Blog Post

5th Annual Conference on Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

  • By Giovanni Bruna
  • •
  • 20 Feb, 2020
  • •
On February 14, 2020, SDSN staff visited the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES) to attend the 5th Annual Conference on Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The event explored current trends in innovation, agriculture, foreign affairs, trade, and climate-induced human migration. This year’s theme was Latin America at Home and Abroad: People, Capital, and Natural Resources.

Completely student-organized and led, the event was co-hosted by F&ES and the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies (CLAIS) at The MacMillan Center. Speakers and discussions reflected on climate-resilience, sustainable cities, and the interplay between local agriculture challenges and global markets.

Dr. Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian, Director of the Department of Social Inclusion at the Organization of American States, delivered the first keynote address. She presented on the region’s three main migration flows: Central Americans and Mexicans migrating to the United States, Nicaraguans to Costa Rica, and Venezuelans primarily to South American nations but also other countries. Muñoz-Pogossian also mentioned that in order to mitigate the stress migrants can place on education and health systems in receiving countries, host countries should find ways to grant refugees legal status and work permits as early as possible.

The first panel focused on achieving sustainability for all in cities and urban areas. With Latin America being one of the most urbanized regions in the world at around 80%, cities across the region are facing increasingly urgent problems in housing, transportation, water, waste and sanitation, and safety. The panel aimed at understanding the existing challenges and opportunities in sustainable urbanization in Latin America.

Amanda Maxwell, Director of the Latin America Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, was the second keynote speaker and presented on clean energy, climate change policy, green finance, and efforts to protect ecosystems throughout Latin America. She also mentioned how NRDC advocates for the strengthening of US federal laws and policies that impact the environment of the region, such as voluntary guidelines to protect the Amazon.

The second panel of the day focused on innovations for sustainability and social change. In the dynamic and diverse social and environmental ecosystems of Latin America, innovation can take many forms. The panel sought to present innovations that are helping the world achieve the SDGs, looking both at solutions the region has adapted from abroad and those developed within its borders. Discussions also analyzed the targets and mechanisms of innovation, from optimizing technical practices to improving collaborative efforts.

Panel three highlighted agricultural production. It explored Latin America’s role in global agricultural markets, and the impact of international influences; such as trade, corporations, and investments; on local food security and rural development. It aimed to identify ways the region can ensure local peoples’ well-being, while also allowing the region to remain competitive in global markets. Presentations also looked at the systemic shifts needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of agriculture in the region.

Julia Carabias, the final keynote speaker, was especially inspiring to SDSN staff, in no small part because she was the first and only person to explicitly mention the SDGs. She assessed present-day imbalances between nature and society, and expressed concern at how humans globally are extracting more than nature can renew, profoundly altering the planet’s natural processes. Carabias shared her belief that environmental agreements, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the SDGs, are a powerful tool in addressing these challenges.

The final panel provided a broad outlook on Latin America and the Caribbean. Bringing together all three keynote speakers in a powerful, all-women panel, the discussion covered how to scale existing solutions and ways to create the most impact.

SDSN Newsletter - July 2021

By SDSN Secretariat • 03 Aug, 2021 •
This month, SDSN celebrated its growing network, talked about the incredible amount of media coverage on the 2021 SDR, and reflected on this year's High Level Political Forum

WRI Report Spotlight: “Unlocking a Renewable Energy Future: How Government Action Can Drive Private Investment”

By Fiona Laird • 02 Aug, 2021 •
World Resources Institute recently released Unlocking a Renewable Energy Future: How Government Action Can Drive Private Investment, a report outlining key challenges to increasing clean energy investment and deployment. This report digs into the financial and regulatory mechanisms available to support policy frameworks like that outlined in SDSN USA’s Zero Carbon Action Plan (ZCAP), released in October 2020.

European Commission launches proposals to reach 55% emissions reduction by 2030

By Sam Van Hoof • 30 Jul, 2021 •
The ‘Fit for 55' package includes a ban on combustion engines from 2035, a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and a Social Climate Fund among other provisions.

