“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.
Ten years after committing to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, G20 countries still subsidise coal, oil and gas to the tune of around USD 150 billion annually. Peer review of fossil fuel subsidies help push the G20 forward on this issue, but these reviews need to be followed by action. Subsidy reforms could free up resources that could be channeled back into government programmes and on accelerating a clean energy transition.
Adapting to climate change and strengthening resilience are becoming priorities for the international community – however, they require greater ambition in climate policy. 107 governments and numerous international organisations have endorsed a call for action on raising ambition at the United Nations Climate Change Summit on 23rd September 2019. Following the summit, the Global Commission on Adaptation will begin its Year of Action to meet the climate challenges ahead. The Year of Action is here to accelerate climate adaptation around the world, to improve human well-being and to drive more sustainable economic development and security.
A new form of organized crime has recently been emerging in the Amazon: illegal mining. Miners fell trees, use high-grade explosives for blasting soils and dredge riverbeds. But the impacts go beyond environmental damage, bringing with it a slew of other social problems. Peace researcher Adriana Abdenur urges policymakers to improve coordination and argues that diplomacy may help prevent further conflicts, corruption and crime.
Access to water can be a critical resource for cooperation, but also a source of tension. Identifying risks before their onset is crucial for the efficiency and economic feasibility of intervention strategies, but how can these risks be measured? To address this conundrum, adelphi together with several partners convened a side-event at World Water Week, which connected experts developing analytical tools to policy makers in the water sector.