Breaking Down the Silos: Integrating Environmental Sustainability in the Post-2015 Agenda

Submitted by admin on 12. September 2013 - 20:36

Breaking Down the Silos: Integrating Environmental Sustainability in the Post-2015 Agenda

Report quotes IEF


"Breaking Down the Silos: Integrating Environmental Sustainability in the Post-2015 Agenda", the final report of the Global Consultation on Environmental Sustainability in the Post-2015 Development Agenda led by UNDP and UNEP, was released on 9 September 2013.

The report captures the essence and key messages of the eight-month consultation process that engaged academia, think tanks, representatives of civil society, youth, women and men from North and South who chose to focus the dialogue on the linkages between environmental sustainability and human development. At the forefront of the discussions was the need for the post-2015 agenda to be based on principles related to integrated approaches to development, equality, human rights and resilience in order to fully embed environmental sustainability. There was also a call for urgent collective action in areas related to 1) economic transformation, 2) governance and accountability, 3) local action and empowerment, and 4) education.

The IEF made a number of contributions to the consultations, and a quote from one of them is featured on page 26 in the report: "In the interest of fairness and equity, governments need to agree on an international regulatory framework that would establish minimum social and environmental standards, ensure that corporations pay their fair share of taxes, prevent companies becoming so large that they have a monopoly position and are more powerful than governments, or too big to fail." (Contribution to the e-discussion on the role of the private sector and markets by Arthur Lyon Dahl, President, International Environment Forum, Switzerland). This was inspired by recent Baha'i statements on corporate behaviour, and criticism in the Baha'i writings of "trusts" or corporations in a monopoly position.

"Breaking Down the Silos" can be used as a powerful tool to input into the inter-governmental debates on the post-2015 development agenda, starting with the 2013 UN General Assembly, the Special Event towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and the ongoing Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. The report can provide a foundation for ongoing dialogue and advocacy through our own networks, platforms, and consultations. The fact that we are quoted in it gives us added weight. For the full content of our contributions, see our compilation at http://iefworld.org/IEFpost2015 and the individual submissions reported earlier on this web site.