Category: January 2020

By ICLEI –  Local Governments for Sustainability

ICLEI, alongside the City of Aalborg and the Basque Country, recently launched a new publication, which presents towns and cities with 15 pathways they can use to localise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The publication, which was launched at the European Committee of the Regions during the 2019 Transformative Action Award ceremony, provides local governments with inspiring and replicable examples of how the 15 pathways of the Basque Declaration can be used to implement the SDGs at the local level.

In the publication, the pathways of the Basque Declaration are illustrated with stories taken from the Transformative Action database of the Sustainable Cities Platform. Each of these stories are former applications to the Transformative Action Award 2017-2019 and have been reviewed by a jury of experts, which includes representatives from the European Committee of the Regions, the European Investment Bank, UNESCO Etxea, the City of Aalborg (Denmark) and ICLEI Europe.

The purpose of these stories is to provide local governments and other local stakeholders with inspiration for action, rather than the formulation of yet another action plan. The examples also give insight into how to implement the goals using an integrated approach across sectors and departments.

For each story, the most relevant pathway and SDGs are indicated, based on an independent assessment by ICLEI Europe. They show the diversity of approaches across topics, geographical locations and local cultures.

Speaking about the launch of the publication, ICLEI Europe Regional Director, Wolfgang Teubner said: “The need for transformation towards sustainability has never been as urgent. We need a technological, socio-economic and socio-cultural transformation of our societies in order to limit catastrophic environmental consequences and ensure a decent quality of life for all. This publication shows the ability and potential of the local level to act, whilst contributing to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals on a global level.”

For more information and to download the publication, click here.

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, founded in 1990 as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, is the world’s leading network of local and regional governments committed to sustainable development. ICLEI believes that local action drives global change and the leadership of local and regional governments can make a major difference in addressing complex environmental, economic and social challenges.

Being part of our global network ensures that through joint action, peer learning, and strong partnerships between civil society, business leaders and all levels of government we can accelerate local sustainable development and make real change on the ground.

Since 1992 the ICLEI European Secretariat has been closely working with ICLEI network cities in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and West Asia, other European networks, the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, and many others. The ICLEI European Secretariat works with its over 80 in-house sustainability and communications professionals from its offices in Freiburg (DE), Berlin (DE) and Brussels (BE).

By WECF

We are proudly announcing this year’s annual winners of the Gender Just Climate Solutions Awards.

Launched by the Women and Gender Constituency in 2015, the Award honours the fundamental contribution of gender equality and women’s organisations in the fight against climate chaos and demonstrates the necessity to integrate gender equality in all climate policies. Gender just climate solutions are already happening, transforming communities all around the world. Each year we select three winners and launch a publication showcasing outstanding projects. 

The 2019 awards winners are:

Technical solutions winner – UNIVERS-SEL: Ancestral know-how and innovative technologies help women producers of salt and rice preserve the mangroves

This project improves the lives of women and communities in the mangroves of Guinea-Bissau, through sustainable use of space, energy and natural resources. 2000 family farms, 75% of which are managed by women, have adopted sustainable salt collection and rice production methods, with solar energy and reduced water consumption. Thanks to the sharing of ancestral know-how and innovative techniques and capacity-building activities, women producers contribute to structure and develop the salt and rice value chain in the mangroves. 1500 women and 500 men have gained in autonomy through increased revenues and their integration into the local economy, while adapting to the impacts of climate change.

Non-technical solutions winner – ENDA COLOMBIA: Women waste pickers and community organisations of Bogota building a sustainable and inclusive city 

Started in 2012, this initiative shows the way for gender-responsive urban policies, addressing the challenges of solid waste management in the poor suburbs of the capital of Bogota. 26 women waste pickers have accessed a decent job and are recycling over 30 tons of paper and 12 tons of plastic annually in these suburbs. 3520 citizens are involved in participatory planning, urban gardening, cultural and artistic activities and the creation of ‘Bankomunal’ – a community savings and credit initiative for women who do not have access to formal banking. Trainings on gender inequalities and masculinities, local public policies and citizen’s participation, allows beneficiaries to exercise their democratic rights to protect their cultural heritage, contributing to the peace process in Colombia.

Transformational solutions winner – Cameroon Gender and Environment

Watch (CAMGEW): Transforming gender relations and turning to sustainable resource

use in the Kilum-Ijim Forests of Cameroon

CAMGEW engages local and ethnic women in sustainable forest management, while enhancing their human rights and transforming patriarchal gender relations in the forest communities. Cooperating with Oku local authorities and the government of Cameroon, CAMGEW gives women the opportunity to assume leadership positions of forest institutions and stakeholder platforms.  They provide a broad range of trainings to over 2000 people: environmental education for schools and adults, bee farming, agroforestry and organic farming, livestock breeding and biogas production, entrepreneurship skills with financial assistance. CAMGEW helps 800 young women fight domestic violence through counselling on their rights, business opportunities and community sensitisation to counter early marriages.

