A new sustainable development agenda

SOURCE: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/

An end to poverty, hunger and inequality worldwide. That and more is the ambitious agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed upon by 193 countries in September 2015 at the United Nations.

Voices around the world are demanding leadership on poverty, inequality and climate change. To turn these demands into actions, world leaders gathered on 25 September 2015, at the United Nations in New York to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The 2030 Agenda comprises 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or Global Goals, which will guide policy and funding for the next 15 years, beginning with a historic pledge to end poverty. Everywhere. Permanently.

The concept of the SDGs was born at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of universally applicable goals that balances the three dimensions of sustainable development: environmental, social, and economic.

The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which in September 2000 rallied the world around a common 15-year agenda to tackle the indignity of poverty.

The MDGs established measurable, universally-agreed objectives for eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, preventing deadly but treatable disease, and expanding educational opportunities to all children, among other development imperatives.

The MDGs drove progress in several important areas:

• Income poverty
• Access to improved sources of water
• Primary school enrollment
• Child mortality

With the job unfinished for millions of people—we need to go the last mile on ending hunger, achieving full gender equality, improving health services and getting every child into school. Now we must shift the world onto a sustainable path. The SDGs aim to do just that, with 2030 as the target date.

This new development agenda applies to all countries, promotes peaceful and inclusive societies, creates better jobs and tackles the environmental challenges of our time—particularly climate change. Later this year world leaders are expected to reach a global agreement on climate change at the Paris Climate Conference.

The Sustainable Development Goals must finish the job that the Millennium Development Goals started, and leave no one behind.

 

More about the MDGs and SDGs

• Progress on the Millennium Development Goals  
  
  15 years after world leaders committed to a new global partnership to reduce poverty, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have made a profound difference.more 

   

  Transitioning to the Sustainable Development Goals

  

  
  World leaders have adopted a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to finish the job of the MDGs.more 

    
  Learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  
  SDG 1: No poverty
  SDG 2: Zero hunger
  SDG 3: Good health and well-being
  SDG 4: Quality education
  SDG 5: Gender equality
  SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
  SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
  SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
  SDG 9: Industry, innovation, infrastructure
  SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
  SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
  SDG 12: Responsible consumption, production
  SDG 13: Climate action
  SDG 14: Life below water
  SDG 15: Life on land
  SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
  SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals

 

What is your ecological footprint?

Ecological footprint calculator

Ecological Footprint

SOURCE:  WWF  

http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/webfieldtrips/ecological_balance/eco_footprint/

The simplest way to define ecological footprint would be to call it the impact of human activities measured in terms of the area of biologically productive land and water required to produce the goods consumed and to assimilate the wastes generated. More simply, it is the amount of the environment necessary to produce the goods and services necessary to support a particular lifestyle.

© iStockPhoto / Dena Steiner 

What is Ecological Footprint?

  Earthday.net, with its theme of 'Protecting our home', offers a number of resources to understand and study the concept of ecological footprint. Together with Redefining Progress, it measures how much is needed to produce the resources we consume and dispose of our waste.
 
A measure of sustainability

 
An interesting way to look at ecological footprint is how much nations consume versus how much they actually have. Another detailed look at the concept and a ranking of countries can be found here.
 
What is your Ecological Footprint? 

 
Everyone of us has an ecological footprint. To find out how far you have put your foot in it, try this site, irrespective of your geographical location.
 
Ecological Footprint of 52 countries

 
Another way to measure ecological footprint is a country-wise ranking. Fifty-two nations are ranked here depending on how they fare in this department.
 
More resources

 
The Global Footprint Network coordinates research and develops methodological standards for decision makers to have resource accounts to ensure that we live within the Earth's 'budget'. Here is where you can find more about this.
The Redefining Progress website also offers a number of interesting resources explaining how selfish and unthinking we can sometimes be towards the environment.

New UN goals call for end to extreme poverty by 2030

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/may/30/un-end-extreme-poverty-2030-goals

