Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

By Mafruza Khan    OneNYC , launched earlier this year, is New York City’s sustainability and equity plan that uses four lenses – growth, equity, sustainability and resiliency – and sets 25 goals to be met by 2030 that will be monitored and reported annually. OneNYC builds on PlaNYC, originally released in 2007, by embedding equity and was developed in a participatory process that included New Yorkers, civic and business leaders, elected officials and city agencies to address New York City’s long-term challenges: the forecast of 9 million residents by 2040, changing climate conditions, an evolving economy, and aging infrastructure.  On January 1, 2016, the world, i.e., the United States and all 190 member states of the United Nations will start implementing 17 universal  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets, which, like OneNYC address the related challenges of growth, inequality, sustainability and resiliency.  Another importa...

As someone who has been active at the UN climate negotiations, and co-directed the successful multi-stakeholder group to get water into the UNFCCC, I was really pleased to see the posters and promotions for the New York Climate March.  I thought i would have a look at what is billed the largest climate march ever which is happening in New York on September 21st. I assumed that it is somehow linked to the Secretary Generals event and so would pass right next to the UN.  To my utter surprise and dismay the march will go no where near the UN where of Heads of State are meeting on September 23rd but as far away on the island as possible. The march starts at Central Park West between 65th and 86th streets and moves not eastward when it gets to 42nd street towards the UN (1st Avenue) but westward to  11th street.   I doubt precious civil rights or peace marches would have agreed to this. If Martin Luther King had had to be as far away as this march is from the White ...