Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

It seemed that climate change wasn't going to be part of this election cycle. There were sarcastic comments in one of the debates by Governor Romney, some discussion on energy security in another -but as far as a serious discussion on climate change in the debates there was none. Comments by Obama on climate change were left to the stump where he was talking to his own supporters. That was the situation until Hurricane Sandy hit the north eastern seaboard of the United States. It brought the devastation to the most populated areas of the US into the living rooms across America, imagines that they have mostly seen in developing countries. Thursdays issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, let me just say that again Bloomberg Businessweek headlined with "IT'S GLOBAL WARMING, STUPID". It is of course paraphrasing James Carville famous quote and campaign strategy from the 1992 election, "It's the Economy, Stupid" which won the election for Governo...

Revising this Blog As my life continues after Stakeholder Forum I am revising  my online presence  This blog will be updated much more regularly and will focus on the post 2015 development goals, the follow up to Rio+20 and the main issues of the day on sustainable development as well as some of the new areas of work I am engaged in. As part of the revision my web site ( www.felixdodds.net ) will also be revised and should be ready for November 7. It will focus on some of consultancy services I will be offering and will keep an update on my publications. The photo above is from an event at Ramapo College promoting The Widening Circl e from the 18th of October. TWC recognises that civil society has become severely fragmented. Therefore, it has become more a reactive force to a prevailing agenda than being a proactive agenda setting force. This has diluted the impact of civil society. Part of the problem has been the lack of vision of unde...

Panel I: How Can Rio+20 Foster the Global Development Agenda? Panel II: The Role of the General Assembly in Supporting the Rio+20 Objectives With the much-anticipated United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development just a month away, and with intergovernmental negotiations on an outcome mired in minutiae, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for ambitious leadership to seize this “once in a generation opportunity” to transform ideas and aspirations into bold action “for the sake of our planet and our children”. “We do not have a moment to waste”, the Secretary-General said, opening the General Assembly’s informal thematic debate convened to re-energize talks on possible outcomes of the Conference — known as “Rio+20” after the Brazilian city that will host the event from 20 to 23 June.  The debate, “The Road to Rio+20 and Beyond”, featured two round-table discussions dealing with issues at the heart of the Rio process, including ways the ...

Visiting number 10 Downing Street after Planet Under Pressure . The PuP conference had over 3000 scientists, policy makers and stakeholders attending. It launched Future Earth a new scientific platform which will help integrate a number of previous science bodies into a coherent one that can produce information for decision makers in a coherent way.Also producing some excellent policy briefs.

The worlds scientists meeting at the excel in London 3000 of them to discuss input to rio+20. Planet Under Pressure will publish a  CO2 concentration is increasing in rate over the last ten years.  Caroline Speldman the UK Minister of Environment calls for Rio+20 to agree SD Goals, new GDP+ and action on agriculture.  Follow the negotiations for Rio+20 with Outreach the Stakeholder Forum newsletter Stakeholder Forum team at the UN working in the Vienna Cafe.

One Only Earth by Felix Dodds, Michael Strauss with Maurice Strong will be out end of May. The book looks at the history since Stockholm and the challenge on a number of key policy fronts. Published by Earthscan and worth reading by all those intending to go to Rio. New paper by Anabella Rosemberg of the IFTU on Green Jobs and Skills available from the Global Transition 2012 web site. Second Global Transition Dialogue for Rio+20 17th and 18th of March.

The European Economic and Social Council Confernce Go Sustainable Be Responsible opening panel with Felix Dodds Executive Director, Brice Lalonde , Exeuctive Coordinator for Rio+20, Staffan Nilsson EESC President and Janez Potcnik Commissioner for Environment European Commissioner. I called for: " I would like to echo that call by a quote from a different time about a different issue but which rings so clear today for our challenges. Senator Robert Kennedy in April 1968 said: “A revolution is coming— a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough. But a revolution is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability”. For Rio let us choose to work together for a world that is built on sustainable societies, responsive citizens and accountable governments.