Is It the End of the COP as We Know It? An Analysis of the First Year of Virtual Meetings in the UN Environment and Sustainable Development Arena

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Pamela Chasek
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
First Year ◽  
Multilateral Negotiations ◽  
The World ◽  
Initial Shock ◽  
Virtual Meetings ◽  
The United Nations

Abstract The year 2020 started much like any other on the United Nations multilateral calendar. But then the COVID-19 pandemic forced the UN and the world to shut down. After the initial shock wore off, secretariats and governments began to contemplate how to conduct multilateral negotiations during a pandemic. As they created new virtual working methods, they also had to figure out how to maintain trust among delegations and in the process itself to ensure the outcomes of these meetings would be respected. To understand how UN meetings adapted to a virtual environment and maintained trust, this article analyzes a sample of 18 meetings of UN environmental and sustainable development bodies that took place in the 12 months between April 2020 and March 2021. The research examines these cases to see how these meetings were conducted, how they built the necessary trust, and what can be learned from this experience.

From environmental education to education for sustainable development in higher education: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Mauricio Acosta Castellanos ◽  
Araceli Queiruga-Dios
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

Purpose In education concerning environmental issues, there are two predominant currents in the world, environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD). ESD is the formal commitment and therefore promoted by the United Nations, to ensure that countries achieve sustainable development. In contrast, EE was the first educational trend with an environmental protection approach. The purpose of this systematic review that seeks to show whether the migration from EE to ESD is being effective and welcomed by researchers and especially by universities is presented. With the above, a global panorama can be provided, where the regions that choose each model can be identified. In the same sense, it was sought to determine which of the two currents is more accepted within engineering education. Design/methodology/approach The review followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyzes parameters for systematic reviews. In total, 198 papers indexed in Scopus, Science Direct, ERIC and Scielo were analyzed. With the results, the advancement of ESD and the state of the EE by regions in the world were identified. Findings It was possible to categorize the geographical regions that host either of the two EE or ESD currents. It is important to note that ESD has gained more strength from the decade of ESD proposed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. For its part, EE has greater historical roots in some regions of the planet. In turn, there is evidence of a limited number of publications on the design and revision of study plans in engineering. Originality/value Through this systematic literature review, the regions of the world that are clinging to EE and those that have taken the path of ESD could be distinguished. Moreover, specific cases in engineering where ESD has been involved were noted.

scholarly journals Sustainable Finance and the 2030 Agenda: Investing to Transform the World

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10505
Author(s):  
María Mar Miralles-Quirós ◽  
José Luis Miralles-Quirós
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Member States ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
The World ◽  
Sustainable Finance ◽  
The United Nations

On 25 September 2015, the member states of the United Nations approved an initiative in New York called “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” [...]

scholarly journals Civic Education for Sustainable Development and its Consequences for German Civic Education Didactics and Curricula of Higher Education

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Brunold
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Civic Education ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Learning ◽  
Global Development ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

Abstract Since the nineties, the principle of sustainable development has increasingly been adopted by policy makers and civil society in Germany and, of course, in many countries of the world. With the acceptance of this principle, the significance of education for sustainable development (ESD) has also been recognised. Increased awareness of the problems of environmental challenges, globalisation and poverty has meant that the concepts of environmental education, global learning, and education in development policy have been consistently oriented towards more sustainability. This leads to an increased awareness that globalisation processes must be shaped in accordance with the objectives of sustainable development, both nationally and internationally. By encouraging the idea of sustainability to take root in all areas of education systems, the World Decade of Education for Sustainable Development from 2005 to 2014 intended to take significant steps towards greater educational sustainability. The curricula for civic education for sustainable development and global learning in Germany are, therefore of course, very closely linked to global development and globalisation processes, and because of that, they are to be seen within the mandate of the United Nations educational policy. The paper shows, that the learning area of global development objectives is structured in an inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary manner. It carries the essential features of a domain: a delimited object area, a specific approach to the world, and the reference to a basic teaching concept in the educational policy traditions of one-world or development-policy education and global learning. Therefore the aim is clear, that these curricula should contribute to the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, towards inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, as it is mentioned in goal number 4 (United Nations, 2014).

scholarly journals Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Margot Weijnen ◽  
Zofia Lukszo ◽  
Samira Farahani
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Sustainable Energy For All

AbstractThe energy transition is an unprecedented challenge for the world. It is unprecedented in its global ambition and in its complexity. In the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development it is formulated as ‘Achieving Sustainable Energy for All’.

Knowledge Societies in China, Portugal, and Uganda

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-50
Author(s):  
Nuno Vasco Lopes ◽  
Kenneth Bagarukayo ◽  
Jun Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
International Telecommunication Union ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The United Nations

In September 2015, the United Nations (UN) Member States subscribed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the 2030 Agenda (General Assembly 2015). This work makes an analysis on how Knowledge Societies can effectively contribute for the achievements of the Agenda's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, it will be presented the research overview conducted by UNU-EGOV for producing the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Knowledge Societies Handbook (UNESCO/IFAP and UNU-EGOV 2016). In addition, three countries from three different Continents of Asia, Europe and Africa - China, Portugal and Uganda respectively - will be analyzed in the context of the knowledge societies architecture proposed in the handbook. For making that analysis a set of indicators collected from the “The World Bank” (The World Bank 2016) and “International Telecommunication Union” (ITU) (ITU 2015) databases have been selected. The indicators have been interpreted taking into consideration the socio-cultural, political, and economic context of each of the three countries.

