Webinar on Hanley's Eleven

Submitted by admin on 13. February 2015 - 23:18

Presentation: “Seeding a New Culture”

By author and sustainability expert, Paul Hanley


On Sunday, 1 February 2015, Paul Hanley, author of the insightful new book, Eleven, presented a webinar lecture in Washington, D.C., USA, hosted by the U.S. Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs. Drawing on the material in his book, Mr. Hanley discussed how humanity and the world will adjust to support 11 billion people by the end of this century and how we can and are beginning to cure the social and environmental ills currently plaguing humanity and nature. As part of his talk, Mr. Hanley emphasized a solution rooted in local education and capacity-building processes practiced in the Bahá’í community. A recording of the talk with slides was available, but has unfortunately been lost. More than 100 individuals took part in the event and feedback was very positive.

Sponsoring Organization: U.S. Baha’i Office of Public Affairs, http://publicaffairs.bahai.us/

Eleven

 

Indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals

Submitted by admin on 31. January 2015 - 17:55

Indicators and a Monitoring Framework for Sustainable Development Goals:
Launching a data revolution for the SDGs

A report by the Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network
Revised working draft for consultation, 16 January 2015

Download the report (160 p.) at: http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/150116-Indicators-and-a-Mo…


As the Sustainable Development Goals and targets go through governmental review and approval this year, one area of unfinished business is to identify the indicators that will be used to measure progress towards the ambitious goals for 2030. The SDSN has taken up the challenge, and its report proposes 100 global indicators for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be calculated for all countries, as well as 141 complementary national indicators to be used on an optional basis depending on the national situation and priorities. All the global indicators are discussed in detail for methodology, data availability, and responsible organizations. The aim is to provide the scientific backing for decisions governments will take this year to adopt the SDGs, to be ready to start implementation in 2016 of at least a partial set of indicators ready for use. The revised working draft was open for two weeks for expert comments, and IEF submitted a short version of its analysis below.

Climate Change Adaptation and Small Island Developing States

Submitted by admin on 12. January 2015 - 11:20

A five week free internet course, Pathways to climate change adaptation: the case of Small Island Developing States, on Coursera running from 26 January to 28 February 2015 includes IEF President Arthur Lyon Dahl as one of the faculty. The course was prepared by the University of Geneva in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme. Details about the course are available at https://www.coursera.org/course/sids, together with an introductory video.

The Road to Dignity by 2030 - SG's Synthesis Report

Submitted by admin on 9. January 2015 - 15:09

The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet

Synthesis Report of the Secretary-General On the Post-2015 Agenda
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5527SR_advance%2…


The Synthesis Report of the Secretary-General On the Post-2015 Agenda "The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet" was released on 4 December. It is worth looking at this report in some detail, since it aims to provide the vision, one might even say the ethical foundation, for the community of nations for the next 15 years to 2030.

IEF response to SG's Synthesis Report

Submitted by admin on 9. January 2015 - 13:50

IEF response to SG's Synthesis Report

Official IEF reaction to the UN Secretary-General's Synthesis Report on the Post-2015 Agenda
The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet

Karlberg: Meaning, Religion and a Great Transition - review

Submitted by Arthur Dahl on 9. January 2015 - 9:40

Meaning, Religion and a Great Transition

by Michael Karlberg
a review and commentary by Arthur Dahl


The Great Transition Initiative is an international collaboration for charting pathways to a planetary civilization rooted in solidarity, sustainability, and human well-being. It operates an on-line forum of leading intellectuals moderated by the Tellus Institute in Boston. Papers are commissioned for discussion, and then published. A couple of IEF members take part in these discussions, which have been largely on scientific, political and institutional themes. In November, for the first time, the topic was "Meaning, Religion and a Great Transition" with a paper prepared by Michael Karlberg which has now been published on line. The discussion was lively and controversial, with the more secular scientists contesting that religion could be considered a knowledge system or be anything more than subjective and not worthy of serious consideration, while others welcomed this as an essential part of any transition. At the end of the month, Michael responded to the debate, and his commentary is also on line.

The Challenge of the Sustainable Development Goals

Submitted by Arthur Dahl on 15. December 2014 - 1:04

The Challenge of the Sustainable Development Goals

Arthur Lyon Dahl
International Environment Forum


Rio+20 called for the preparation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), building on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which focussed on reducing poverty, but including a wider set of sustainability issues relevant to all countries. An intergovernmental Open Working Group built on an inclusive process to issue a set of proposed SDGs in July 2014 (OWG 2014), and these are now under intergovernmental negotiation for approval by a UN summit of Heads of State on 25-27 September 2015. The Open Working Group proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals with a number of targets under each goal, 169 targets in all (OWG 2014). The UN General Assembly and the UN Secretary-General have accepted that the proposals of the Group be the main basis for the post-2015 intergovernmental process (UN 2014). Indicators still need to be developed for these targets.

Lima Call for Climate Action

Submitted by admin on 14. December 2014 - 19:55

Lima Call for Climate Action Puts World on Track to Paris 2015

Based on UNFCCC Press Release / 14 December 2014


World on Track to New Universal Climate Agreement with Lima Call for Climate Action

Governments Agree Ground Rules on Contributions to Paris 2015 Agreement and Boost Adaptation

Clearer Elements of New Agreement Evolved in Peruvian Capital

cherry blossoms