Category: December 2021

Turning point. The pandemic as an opportunity for change: a vision by Nick Meynen

By European Environmental Bureau  (EEB)

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that a return to ‘normal’ is not possible. The ‘old normal’ was a fictional world anyway, in which we could just grow forever without facing any repercussions. That fairytale is over.

But despite bringing misery to many, the pandemic also offers us an important lesson and even a unique opportunity to heal broken bonds. Responses from governments show that political arrangements can change very fast, and this time it’s not about saving banks but saving people. It is now that the paradigm changes. Our wellbeing is key, both planetary wellbeing and human wellbeing. These two are way more connected than we realised before, as the emerging science of “planetary health” shows and as the pandemic illustrates. The pandemic is just a symptom.

The EEB published an essay on this, called ‘Turning Point’. It is neither a report nor a position paper, but a pocket-book or long-read opinion that aims to be thought-provoking and inspiring. After following the virus on its path to “success”, exploiting various weaknesses in human society, it comes with ten very bold turning point proposals to really turn crisis into opportunity.

Available for you: a poetic trailer, a free hard copy, a pdf in English or French, an interview.

DEEPENED INEQUALITIES DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

By SDG Watch Europe

The short-term wellbeing costs of COVID-19 have been severe. The pandemic is having profound effects on poor and marginalized groups, increasing poverty rates and widening gaps between different groups in society. SDG Watch Europe calls for urgent actions!

The pandemic has heavily impacted the progress in the fight against poverty putting our global goals at great risk. According to the World Bank, the pandemic is pushing between 88 and 115 million people into poverty because of the crisis. Almost half of the estimated new poor will be in South Asia and more than one-third in Sub-Saharan Africa. Objectively, COVID-19 has been the worst obstacle to reducing global poverty in the last three decades.

The pandemic is exacerbating the challenges faced by people struck by poverty. Inequalities are impacting the poorest, more vulnerable, and highly indebted countries of the world. Along with a health crisis, we are witnessing a worldwide hunger crisis. This is a global issue calling for solidarity by the most privileged countries, yet we are still to see real action being taken.

And what about other women, people with disabilities, older people, Roma communities, LGBTQI+, indigenous? How are they affected? These communities are being forgotten and left behind. The architects of systems that encourage greed and injustice do little to honor their commitments. 

Women have the biggest share in providing essential services (making up to 76% of healthcare workers in the EU), and assume the highest share of unpaid care work, with their rights being neglected. What is more, women are now at higher risk of domestic violence, while also having less power in decision-making processes.

UNICEF reported the story of a girl of Asian descent being constantly excluded and stigmatized. Yet discrimination goes beyond race. We’ve seen stories of LGBTQI+, migrants, refugees, and indigenous populations routinely facing discrimination. SDG Watch Europe calls for additional resources to protect these strata of society.

In the meanwhile, persons with disabilities have had their support systems suddenly disappear. Access to healthcare, food, and medicine has been problematic. Explore holistic treatments for neuropathy through acupuncture options. Obtain prescription medications discreetly online. Understand male arousal triggers for better health. Contact Piedmont health for guidance and expert support. This also concerns Roma communities, which experience a significant loss of livelihood, jobs, and child poverty. Lockdowns of entire Roma communities in Europe have hampered access to quality healthcare and prevention measures.

Older people with no access to vaccines are the most susceptible to serious cases of COVID-19. In fact, low-income countries have high mortality rates among elderly men.

Finally, 75% of all COVID-19 vaccine doses have gone just to ten countries. This is a vaccine apartheid, proof of the failure of current policy.

“Leave no one behind” was pledged by UN Member States with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. Yet, once again, this is one of those commitments that is not being respected, as minorities are literally being left behind, and treated with harsher measures than those imposed on the rest. At SDG Watch Europe, we have one clear command: Governments should keep their promises!

In our Covid Statement, we demanded that Member States would show transformative global action against poverty and hunger. We also called upon on the Commission to present an ambitious and comprehensive strategy for a Sustainable Europe 2030, which would aim at fighting poverty and inequality too.

We believe political attention must be placed on the protection of poor and marginalized communities. Social equity can – and must – prevail. Governments must put cash into the hands of people in the most need: migrants and refugees, LGBTQI+, disabled people, elderly people, women and unemployed people.

Progress on the SDGs in Norway

By the Norwegian Forum for Environment and Development

Norway presented its second VNR at the High-Level Political Forum in 2021. The report shows that Norway is making good progress on many of the goals but is still struggling with others. In this article, some of the recent advances in the national work on the SDGs are summed up. 

Collaboration with societal actors in the VNR process 

For this year’s VNR process, the government included civil society based on the Finnish model. There was a stark contrast between the government’s assessment and that of civil society, which contributes to an improved policy discussion both nationally and at the HLPF. The process also showed that the government can successfully include societal actors in the work with the SDGs. 