Transformational solutions mention of honour – FUNDAECO: Sexual and reproductive health and rights as a basis for conservation action 

FUNDAECO breaks traditional cultural barriers to ensure the sexual reproductive health rights of adolescent girls in more than 100 Mayan and Q’echqi communities of Guatemala, as a fundament for their involvement in forest conservation. 22 health clinics, established in Protected Areas of Izabal, have provided regular care and counselling to 50,000 patients (2/3 women), significantly reducing teenage pregnancies, and strengthening women’s leadership. Support provided in maternal and infant feeding, and hygiene are linked to environmental protection activities, i.e good eating habits using natural resources, or sustainable waste management. Strategies were also implemented to prevent forced migration. A scholarship and youth leadership program contributes to end discrimination of women with formal and informal education.

About award

Each winner has received a grant of 2,000 Euros, travel support for one representative to attend COP25, mentorship from the members of the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), and opportunity to participate in a skills training workshop held by CTCN. Being the 5th year running, this year we had 140 applicants, from 60 countries, 3 winners.

Continued collaboration

The Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN) is inviting the winners from 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015 to a workshop on up-scaling gender just climate solutions, sharing of climate technology and finance. This is a continuation of our capacity-building cooperation initiated at COP23 and builds on south-south and technology knowledge sharing. It is a closed event but journalists are invited to come and interview the winners.

Publication showcasing the outstanding projects

Download the publication in English, Spanish and French.

Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF) – We are a nonprofit network dedicated to a gender just and healthy planet for all. Our international network consists of over 150 women’s and civil society organisations implementing projects in 50 countries. We believe that a sustainable future and environment needs holistic solutions reflecting the lives of people on the ground. We believe in feminist solutions based on our partners’ visions and needs. That is why we work on transformative gender equality and women’s human rights in interconnection with climate justice, sustainable energy & chemicals, less toxic waste, safe water & sanitation for all.

By SDSN and IEEP

The 2019 Europe Sustainable Development Report is the first independent quantitative report on the progress of the European Union and its member states towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report was prepared by teams of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).

As the new European Commission prepares the European Green Deal, the 2019 Europe Sustainable Development Report comes at a crucial time, shedding light on the key economic, social and environmental sustainability challenges faced by the member states and the European Union as a whole in their progress towards SDGs.

The report finds that:

1. While European countries lead globally on the SDGs, none are on track to achieve the Goals by 2030.
2. Countries closest to achieving the SDGs include Denmark, Sweden and Finland, whereas Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus rank last among 28 countries assessed.
3. The EU and its member states face the greatest challenges on goals related to climate, biodiversity, and circular economy, as well as achieving the convergence in living standards, both within each country as well as across countries and regions.
4. The EU generates large, negative spillovers that impede other countries’ ability to achieve the SDGs. The largest negative impacts are caused by unsustainable demand for agricultural, forest, and fishery products.

The report outlines six transformations that together can achieve all 17 SDGs and applies them to the European Union. It offers practical recommendations for how the EU and its member states can achieve the SDGs with a focus on three broad areas: internal priorities, diplomacy and development cooperation, and tackling negative international spillovers.

The good news is that the necessary instruments already exist to achieve the SDGs throughout the EU. The new Commission should therefore focus on aligning existing instruments and mechanisms (including budget, investment strategies, regulatory governance, monitoring frameworks) with the SDGs.

Key recommendations include:

1. The European Green Deal can be the cornerstone for implementing the SDGs in the EU. It must include an EU-wide strategy to (i) fully decarbonise the energy system by 2050; (ii) strengthen the circular economy and achieve greater efficiencies in resource use and far lower waste; and (iii) promote sustainable land-use and food systems by 2050.
2. The EU needs to increase public and private investments in sustainable infrastructure, including power and transport. This in turn will require greater financial resources for the EU.
3. Europe needs to increase investments in education, job skills, and innovation, with a focus on STEM education at all levels and R&D for sustainable technologies.
4. The EU needs to put SDGs at the centre of its diplomacy and development cooperation.
5. The EU needs to strengthen policy coherence and address negative international spillovers that undermine other countries’ ability to achieve the SDGs.

SDG Index and Dashboards: the methodology

The 2019 Europe Sustainable Development Report details progress by EU and its member states on their achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on a methodology that measures distance to target, the report estimates how fast each country – and the European Union as a whole – have been progressing towards each of the Goals and determines whether the current pace of progress will be sufficient to achieve them by 2030. In so doing, the European Sustainable Development Report complements the EU’s official Eurostat report by being able to show how far each country is from achieving SDGs. The report builds on the methodology developed by the SDSN and Bertelsmann Stiftung to track countries’ performance on the SDGs since 2016.

The findings of this independent report are consistent with major related publications:

1. The 2019 Eurostat report, which concludes that Europe was falling behind in terms of climate action and industry, innovation and infrastructure, while progress was moderate or mixed on responsible consumption and production, life on land, reduced inequalities, affordable and clean energy, zero hunger and gender equality.
2. The 2019 GDSR report of the United Nations, which warns against negative long- term trends for targets, including inequality in income, absolute material footprint and DMC, global GHG emissions compared with Paris targets, continued deterioration of coastal waters, overfishing, biodiversity loss, wildlife poaching and trafficking and for which progress is too slow for SDGs to be met globally (e.g. social protection for all, ending malnutrition, maintaining genetic diversity, investment in agriculture).
3. The 2018 EEA monitoring report on the 7th European Environmental Action Plan (EAP), which concludes that 23 out of 30 targets of the 7th EAP were unlikely to be achieved by 2020, including the reduction of food sector’s environmental impact and halting of biodiversity loss.