Expectations for COP26 & July Ministerial Discussion Questions The Presidency has heard from Parties and groups on their expectations for a Glasgow outcome that addresses the various ambition gaps - within and outside the negotiated outcome - finalises the Paris Rulebook, and leaves no issues behind. This note sets out the common themes that have been raised; to assist discussions at the July Ministerial and to help guide us towards a successful outcome in Glasgow that keeps 1.5°C within reach. Protecting people and nature from the impacts of climate change Enhancing adaptation action and support must be at the heart of the Glasgow package. In addition to delivering on the full set of adaptation-related mandates for COP26, we have heard the need to clearly reflect the priority that must be placed on adaptation. Parties have raised the need to discuss the ...

U&i Inspires Individuals to Make a Difference for a Sustainable Future. U&i is the idea that individuals and communities are the fundamental drivers for sustainable change. It’s about you and I leading the change to achieve sustainable development. Follow them and watch other videos at. They are are committed to promoting sustainability and educating individuals with an aim to support place based solutions-local solutions for global problems-by integrating all of the actors working towards the same goals. From experts, organisations, businesses, and passionate young professionals, U&i is the go-to place for all of these groups around the issue of sustainability in the 21st Century.

Today the World Benchmarking Alliance will be launching in and around the UN General Assembly One year ago, the New York Public Library provided a beautiful backdrop for the start of the WBA’s global consultations during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly. Today, the library will act as the platform from which we take the next step. Over the past 12 months, we have seen first-hand that together we are greater than the sum of our parts. From New York to Nairobi, Buenos Aires to Bonn, we have listened to and worked with a wide-reaching network of individuals to mobilise a global community of over 10,000 advocates and supporters, including over 70 Allies. While this is a good start, we know that the real work is just beginning, as we strive to scale our efforts and deepen our impact. The Alliance brings together a broad, balanced group of stakeholders with SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals) at its core. Allies represent a large mix of voices aligned with the universali...

Addressing Resilience through the Nexus of Water-Food-Energy; Cities as SDG Laboratories was organized by the Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future and the International Science Council  and the UNC Water Institute. The power point that supports this can be found here.   The Rural-Urban Nexus:   Cities are to be seen not in isolation, but intrinsically connected with broader ecosystem as part of a metabolism of flows and interconnected social and ecological processes. A substantial proportion of the water, energy and food that supports urban living is supplied from rural areas outside the cities. The largely one-way flow of these resources together with the pollution and waste generated in urban spaces have a determining effect on patterns of rural development and the integrity of the ecosystems services. The Nexus approach has already shown itself to have a crucial part to play in ensuring that the supply of water, energy and food services to ci...

The Full Report from the Conference can be found here. Message from the 2018 Nexus Conference The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals can only be achieved if they are pursued in an integrated manner. For this reason, the Nexus community of researchers, academics, NGOs, policy makers, the private sector and other key stakeholders came together at the 2018 Nexus Conference at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We have concluded that the Nexus approach remains essential in recognizing the indivisible nature of the SDGs and that such an approach is fundamental in delivering these goals. The Nexus approach brings into focus the positive synergies and potential negative tradeoffs that arise when working to achieve the ambitious 2030 Agenda, and it is helping to develop more practical solutions to address key issues. Understanding the interlinkages between water, energy, food and climate plays a crucial role in delivering sustainable outcome and helping gl...