‘We hope this experience is followed up with a more inclusive and binding collaboration in the follow-up of the action plan’, says Kathrine Sund-Henriksen, director of Forum. – ‘Hopefully, this collaboration can also be made less ad-hoc through the creation of a national forum that can be in charge of the next VNR process’, she adds. 

 

A multi-stakeholder forum for the sustainable development goals 

Agenda 2030 emphasises the collaboration between the government and societal stakeholders. Five years into the implementation, Norway still has no multi-stakeholder forum for the Sustainable Development Goals, despite having an abundance of well-organised actors engaged in the SDGs. A national forum was launched just as the Solberg government were leaving office, and it will be exciting to see how the new government follows up. ForUM has just launched a brief on the issue, comparing national forums in Mexico, Finland and Germany to harvest experiences for a Norwegian forum.  

‘The revision of the action plan for the SDGs is an excellent opportunity to launch the national forum and increase commitments for an effective national implementation of the SDGs’, says Kathrine Sund-Henriksen.  

In the new brief ForUM presents recommendations for a new forum, one of them being that it should be placed at the centre of government, ideally linked to the Prime Minister’s Office (SMK). Further, the forum needs a clear mandate and mechanisms to ensure that recommendations that are made will be taken into account. In terms of representation, the forum should not be too large to ensure efficiency, but representation from all UN Major Groups should be ensured. In order to ensure the quality of the forum’s work it needs a proper secretariat, which would also support the members in their participation. Finally, all the forum’s work needs to have policy coherence for sustainable development at its core. 

 

‘The experiences described in the brief clearly shows how these forums can be important in guiding government policy for the SDGs as well as proposing solutions in deadlock issues’, Kathrine Sund-Henriksen adds. 

 

New government – reviewing the national action plan for the SDGs 

After the Norwegian parliamentary elections, a new government is in place led by prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre and comprised of the Labor party and the Agrarian party, relying on support from the Socialist Left party in the parliament.  

‘The government platform has too low ambitions for the SDGs, both in Norway and globally’, says Kathrine Sund-Henriksen. – ‘Reaching the SDGs will require resources, but what the government has thus far presented in the proposed state budget for 2022 is far from enough. We need increased ambitions, a clear plan and sufficient resources’, she adds. 

The new government has announced that they will send the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Development Goals back to the parliament for a new revision and new adoption. A hearing in parliament is scheduled for 11 January, where ForUM and other actors will give input. 

The new government has already signalled that they want to put more emphasis on the collaboration between the public, private and non-profit sectors in the work with the SDGs. They have also said they want to strengthen the linkages between different goals. 

 

Policy coherence for sustainable development down-prioritised 

For the first time, the state budget for 2022 was announced without the inclusion of a report in policy coherence for sustainable development. According to the government, this was «covered» by the VNR reporting. However, the report received some criticism both from Denmark’s peer-review and from civil society for not being thorough enough in this regard. 

‘Though the VNR reports have an important function, they are in no way a sufficient replacement for the reporting to parliament on the toughest dilemmas in the work to reach the SDGs‘, says Kathrine Sund-Henriksen. – This move removes the debate on development policy dilemmas from the public domain, and civil society loses an important arena for raising awareness and holding the government accountable. 

An important element in the work with the revision of the action plan for the SDGs will be to ensure proper reporting on policy coherence. The government has a long way to go when it comes to the link between the different SDGs and how to treat conflicting goals, which was exposed during an audit done by the National audit in 2020. It is important to strengthen the mechanisms for policy coherency. ForUM is currently working on a report on the issue to provide concrete policy recommendations to improve the Norwegian policy coherence. 

Norway rated among the worst on spillover effects 

The fact that policy coherence is not high on the agenda in Norway is also made clear when reviewing the rating of countries’ spillover effects. The rating measures how one country’s actions affect other countries positively and negatively along three axes: environmental and social consequences, economy and finance and security. Norway is placed on the 155th spot out of 165 countries on the rating, meaning that Norway’s actions limit other countries in their efforts to reach the SDGs.  

‘The SDG index is a clear message that Norway has to stop giving with the one hand and taking with the other. A high level of development aid is good, but other policy areas currently undermine the sustainable development goals’, says Kathrine Sund-Henriksen. 

One example is how consumption levels affect water resources, nature diversity and climate gas emissions. However, it also concerns policies such as Norwegian exports of weapons and dangerous pesticides. There are too many policy areas where Norwegian policy contradicts itself, and there is a need to see different objectives in relation.  

‘In addition, the spillover-rating clearly shows that Norway must put in a greater effort in reaching the SDGs where we lag behind’, adds Kathrine Sund-Henriksen.

Mobilisation to act for SDGs in Latvia

By LAPAS

The mobilisation of different stakeholders to act for Sustainable Development Goals implementation has been the leading goal of the Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation (LAPAS) throughout all 2021. 