The world should set itself the ambitious goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, a UN panel co-chaired by David Cameron and the presidents of Indonesia and Liberia said on Thursday in a report proposing new development goals.
Noting that the promise to wipe out extreme poverty had been made before, the panellists said it "can actually be done". The report said the world had to go beyond the millennium development goals (MDGs) as they did not focus enough on reaching the very poorest and most excluded people.
"This report sets out a clear road map for eradicating extreme poverty by 2030. We need a new global partnership to finish the job on the current MDGs, tackle the underlying causes of poverty and champion sustainable development," said Cameron, who chaired the panel with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Indonesian president, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian president.
Seeking to move beyond the MDGs, which aim to halve extreme poverty (defined as people earning less than $1.25 a day) by 2015, the panel called for extreme poverty to be ended for good. It also proposes eliminating preventable infant deaths and reducing maternal mortality.
But the proposals do not include a standalone goal on inequality, reflecting Cameron's priorities: growth rather than reducing inequality.
Development experts say widening gaps in wealth and opportunity have acted as a brake on poverty reduction, as well as hindering progress in child survival, nutrition and education. The 1.2 billion poorest people account for only 1% of world consumption while the billion richest consume 72%.
"Nice goals, but the elephant in the post-2015 room is inequality," said Andy Sumner, a development economist at King's College London. "We find in our number-crunching that poverty can only be ended if inequality falls so one should ask: where's the inequality goal? Something resembling that elephant in the room – on data disaggregation – is in annex 1 of the report, but will anyone remember an annex note in 2030?"

Alex Cobham, a research fellow at the Centre for Global Development in Europe, said: "What's disappointing is the treatment of economic inequality: in the face of overwhelming consensus from the global consultation that the MDGs had failed to address inequality, and that the new framework should include a standalone goal, the panel's proposal is silent."

Justine Greening, international development secretary, said the report tackled inequality "categorically" in that no one could be left behind.
The report states that one trend – climate change – will determine whether policymakers can deliver on the next set of development goals.
"People living in poverty will suffer worst from climate change. The cost of taking action now will be much less than the cost of dealing with the consequences later," said the report, which outlined five areas for transformation: leave no one behind by ensuring that no person is denied universal human rights and basic opportunities; put sustainable development at the core; a rapid shift to sustainable patterns of consumption and production; build peace and effective, open and accountable institutions for all; and a global partnership that goes beyond an aid agenda, including a swift reduction in corruption, illicit financial flows, money-laundering, tax evasion and hidden ownership of assets.
The high-level panel proposed 12 measurable goals and 54 targets. Goals include ending extreme poverty for good, making sure everyone has access to food and water, promoting good governance, and boosting jobs and growth. Targets include promoting free speech and the rule of law, ending child marriage, protecting property rights, encouraging entrepreneurship, and educating all children to at least primary school level.

The charity Save the Children welcomed the focus on the needs of those left behind, in particular the commitments to "zero goals" (for example ending all poverty).

"Today's report offers a blueprint for eliminating extreme poverty within a generation," said Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children. "The report envisages a world in which no child is born to die, no child goes to bed hungry, every child learns in school and every child grows up to a sustainable and more prosperous future. This may sound too good to be true, but by building on recent progress and with the right political commitment it's entirely achievable."
The report was the culmination of a consultation process as the UN talked to civil society groups in London, Monrovia and Bali. UN and government officials consistently heard from NGOs that the next set of development goals should cover the world's most marginalised people, including indigenous groups and people with disabilities.
The report recommended that a limited number of goals and targets be adopted in the post-2015 development agenda and that each should be specific, measurable, attainable and timebound. A major concern among policymakers is the risk of duplication and wasted effort if the work of the UN panel and that of the open working group on the sustainable development goals that grew out of the Rio+20 summit run along parallel tracks without meeting.
The panel's report will be discussed at this year's UN general assembly in September. Next year, the Rio+20 group will report to the UN with its recommendations on sustainable goals.
"International agreement on a single, universal agenda to succeed the MDGs is vital, but not assured," said the panel. "One challenge is to agree on clear, compelling and ambitious goals, through a transparent and inclusive process in the UN. And to do so within a timescale that enables a smooth transition from the MDGs to a new development agenda from January 2016."

The 12 goals

1. End poverty
2. Empower girls and women and achieve gender equality
3. Provide quality education and lifelong learning
4. Ensure healthy lives
5. Ensure food security and good nutrition
6. Achieve universal access to water and sanitation
7. Secure sustainable energy
8. Create jobs, sustainable livelihoods, and equitable growth
9. Manage natural resource assets sustainably
10. Ensure good governance and effective institutions
11. Ensure stable and peaceful societies
12. Create a global enabling environment and catalyse long term finance

Human Development Report 2014: findings explained

Source: theguardian.com/uk

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/jul/24/human-development-report-2014-undp

What is it?

The Human Development Report (HDR) published by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is an annual report which measures of human development across the globe.

What are the key findings from 2014?

More than 2.2 billion people are either near or living in multidimensional poverty – that is exhibiting several factors that constitute deprivation such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standard, lack of income, disempowerment, poor quality of work and threat from violence.

Nearly 80% of the global population lack social protection, while 12% (842 million people) suffer from chronic hunger – and nearly half of all workers across the world are in informal or precarious employment.

