Author: Secretariat

Can We Make a Just Real Green Deal? 

Extending an EU Green Deal for a Global Transformation towards Sustainable Development

By CED

Global Sustainable Development Report 2023 (GSDR) clearly stating that the world is far off track in achieving the SDGs makes us think more of a next level global sustainability agenda; not to rush into replacing the 2030 agenda, but to find a just transition that can support the transformation in the coming years. However, just like any other region, the official SDG reviews in Europe appear political justifications while stakeholder reviews continue to provide the political critique. Even the GSDR takes a linear approach in assessing the individual targets than providing an integrated analysis of the total impact amongst the 169 targets. As demonstrated by the Sri LankaVoluntary Peoples Review (VPR), adopting Independent Monitoring, Evaluation and Review Mechanisms using a Micro-Macro Assessment Methodology could help advance PCSD. Also, an Integrated Climate Sustainability Agenda that brings together the climate change and sustainable development global agendas into a single discoursing, financing, and political drive is important. 

The EU Green Deal is a significant policy and political approach but has many gaps as highlighted in the alternative Real Deal presented by a collective of European CSOs. While the internal deficiencies or negative impacts of a green deal on Europe can be well reviewed by its own stakeholders, the greater impact on the rest of the world surely needs an honest engagement with external stakeholders for a just and real green deal. If the independent think tanks, foundations and CSOs in Europe can extend their platforms and programmes, particularly to Southern counterparts, they would find a sincere response and reciprocation towards building a collective voice for a sustainable world. The multilateral event and programme landscape in the coming months and years also provide ample opportunity to make a greater impact if we can find a collective way forward. The proposition, therefore, is to seek opportunities for collaboration on a just real green deal between European and Southern entities towards evolving a New Narrative on a Peoples Planetary Futures!

Read the whole article of Uchita de Zoysa here. 

Uchita de Zoysa, the director of the Centre for Environment and Development (CED) is a thinker, author and strategist for the local to global climate sustainability transformation.

How far is Europe in achieving the SDGs? 

Civil Society Organisations assess progress with new spotlight report launched at the HLPF 2023 in New York 

By SDG Watch Europe

The EU has the power to pass transformative laws and command the resources needed to drive the transition towards social justice and environmental sustainability, but is it living up to the challenge? 

A new civil society spotlight report, prepared by SDG Watch Europe members in the framework of the Real Deal project, explains why the EU’s SDG reporting creates an illusion of sustainability and flags up serious gaps and challenges in the implementation of the SDGs. 

In addition, it makes concrete policy proposals for bringing them to life with real stories and suggests key recommendations the EU can, with a bit of political will, easily use to create the transformation we need.

The report was launched at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York in July, where governments and other key stakeholders, including civil society organisations, meet to assess their progress and ‘accelerate’ implementation. 

The report includes 5 different chapters, mirroring the 5 ‘P’s of the SDGs for social, ecological and political transformation. Each chapter contains recommendations for EU policymakers. 

People: Our current economic system seeks continuous growth, and recurrent economic crises become a necessary structural feature, with untold suffering for millions of people. It feeds on endless profit, extraction, production, and consumption, resulting in gross overconsumption, environmental destruction, and inequalities. Therefore, CSOs suggest focusing on an overarching strategy for SDGs, increased cooperation and coordination on social policies, targeted policies and initiatives to address poverty and inequalities, and better data collection. 

Prosperity: To effectively ensure sustainable public finances, it is important to improve the tax system to make it fairer and more progressive. At the same time, the European economic governance review should embed powerful incentives for Member States to implement the necessary reforms. They must also increase public investment to address the economic, social and environmental challenges while ensuring a just transition for all and with all. Key ideas in this chapter include the progressive reform of the European Semester, new Wellbeing indicators and going beyond GDP.

Planet: The European Union must take decisive action to tackle climate change, promote sustainable development, and improve social wellbeing. To achieve this, the EU should adopt a bold policy vision that incorporates ambitious targets, strengthened regulations, and innovative approaches to measure progress and promote sustainability. This includes an EU-wide target for reduction of the material footprint, increasing the EU’s target to reduce its domestic greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65% by 2030 and other binding targets for renewable energy and emissions cuts. 

