“No single SDG or the SDGs as a whole will be successfully implemented if we do it within silos. […] Just to give an example: Health and well-being partly depend on nutrition and food-security, which depend on agriculture and fisheries, which in turn depend on the state of the land, oceans, and seas and other issues like conservation and the environment – with climate change as an overarching and cross-cutting factor.”
H.E. Mr. Ronald Jumeau, Ambassador for Climate Change and Small Island Developing State Issues, Seychelles, moderating a panel on "Ensuring that no one is left behind - Food security and sustainable agriculture, climate action, sustainable oceans and terrestrial ecosystems - adopting a nexus approach" at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, 12 July 2016.
You can watch the full panel discussion including Mr. Jumeau's remarks here.
Even as the US officially pulled out of the Paris Agreement earlier this week, it might be too soon to lose hope on the country's long-term commitments to climate action. If a Democrat wins the upcoming presidential elections, which are set for November 2020, a reaccession process could begin shortly after the withdrawal is complete. In the meantime, however, the effect on trade policy could be significant.
European peatlands could turn from carbon sinks to sources as a quarter have reached levels of dryness unsurpassed in a record stretching back 2,000 years, according to a new study. This trend of “widespread” and “substantial” drying corresponds to recent climate change, both natural and human-caused, but may also be exacerbated by the peatlands being used for agriculture and fuel.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands has contributed $28 million to back FAO's work to boost the resilience of food systems in Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan - part of a new initiative to scale-up resilience-based development work in countries affected by protracted crises.
A group of five small countries have announced that they will launch negotiations on a new Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability, which, if successful, would constitute the first international trade agreement focused solely on climate change and sustainable development. The initiative also breaks new ground by aiming to simultaneously remove barriers for trade in environmental goods and services and crafting binding rules to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. Small countries can pioneer the development of new trade rules that can help achieve climate goals, but making credible commitments, attracting additional participants, and ensuring transparency will be essential ingredients for long-term success.