Covering all five regions of Latvia, 30 local SDGs workshops have been implemented. The methodology was based on three steps – awareness-raising on the individual involvement in sustainable development, community problem identification and finding a solution to the identified problem together with representatives of the local governance. Events reached broad target groups – municipalities, educational institutions, libraries, museums, civil society organisations addressing such topics as lack of responsibility and communication in the context of a pandemic, inclusion and exclusion of different groups, refugee and asylum seekers integration, the addiction on use of the phone by students, caring for sustainability in cities and community, and other problems. 

The main event of the campaign was the conference “HERE OUTSIDE: Acting Based on Global Competence”, organised by LAPAS in collaboration with UNESCO Latvia on 26 November. To draw attention to the public on importance of the global education in Latvia, the conference focused on the role of global competencies in reducing inequalities, building societal resilience and ensuring climate justice. The event was opened with the speeches of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education and Science and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In addition to the regional events, informative 17 days social media campaign on LAPAS Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts were held. Each day was devoted to one of the 17 SDGs where different stakeholders – LAPAS friends, participated with short videos highlighting the link to the goal and calling for action both at the individual and organisational level. 

The Latvian Multistakeholder SDGs Coalition, established in 2019, unites a broad spectrum of partners – from CSOs, government, private sector, municipalities, academia, to politicians. It has been significant support for implementing both the LAPAS campaign and developing their own initiatives to promote implementing their specific SDGs. Next year LAPAS will focus on the involvement in the VNR process and youth in development.

The Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS): think global, act locally

By ASviS

On 18 January 2022, ASviS, partner of the Italian Pavillion at EXPO 2020 Dubai, together with the EU Commission, will present a High-Level Forum at EXPO 2020 Dubai, which will be live-streamed online in English. The event will see the participation of international experts on Governance and the private sector to share best practices for a sustainable recovery. ASviS will disseminate the English translations of: the 2021 annual Report on Italy and the SDGs; the research “SDG20” on the position of the G20 countries and the 2030 Agenda; the Paper on the Encyclical Laudato Sì and Goal 16. Find more on www.asvis.it. 

ASviS has presented the second edition of the  Report on Italian territories on 2 December during an online event in which the Minister of Sustainable mobility and transport also took part. The Report measures and analyses the positioning of regions, provinces, metropolitan cities, urban areas and districts compared to the 17 SDGs. In addition to statistical data, the report focuses on territorial inequalities in Italy, with a particular focus on the South and internal areas. The report indicates policy proposals to move the country towards a sustainable recovery.

Walk the talk: SDG Walk in Bern, Switzerland

By Platform Agenda 2030

In November, Switzerland’s capital Bern got its first SDG walk. The walk brings life to the SDGs by linking them to existing initiatives and institutions. From the main station via the government building, the city library or a shop selling vegetables and fruits that are not conform to norms in the department stores: every one of the 15 stations gives an insight into several of the SDGs, thus illustrating their interconnectedness. It puts the spotlight on the numerous actors that are already making their contribution to a sustainable future, often on a small scale at the local level. Many of them did not wait for a global framework such as the Agenda 2030. For example, the city libraries, which have always followed the motto “sharing instead of owning” and are important actors for meetings, exchange and access to information. Or the town hall: with 69% of women sitting in the city parliament, it gives a strong role model for women in politics. 

The walk can be done life or online. It is a pilot project developed by the Swiss CSO Platform Agenda 2030 and shall be transferred to other cities in Switzerland over the coming months. Maybe even to other countries? 

www.sdg-walk.ch

Sustainable food systems: what is Switzerland’s responsibility?

By Platform Agenda 2030

One-third of the world’s population has no secure access to sufficient and healthy food. This is not due to insufficient food production; sufficient calories are produced worldwide to feed even a growing world population. To eradicate hunger and malnutrition, we need to look at food systems holistically and transform them with a view to sustainable production, fair distribution and human rights. In short: implement all 17 SDGs.

The Swiss CSO Platform Agenda 2030 published a short document showing how strongly a transformation of our food system is connected to the 2030 Agenda, with a special focus on Switzerland’s responsibility.  

The report asks for a strict review of all subsidies as to their effect on sustainability, to ban all exports of highly toxic pesticides, no patents on seeds, public actors to go ahead, to regulate publicity for non-healthy products and to invest in more and more effective participation of all actors in designing a sustainable food system. 

The document is available in German, French and Italian. 