The findings show youth unemployment is a growing problem for developing countries, particularly as more young people go to school. Khalid Malik, director of UNDP Human Development Report Office and lead author of the report, says: "When people are more educated, their relationship with citizenship changes, and they expect more from jobs. Our report shows gaps between people going into jobs and available jobs is going to widen substantially in Africa in the coming years."

Another finding was the effect of globalisation on economic vulnerability: "Globalisation has brought countries together and provided more opportunities, but it has also increased the risk of adverse events, like the recession, being transmitted more rapidly," says Malik.

What are the authors' recommendations?

Researchers from the report outline a principle to guide policy: universalism – the idea that everyone has the universal right to education and healthcare.

"We need a better balance between private and public interest. It is possible and cost-effective to push for universal access to basic social services in most developing countries," says Malik.

The closest to a silver bullet in human development is educating women, and particularly mothers, according to Malik. "Mothers influence the population of future countries, and this report shows that educating mothers helps eliminate poverty."

Because the world is more connected, collaborative action is also essential. Disease control, global recessions and climate change are all global obstacles, which can only be tackled with a global commitment between countries.

"We're all interconnected, we're no longer in a silo," says Malik.

Will the Human Development Report be of any use to you?

The background information the HDR provides can be used to inform development work and enable activists and policymakers to make useful comparisons. It detail is also of use to the development research community.

"We used the 2013 HDR to help frame and inform gender and equity analyses in international health. The HDR links to multiple reports at country, and state level and are helpful in informing and supporting the work of researchers, NGOs and stakeholders," says Sally Theobald, a reader in international health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

On its limitations Theobald says: "While the report contains largely quantifiable information, the detail of how a factor (eg gender) shapes human development in different contexts is sometimes lacking. But used alongside other resources the HDR provides a useful, holistic look at development."

According to Neil Squires, former head of Profession for Health at DFID, the theme for the 2014 report, 'Reducing vulnerabilities and Building Resilience', is one that will resonate and inform thinking on the post millennium development goals agenda.

"Making communities and countries more resilient to international shocks and climate change and protecting the most vulnerable will continue to be priorities post 2015 in poor, middle income and rich countries alike," says Squires.

Echoing Malik's words he adds: "We are all in this together."

Theme 1 - Wealth Inequality in The United States

Whatch this video and answer the following questions:

1.   What is the method used by the Harvard’s professor to carry out the survey?

2.   What is the question asked to the interviewed people?

3.   What would be the ideal distribution of wealth in the US?

4.   What is the reality for two bottom categories?

5.   What was the American wealth in 2009?

6.   Why does the speaker think socialism won’t work?

7.   How much richer are the better-off in the ideal of the American people?

8.   What happens to the poorest in reality? And the middle class?

9.   How much do the 1% richest have?

Theme 1 - What does Sustainable development mean?

Raised in Vancouver and Toronto, Severn Cullis-Suzuki has been camping and hiking all her life. When she was 9 she started the Environmental Children's Organization (ECO), a small group of children committed to learning and teaching other kids about environmental issues. They were successful in many projects before 1992, when they raised enough money to go to the UN's Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Their aim was to remind the decision-makers of who their actions or inactions would ultimately affect. The goal was reached when 12 yr old Severn closed a Plenary Session with a powerful speech that received a standing ovation.

Severn Suzuki speaking at UN Earth Summit 1992

1.   What organization does she speak for?

2.   What is she fighting for?

3.   What is she afraid of?

4.   Why doesn’t she go fishing anymore?

5.   What has she dreamt of?

6.   What does she want the adults to realize?

7.   What are the four different environmental problems she talks about?

8.   How many people were there in the world at that time?

9.   How many species does she mention?

10.               What kind of bad habit from her country does she denounce?

11.               What are we afraid of?

12.               Why was she shocked when she arrived in Brazil?

13.               What does she want the northern countries to do?

14.               What are the main things she was taught at school?

15.               What is the sentence her father keeps telling her?

Theme 1 - Wrong development - UK families in poverty

Save the Children launches campaign to help UK families in poverty

 

Abridged version from http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/sep/05/save-the-children-uk-campaign?INTCMP=SRCH

 

The international aid charity Save the Children – best known for its work with starving youngsters in Africa – has launched its first domestic fundraising appeal, asking the public to dip into their pockets to help UK families plunged into poverty by cuts and the recession.

The charity is seeking to raise £500,000 to help children across the UK, many from low-paid working families, who it says are going without hot meals, new shoes and winter clothes, and missing out on school trips, toys and treats because their parents cannot afford the rising cost of living.

While the appeal target is modest compared to Save the Children's international humanitarian appeals, the campaign will be seen as a symbolically significant attack on what the charity says is the coalition's failure to tackle mounting poverty, hardship and inequality in the UK.

