Blog Post

The Post-2015 Agenda & a New Climate Agreement: Building Mutually Reinforcing Process

  • By Kathy Zhang
  • •
  • 12 Feb, 2015
  • •
On February 10, 2015, SDSN co-hosted an event entitled The Post-2015 Agenda & a New Climate Agreement: Building Mutually Reinforcing Process with The Permanent Mission of Sweden, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Vietnam, and Peru to the UN.
On February 10, 2015, SDSN co-hosted an event entitled  The Post-2015 Agenda & a New Climate Agreement: Building Mutually Reinforcing Process  with The Permanent Mission of Sweden, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Vietnam, and Peru to the UN. Moderated by Minh-Thu Pham, Policy Director at the United Nations Foundation, the presentation featured E. Ms. Isabella Lövin, Minister for International Development Cooperation of Sweden, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director at the Earth Institute and SDSN, Joe Colombano, Economic Advisor in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, and Janos Pasztor, Assistant to the Secretary-General on Climate Change. Over 100 people, including several Permanent Representatives and Mission Representatives, attended the event.
Sachs, who spoke first, emphasized that the three major summits this year – the Financing for Development Conference, SDGs Summit, and COP21 – are all part of the same agenda; and that the climate negotiations and the post-2015 agenda should both support a new global framework for ensuring the sustainable development of future generations. Sachs emphasized the importance of the Paris negotiations as the last chance to agree to uphold the globally agreed upon 2°C limit on anthropogenic warming and highlighted the need for effective climate financing in achieving a zero-carbon economy by 2070.
Lövin spoke to the need for universality of the questions at hand, and emphasized the need for a more holistic approach to economic development and environmental sustainability. She emphasized the need for synergies between climate financing and financing for development, in addition to an inclusive, dignifying approach that involves all stakeholders including government, business, academia, and civil society.
Expanding on points made by previous speakers, Colombano focused on the intersection between the global responsibility to end poverty and the responsibility to combat the adverse effects of increased anthropogenic warming. He noted that, “This generation is the first generation that can really eradicate poverty and the last one that can address the challenges of climate change.”
Lastly, Pasztor spoke about climate and development as “two sides of the same coin.” He added that these issues do not only concern the developing world or the developed world, rather achieving the sustainable development goals and remaining under the 2°C limit for global warming will require engaging with the issue on a local, regional, and international level.
After the panelists fielded questions from the attendants, Pham concluded the discussion by stressing the importance and uniqueness of 2015 as an important political moment for sustainable development, as there is no Planet B.
This event was also covered by IISD Reporting Services.

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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