 

Links: 

Publication in German: https://www.plattformagenda2030.ch/publikationen/kurz-gefasst/agenda-2030-und-ernaehrungssysteme/ 

In French: https://www.plateformeagenda2030.ch/publications/l-essentiel/agenda-2030-systemes-alimentaires/ 

In Italian: https://www.piattaforma-agenda2030.ch/pubblicazioni/in-sintesi/in-sintesi-agenda-2030-sistemi-alimentari/ 

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1st SDG Dialogue Forum Austria: Building forward better with the 2030 Agenda

By SDG Watch Austria

Austrian government officials, civil society and experts discussed current opportunities and challenges of sustainable development caused by the COVID-19 pandemic at the first SDG Dialogue Forum in Austria, jointly organised by the federal administration and civil society representatives (SDG Watch Austria). The first edition of the annual event laid the foundation for strengthened cooperation between civil society, administration, politics, private sector, and academia for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda both in Austria and abroad.

This year’s kick-off event, which attracted over 530 participants, was centred on innovative solutions for sustainable development in the era of COVID-19 and focused on partnerships for the implementation of the SDGs. To this end, experts from civil society, academia, the private sector and other stakeholder groups discussed perspectives and solutions in the fields of climate action, digitalisation, international development cooperation and social equality (women, youth and leaving no one behind) in four online discussion rounds (“innovation pools”). The results were reported back to the Natural History Museum in Vienna, where Ministers Edtstadler, Gewessler and Mückstein, and experts Antonella Mei-Pochtler (Think Austria) and Nicola Brandt (OECD Berlin Centre) joined a high-level panel discussion and reacted to the innovation pools’ questions and statements. 

Throughout the high-level panel discussion, the federal ministers and experts demonstrated awareness of the interconnected issues related to sustainable development. In particular, they were in favor of addressing issues on multiple levels and applying innovative measures to build a better future for all. Furthermore, the discussants recognised the need for joint efforts, cooperation, and new partnerships to reach the Global Goals and concluded that it is important to involve civil society and academia in the Austrian SDG implementation process.

As co-host (together with the federal administration, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens and the Natural History Museum), SDG Watch Austria prioritised the contribution of civil society representatives and academia, aiming at fostering dialogue between different stakeholder groups, the federal administration and politicians. 

After the consultation process leading to Austria’s first VNR in 2020, the SDG Dialogue Forum marks another important step for strengthening the collaboration and exchange between SDG Watch Austria and the federal administration – and there is still more work to be done to reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The next steps include incorporating the outcomes of the four innovation pools into the future work of the Inter-ministerial Working Group (IMAG), which is entrusted with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Austria. Furthermore, the next SDG Dialogue Forum in 2022 will build upon this year’s results and reflect the ongoing implementation process in Austria. SDG Watch Austria will maintain its dialogue with the IMAG and government representatives and will continue to advocate for ambitious structural measures and political changes to reach the Global Goals.

European Volunteering Capital 2023

By CEV

On 5 December 2021, on the occasion of the International Volunteer Day 2021, CEV announced, during the closing ceremony of the EVCapital Berlin 2021, Trondheim Kommune (Norway) as the European Volunteering Capital 2023. The EVCapital winner announcement shows the local implementation of SDGs through volunteering. Volunteering can help engage people in national planning and implementation for the SDG’s, and work together for a common goal. During the ceremony, the EVCapital Berlin 2021 handed over the role to Gdansk as EVCapital 2022. The European Volunteering Capital Competition aims to promote volunteering at the local level by sharing best practices and recognising municipalities that support and strengthen partnerships with volunteer centres and volunteer-involving organisations in their communities.

Additionally, CEV is coordinating  the Single-Use Plastic Awareness – Stop All Plastic Straws (SUPA-SAPS) and the Waterways Heritage Action Together (ESC WHAT!) European Solidarity Corps Teams projects. In 2022, these projects plan to bring together 160 young people from Barcelona, Berlin, Padova, Strovolos, Cork, Augsburg, Stirling, Lisbon and Kosice (members of the European Volunteering Capital Candidates #EVCC) in 10 different activities in the ten countries involved. These volunteers will be a valuable asset to achieve SDG 12, 13, 14  to protect the environment, combat climate change, and promote cultural heritage. 

EU adopts guaranteed access to services for Europe’s children in need

By Caritas Europa

The EU recently adopted the European Child Guarantee, asking the Member States to prevent and combat the social exclusion of children in need by guaranteeing effective and free access to early childhood education and care; school-based activities; at least one healthy meal each school day and healthcare; and effective access to adequate housing.

Caritas Europa believes that the Child Guarantee can effectively contribute to achieving some of the UN’s sustainable development goals, provided that national plans to implement reforms are well designed and done in consultation with civil society organisations.

The new recommendation defines children in need as individuals under 18 years who are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. It identifies six categories of children in need: homeless children or those in substandard housing; children with disabilities; mental health issues; a migrant background or minority ethnic origin, particularly Roma; and children in institutional care or precarious family situations.

The European Child Guarantee should be implemented through national action plans, identifying children in need and the barriers they face in accessing and taking-up the services covered by the recommendation.