The Governance Mechanism and Process of Global Cyberspace Security Under the Framework of the United Nations

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 3685-3697
Author(s):  
Zhi Li ◽  
Tang Zheng ◽  
Yuemeng Ge ◽  
Jia Min ◽  
Danqi Chen
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Governance Mechanism ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Security Governance ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right ◽  
Cyberspace Security

Since the security of global cyberspace was regarded as the core topic of global governance, the UN has become the main place for exchanging ideas, developing debates and promoting governance. Therefore, the global cyberspace governance mechanism established by the United Nations is naturally acclaimed as the most representative platform, providing opportunities and assistance for the countries all over the world to participating in the global cyberspace governance. For the governance mechanism and process of global cyberspace security, the UN has not only set global agendas on the right to free speech on the Internet, the sustainable development of cyberspace security, the inclusiveness of the artificial intelligence and the sustainable development, but also has established a relatively integrated the framework of the governance mechanism. In dealing with the differences and games in the changing of the global cyberspace security governance, the UN still condenses consensus and continuously promotes the international cooperation, pushing the security of global cyberspace become the general consensus in the international community. Meanwhile, the UN also calls for countries around the world to coordinate governance in order to consolidate and develop the status of the United Nations in global cyberspace security governance.

How Did Poverty Reduction in China Contribute to the World? Viewing from the Implementation of the UN MDGs and SDGs

2019 ◽  
Vol 07 (01) ◽  
pp. 1940007
Author(s):  
Liangliang GAO ◽  
Cuiping MA ◽  
Junxia ZENG ◽  
Bin WANG ◽  
Yue LI
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Market Mechanism ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Government

Countries all over the world are highly concerned about poverty. Both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations set ending poverty and hunger as their top priority. Whether in its own modernization drive or in the implementation of the United Nations’ MDGs and SDGs, the Chinese Government has always attached great importance to poverty issues, and actively explored measures to reduce poverty. This paper is designed to use relevant statistics to sum up China’s achievements and experience in implementing the MDGs so as to provide a policy basis for poverty reduction in China and beyond. This paper discovers that China’s achievements in poverty reduction involve four aspects: Eliminating hunger ahead of schedule, improving people’s nutritional status, enhancing food security and laying a solid foundation for sustainable agricultural development; China’s experience in poverty reduction includes the following: the government had paid high attention; economic development had served as the key to solve all problems; the development had been guided by planning and guaranteed by policies and regulations; the market mechanism had played its due role; emphasis had been placed on the pilot projects and step-by-step promotion strategy, as well as on development cooperation and experience exchanges. The Chinese Government had formulated specific plans to achieve the poverty reduction targets set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Besides, the Rural Revitalization Strategy proposed by the Chinese Government in 2017 has become the essential strategy to solve the poverty-related issues in China’s development.

scholarly journals Transferring Complex Scientific Knowledge to Useable Products for Society: The Role of the Global Integrated Ocean Assessment and Challenges in the Effective Delivery of Ocean Knowledge

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Evans ◽  
Tymon Zielinski ◽  
S. Chiba ◽  
Carlos Garcia-Soto ◽  
Henn Ojaveer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Ecosystem Recovery ◽  
Ocean Science ◽  
Regular Process ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

The ocean provides essential services to human wellbeing through climate regulation, provision of food, energy and livelihoods, protection of communities and nurturing of social and cultural values. Yet despite the ocean’s key role for all life, it is failing as a result of unsustainable human practices. The first global integrated assessment of the marine environment, produced by the United Nations under The Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects (the World Ocean Assessment), identified an overall decline in ocean health. The second assessment, launched in April 2021, although recognising some bright spots and improvements, stresses ongoing decline in the ocean as a result of many unabated anthropogenic stressors on the ocean. This highlights that society, as a whole, does not fully recognise or value the importance of the ocean to their lives and impacts on the ocean caused by human activities. Further, recognition of the need for immediate and effective solutions for mitigating impacts and enabling ecosystem recovery, and the associated societal changes required is lacking. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021–2030 both recognize that sustainability is both a desired and essential pathway for ensuring the ocean can continue to provide the services society depends on. The World Ocean Assessment has an important role to play in increasing awareness of the ocean, the changes occurring in the ocean, the human activities causing those changes and the progress being made in reducing and mitigating the impacts of human activities on the marine environment. This paper outlines the knowledge brokering role that the Regular Process provides on ocean issues to all aspects of society from policy makers, ocean managers, ocean users to the public. It identifies the challenges faced by the Regular Process in successfully carrying out that role and lessons learned in achieving widespread uptake and recognition. Within the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, solutions in the form of instructions or guidelines for the use of the assessment can be developed and implemented.

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