SDSN Canada 2021 Members Meeting Recap

By Giovanni Bruna • 29 Jul, 2021 •

SDSN Canada reconvened the network membership on June 16th, 2021 for the annual Members Meeting.

This year's meeting featured conversations on the current state of the SDGs in Canada, emerging opportunities for post-secondary institutions, networking breakout sessions, and a featured joint presentation by the Brookings Institution and Rockefeller Foundation on mobilizing campuses and communities for the SDGs using the 17 Rooms initiative. A lightning round of member initiatives was also included to highlight a portion of the SDG work happening across the network.

Recap the discussion by reading the meeting notes   or listening to the audio recordings for each session.

Meeting Highlights:

  • The SDSN Global annual Sustainable Development Report 2021  was released June 2021, tracking progress on the SDGs by country (Canada ranked 21st in the world). The report outlines the short-term impacts of COVID-19 on the SDGs and describes how the SDGs can frame the recovery.
  • The Government of Canada has released Canada’s National Strategy for the SDGs, Moving Forward Together. The strategy outlines a set of 30 actions towards the SDGs, including localizing the SDGs, supporting partnerships with Indigenous initiatives, and advancing research into the gaps in Canada's efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
  • The 17 Rooms initiative  is a tool for advancing SDG collaboration, community-centric conversations, and bottom-up action. There are three key principles of consideration:
    • Every SDG gets a seat at the table (a dedicated room).
    • Identify what the next step is, and not the perfect step. What are things you can do together over the next 12 to 18 months that you can implement action on the SDGs?
    • It is about conversations, not presentations. The goal is to learn from each other and create a community of practice.
    • Join the 17 Rooms-X Community of Practice to access the beta toolkit.
  • A ‘lightning round’ of presentations by members spotlighting SDG work from Colleges and Institutes Canada, the Interdisciplinary Research Center in the Operationalization of Sustainable Development (CIRODD), Vancouver Island University, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Waterloo.

The meeting was also a chance to invite the membership into initiatives designed to be more intentional about the network’s collective presence and impact. In this vein, the network thinks that the 17 Rooms process can be a critical resource for campus conversations on the SDGs. It also relaunched the Member Challenge , is starting the ‘SDG Teaching Community’ for faculty across the network, and is convening a small working group of interested members to talk about an enhanced governance structure for the network.

Public Consultation on SPA Report

By Lauren Barredo • 29 Jul, 2021 •
We encourage stakeholders to provide meaningful input to aid the development of a better and more complete report. We invite feedback from individuals and organizations, from all sectors.

Environmental and Agricultural Impacts of Dietary Shifts at Global and National Scales

By FABLE • 28 Jul, 2021 •
The FABLE Consortium is releasing two policy briefs over the coming months intended to advise national governments on sustainable land-use and diets. The first brief, entitled “Environmental and agricultural impacts of dietary shifts at global and national scales'' is now available.

Media Coverage of the Sustainable Development Report 2021

By SDG Index • 23 Jul, 2021 •
The Sustainable Development Report 2021 has been covered by the BBC, the Guardian, Washington Post, and more than 100 other media outlets.

The Multidimensional Vulnerability Index and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

By Isabella Massa • 21 Jul, 2021 •
SDSN together with the United Nations Resident Coordinators in SIDS and the Permanent Mission of Antigua and Barbuda hosted on 12 July 2021 a High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) side event to discuss the issue of measuring multidimensional vulnerability, and its relevance for international financing mechanisms.

SDGs Today Launches My School Today!

By SDGs Today • 20 Jul, 2021 •
SDGs Today recently launched their My School Today! call to action, meant to support students and local communities to geo-reference their schools and education facilities as part of an effort to promote timely information on school locations in Africa

SDSN at the 2021 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF)

By SDSN Secretariat • 20 Jul, 2021 •
SDSN and our networks are hosting a number of events alongside the UN's High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). We are thrilled to invite you to join us at the following events, which SDSN is hosting or are organized by our partners.
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