Launching its appeal, which bears the slogan “It Shouldn't Happen Here”, the charity said: "It is shocking to think that in the UK in 2012, families are being forced to miss out on essentials like food or take on crippling debts just to meet everyday living costs."

Save the Children plans to spend money raised on its Eat, Sleep, Learn, Play programme, which gives cookers, beds and other essential household items to families living in poverty, and its Fast scheme, which helps low-income parents to provide at-home educational support to their children.

Although families below the poverty line (£17,000 a year household income) are worst hit, working families on "modest" household incomes are increasingly struggling to make ends meet as they attempt to cope with shrinking incomes, soaring food and energy costs, and cuts to welfare benefits and public services, says the report.

Save the Children is calling on ministers to encourage more employers to adopt the living wage currently set at between £7.20 and £8.30 an hour, provide extra childcare support for low-income parents, and modify the planned universal credit welfare system to allow parents to keep more of their earnings before benefits are withdrawn. The charity's Shouldn't Happen Here report is the second high-profile study by an international aid charity to focus on domestic poverty in recent months. Oxfam's Perfect Storm, published in June, said that cuts and rising living costs were threatening to return the UK to levels of inequality not seen since Victorian times. An Oxfam spokesman said: "We have never done an appeal in the UK, and we should never have to do an appeal in the UK, but you can never rule it out”.

Read the text and answer the following questions (justify your answers by quoting the text) 1.       What is the aim of this fundraising appeal? 2.       Why is the appeal so special? 3.       What is the poverty line in the UK? 4.       What are the main problems faced by the poorer families? 5.       What measures the charity would like the government to take?

Theme 1 - Case Study: Las Vegas

"Lasvegasclimate". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Mead

 

 

 

Documents below from: http://www.cityofnorthlasvegas.com/Departments/Utilities/TopicWaterDroughtRestrictions.shtm

 

 

 

Water Shortage Reaching Critical Stage

By Nathan Baca, Investigative Reporter -

By Alex Brauer, Photojournalist -

 

8 News NOW

LAS VEGAS -- Drought conditions have drained Lake Mead to near critical levels, and a rush of water from Lake Powell may not be as much as normal.
Before water used by the Las Vegas valley gets to Lake Mead, it goes to Lake Powell on the Utah/Arizona border. However, federal officials are expected to announce next week that Lake Powell has much less water to give Nevada.
That puts the lake levels dangerously close to where federal water restrictions kick in for southern Nevada.
Lake Mead's bathtub ring is about to turn into a drain, not only on Las Vegas' growth, but on people's wallets.
Right now, there are two giant intakes at Lake Mead, known as straws. The straws draw southern Nevada's drinking water.
New projections from the Southern Nevada Water Authority predict the water will drop too low for one of those straws by February 2016.
"At that point, you have 90 percent of the water supply for 2 million people coming out of a single source. No water manager wants to be in that position. Where you are one single catastrophic event from losing that water supply," deputy manager at the SNWA John Entsminger said.
If Lake Mead drops to 1,075 feet, Nevada will be forced to cut its water use by 4 percent. The lake is now at 1,106 and falling fast.
If this all seems familiar, it is because water officials said in 2010 they would have much of this problem fixed by now with a third straw.
However, Lake Mead's third straw was delayed by an fault line, underground flooding and a worker's death. The digging on the new straw is 25 percent complete, with hopes of completion by early 2015.
SNWA's next plan is the controversial pipeline to bring groundwater from eastern Nevada and Utah to Las Vegas. Court battles with landowners could delay the project indefinitely.
"When you looked at Hurricane Sandy, for instance, it was not: 'what is the payroll of the City of Trenton?' It was: 'a natural disaster has occurred, and we need to come together as a region,"' Entsminger said.
"They really all see, as do most scientists, the fact that we're not really in a period of drought. It is climate change." Dr. Stephen Parker, with UNLV, said
Parker believes long-term solutions include paying Southern California farmers to not use water.
Creating water from the sea is another solution, but California has told Nevada to look elsewhere: south of the border.
"Cities and states cannot negotiate with other countries. That is with the State Department. It would take a treaty or executive agreement," Parker said.
To keep water flowing in southern Nevada, Mexico may be Las Vegas' best hope.
Senator Harry Reid's office told 8 News NOW that he is meeting with SNWA manager Pat Mulroy and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell next Tuesday in Las Vegas.
They will discuss opening up $50 million dollars in federal funding for water districts along the Colorado River.
from: http://www.8newsnow.com/story/23088814/water-shortage-in-southern-nevada-reaching-critical-stage