Peace: We need a new vision for the EU in the world based on human rights for peace, a transformative vision that can make the UN SDGs and the global climate and biodiversity agreements real and achievable. The EU, in its ambition to champion sustainable development and defend human rights according to the cultural values enshrined in its Treaties, must get behind a fundamental economic system change and renew the social contract to ensure peaceful and inclusive societies. Key recommendations include mainstreaming human rights-based approaches to climate action, counter shrinking civic space and ensure our democracies are protected, and tackling corruption by closing tax loopholes and stepping up efforts to counter tax avoidance. 

Partnerships: The EU must support greater capacity building and work to renew international cooperation and build trust for the global common good. In light of enormous shifts in international relations and threats to multilateral cooperation, there should be a greater focus on policy learning by taking into account lessons learned in the first seven years of SDG implementation. Given the mismatch between the EU’s assessment in its Voluntary Review and the reports of independent scientists, analysts and civil society, the EU should consider using data and analysis from multiple sources in its monitoring and evaluation. Key ideas include a guarantee that trade deals will not externalise social and environmental impacts in other countries, improved structured dialogue mechanisms and funding for civil society, and a more meaningful integration of the SDGs in the EU’s Better Regulation toolbox. 

In addition, the report delivers 6 overarching messages for EU policymakers on SDG implementation from civil society. 

Key recommendations for policymakers

  1. Overarching Strategy: Introduce an EU Strategy for SDGs
  2. Wellbeing Economy: Replace GDP with indicators on wellbeing
  3. Live within our means: Reduce the European material footprint
  4. Social Justice: Truly leave no one behind by prioritising redistribution
  5. Stay on track: Improve EU monitoring on the structural and systematic gaps
  6. Lead by example: Ensure Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development

The full report is available online here.

To achieve the SDGs and succed with the Green Transition, the EU Critical Raw Minerals Act must ensure respect for Indigenous Peoples

By SDG Watch Europe

The European Union must align its new transition minerals legislation, including the Critical Raw Materials Act, with the principles of respecting human rights and leaving no one behind if it is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The extraction of mineral resources impacts the core elements of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. There is a connection between mining and almost all 17 thematic areas, including climate change, water and food crises, systemic poverty, conflict, well-being, and inequality (Owen et al., 2022). 

Surely, it is commendable that European Green Transition aims to accelerate the switch from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. The green transition, however, if done wrong, can bring more problems than solutions because it pushes for exponential expansion of mining in Europe and beyond. 

Why?

Because renewables need a huge amount of minerals.

Where are the minerals for the green transition located?

According to recent research, at least 54% of Energy Transition mining takes place on or near Indigenous Peoples’ lands, and if peasant lands are included, this proportion increases to 69% (Owen et al., 2022). Across the globe, both groups are already suffering the consequences of climate change.

Currently, the EU green transition does not ensure that Indigenous Rights are respected when sourcing minerals.

Neither the battery regulation nor the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) or the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) includes Indigenous Peoples’ right to Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), as outlined in the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights (UNDRIP).

UNDRIP, although non-binding, is the clearest affirmation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in an international instrument. FPIC, as an expression of the right to self-determination, is the most crucial safeguard for Indigenous Peoples in relation to mining activities and projects affecting their territories.

To achieve the SDGs and leave no one behind, there is a pressing need that the European Union’s emerging legislation adopt robust Due Diligence, including the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent requirements to protect indigenous communities and prevent a repetition of the mistakes of the past. 

Indigenous Peoples and a number of organisations worldwide and the European Civil Society have called on European policymakers to make the EU green transition truly sustainable and just, by, among other things, including Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the Critical Raw Materials Act.

A Global Green Deal means social and climate justice within the EU and beyond

By FTAO

It is inevitable that any transformative policy will face resistance throughout its long journey to actual implementation. The vital European Green Deal (EGD) is no exception, being constantly questioned by populist and conservative forces on the grounds of incompatibility with the energy crisis, inflation and who knows what tomorrow. 

Without both internal and external social and environmental justice, the EU’s flagship climate policy won’t succeed. 

Overall, the EGD has failed to reduce the externalities of EU production, consumption, and trade with the rest of the world. There is an astronomical increase in the amount of outsourced forced labour, deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions every year. A number of measures have been taken to reduce these externalities (such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, EU Deforestation Regulation), but these are still structurally insufficient as they tend to ignore the root causes of the unbalance at stake, namely poverty or the unfair distribution of power and value in supply chains. Moreover, the EU has not developed these measures in true cooperation with its trading partners. So, the credibility and even legitimacy of the European Green Deal are seriously at risk. 

The Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) is proposing a vision that will transform the EGD into a Global Green Deal to prevent its derailment, and it is collaborating with like-minded CSOs to come up with policy measures for an EU climate policy that will be socially and environmentally just both within the EU and around the globe. There is no doubt that Fair Trade can bring essential elements of justice and collaboration to the Global Green Deal. 

Eric Ponthieu, FTAO strategy director, ponthieu@fairtrade-advocacy.org   

INSCOOL II: Inclusive Schools 

Policy Recommendations to implement inclusive education practices

The INSCOOL II project was developed between January 2021 and July 2023  and involved partners working in Hungary, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. The project aimed to significantly increase the knowledge and skills of school leaders, teachers and teacher trainees/pre-service teachers to work inclusively with the increasing range of diverse learners in their schools. 

The project scaled up the good practice established with the Inclusive Schools project, leading to changes in policy, practice and culture at school at local and national levels, including the resulting Policy Recommendations. This document compiles the latest policy framework concerning inclusive education, the achievements of advocacy groups, and insights from previous projects, including the Final Conference, which focused on promoting inclusivity among teachers, teacher trainees, and school leaders. It provides recommendations for the EU institutions to collaborate with Member States on various aspects, including i) opportunities for professional development and training, ii) addressing shortages and enhancing wellbeing, iii) systemic cooperation and adopting a whole-school approach, and iv) allocating public funds for education.

The Policy Recommendations document is a useful resource for developing and implementing inclusive education practices to create more comprehensive learning environments and ensure that in the classroom, no one is left behind. 

Addressing SDG goals through emotional intelligence

By MMM

On the eve of the SDG Summit 2030, we at Make Mothers Matter draw attention to the topic of Emotional intelligence, often overlooked in educational systems, which we believe is essential for healthy relationships, mental well-being, sound decision-making, and leadership development (SDGs 3 and 4). By recognizing the importance of mothers’ and their families’ mental health, we can make significant strides towards achieving multiple SDGs and creating healthier, more equitable, and sustainable communities.

To address this, we decided to partner with La Granja Ability Training Center , which offers online Emotional Wellbeing resources for families. This collaboration equips families with tools for emotionally intelligent child-rearing, fostering self-esteem, emotional balance, effective communication, trust-building, and challenging perfectionist ideals. 

These resources offer helpful reminders that “emotions are neither good nor bad” but allow us to adapt and are assets when processed in a healthy way. Upcoming videos will delve into topics like preoccupation, impatience, vulnerability, anxiety, stress, joy, and pressure. The videos are available on the MMM YouTube page. 

Bringing SDGs to the forefront in Italy and beyond

By ASviS

ASviS and the Italian Ministry of Education renewed a Memorandum of Understanding in July to promote sustainable development in the education system.

The ASviS research area has published an article titled The territorialisation of the 2030 Agenda: a multilevel approach” in the academic journal “Asa 2022 Data-Driven decision making”, published by Firenze University Press in July.

Enrico Giovannini, ASviS Scientific Director, will attend the second SDG Summit in New York on 18-19 September, to represent Italian civil society at this crucial event, in particular with an online event on the Alliance channels on the 19th.

In conjunction with its stakeholders, ASVIS plans a number of activities to mark ‘Global Week’,, the UN’s worldwide mobilization to inspire and connect change-makers from September 15-25.On 19 October, ASviS will present its 2023 Sustainable Development Report in Rome and online. Analysis and recommendations on Italy’s progress toward the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are included in the document, which will also be available in English soon.

Committed to promote sustainable consumption

By ELSiA and CARITAS

On June 6th 2023, the European Laudato Si’ Alliance organized an awareness-raising webinar on the EU sustainable textile strategy. The webinar has been an opportunity to hear from the European Parliament rapporteur on this strategy,  important initiatives and networks such as RREUSE and the Romero Initiative (CIR) from two extraordinary projects led by Caritas Luxembourg and Caritas Spain.

In Luxembourg,  Lët’z Refashion is a space conceived as a meeting point for the promotion of ethical and sustainable fashion to raise awareness of the environmental and social issues linked to the textile industry.

ModaRe, a Caritas Spain initiative, manages the collection, reuse, preparation for recycling, donation and sale of textiles. Based on the circular economy model, it has achieved impressive results. In 2022, ModaRe has worked with 46 social economy companies, and it has created over 1,300 jobs. It has collected over 43 million kilograms of clothing items, managed a network of 7,157 sensorised containers and 130 points of sale and is present in 80 cities across Spain.

Acting both on the prevention, recycling and reuse of textiles, those organizations are contributing to the achievement of SDG 12 in Europe.

Imagining Europe Beyond Growth

By European Environmental Bureau

This special issue shares ideas for a just society and a stable planet in preparation for the 2023 conference on how to move “beyond growth”. It is co-published by the European Environmental Bureau, Oikos and Green European Journal.

We believe this conference presents a unique opportunity for society, especially the EU decision-makers, to disengage from an ecologically and socially damaging race for growth and embark on a new path.

As academics, policymakers, and civil society members argue in this issue, Europe should adopt a post-growth future as a foundation for its new peace project. The seeds of change are already out there.

To progress to a post-growth society, countries overshooting their ecological resources must downscale production and consumption democratically and fairly, sometimes referred to as “degrowth”. 

Growth has long been society’s answer to economic equality and the social question, an alibi that has long ceased to hold in an era of inequality and ecological crisis. In a post-growth economy, the current focus on quantitative growth would be replaced by the aim of thriving in a regenerative and distributive economy, one that delivers qualitative wellbeing by meeting the needs of all people within the means of the living planet, as elaborated by Kate Raworth in the concept of “doughnut economics”.

The transformation towards a post-growth society for the European Union calls for a different future-oriented narrative. We’ll need the political imagination to design a European Green Deal without growth and instead based on biocapacity, fairness, wellbeing for all, and active democracy.

In this issue, you will find inspiring ideas, examples and discussions of the many faces of a positive post-growth future, one in which people and nature can thrive together.

Read the full report here

Indulging in a doughnut to leave no one behind

By Yblin Román Escobar, SDG Watch Europe

“The current climate chaos and unraveling web of life on which our society depends is an existential threat to peace, water and food security, and democracy,” a coalition of academics and international NGOs said at the second conference on “beyond growth” at the European Parliament. 

The author of the Doughnut Economics and co-author of this open letter, Kate Raworth Kate Raworth, stated at the conference that, “the goal for the twenty first century economy is surely to meet the needs of every person in the world and do so within the means of this living planet and all the living beings.”

So, the message is to leave no one behind as stated in Agenda 2030 and its SDGs, without destroying the environment.

But at the moment, no country has achieved the goal. No country is considered to be “developed” in this sense.

Whenever you say or hear “developed countries”, Kate Raworth suggested, “ask: “I’m sorry, what are you talking about?  There is nothing developed about overshooting planetary boundaries.”

There was consensus at the conference that economic growth leads to further environmental and social degradation, and that GDP is not a good indicator of progress, and its use causes more harm than good.

The idea isn’t new, though. In 1968, Robert Kennedy said that gross domestic product measured everything except what makes life worth living.

Urgency is what is new. 

Our planetary boundaries are being transgressed, as Johan Rocktstrom illustrated at the conference. 

Growth is no longer seen as the solution to all problems.

In fact, no empirical evidence suggests that it is possible to decouple economic growth sufficiently from environmental pressures at the global level.  

Until now, the spotlight on climate change has largely been focused on decoupling economic growth from fossil fuel consumption. Despite the importance and necessity of this, we should not focus exclusively on carbon emissions and extend our vision and policy options beyond the current energy supply to include addressing inequality, biodiversity loss, water crises, poverty, and resource efficiency, among others in a systemic perspective, as Janez Potočnik, co-chair in the UN’s International Resource Panel, advocates. 

In the conference, Kate showed some nations have achieved to decouple a bit their growth from fossil fuel consumption. There is, however, no decoupling of the material footprint (which is, the amount of material we consume every day, including our food, clothing, smartphones, and automobiles); quite the contrary, our usage of material is increasing.  

As Europe transitions to a digital and green future, the material footprint is set to increase further. 

But infinite economic growth is not possible on a finite planet. 

To make a sustainable economy a reality, the anti-poverty strategies must be integrated into pro-planet strategies and all stakeholders must be included in the decision-making process.

When it comes to ensuring mineral supplies from resource-rich countries, the EU must take into account all stakeholders in these countries during decision making, particularly those most likely to be affected, such as Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and civil society organizations.

This is the only way to democratically and collectively make a transition that meets the needs of all without trespassing on the boundaries of the planet. 

We need to look to alternative models and narratives, models like the doughnut economics doughnut economics, the planetary boundaries , worldviews like el Buen Vivir or the Gross National Happiness, among many.

Economic growth does not provide answers for the multiple crises we face, it does neither put “well-being” and “keeping a thriving planet” at the center.  It is on us to do that.