SUSTAINABILITY

Photo (left to right): Commander Robert Green (UK Royal Navy, retired), Bill Kidd (Member of the Scottish Parliament and PNND Co-President), Alyn Ware (PNND Global Coordinator), and Jonathan Granoff (President of the Global Security Institute) at the press conference at the UN on July 5 at which the Parliamentary Action Plan was released.

The Ban Treaty and the Nuclear-Armed States: From Irrelevance to a Game-Changer

By Alyn Ware

Alyn Ware, Global Coordinator of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND), examines how to use the ban treaty to impact on the policies and practices of the nuclear-armed States and their nuclear allies.

NEW YORK (IDN) - When the gavel came down at the United Nations on July 7 to confirm the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a cheer arose amongst the negotiating countries and civil society observers. 122 countries had voted in favour of the treaty, demonstrating a clear and unequivocal acceptance of the majority of UN members never to use, threaten to use, produce, possess, acquire, transfer, test or deploy nuclear weapons.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 20 July 2017

Development Talk at the Astana Economic Forum

: Katsuhiro Asagiri; MULTIMEDIA; 19 July 2017

Photo: A session of the Astana Economic Forum with the Kazakh Prime Minister. Credit: The Astana Times | primeminister.kz

Astana Economic Forum Focuses on Sustainable Energy

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the sixth in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

BERLIN | ASTANA (IDN) – Renewable energy and green economy as well as sustainable economic growth, world trade and infrastructure were the principal themes of the recent Astana Economic Forum (AEF) that is widely acknowledged as a platform for dialogue on issues related to economic development in Central Asia and the world at large.

Though an annual event held in the capital of Kazakhstan since 2008, the Forum held on June 15-16 distinguished itself in more than one way. Over 4,000 participants from 100 countries participated in the tenth Astana Economic Forum that focused on 'New Energy – New Economy'.

: Ramesh Jaura; EURASIA Focus; 19 July 2017

Education Key to Promoting Sustainable Development

By Shanta Rao

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Speaking of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda, the President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson of Fiji last year zeroed in on a home truth: very few human beings in the world, he said, know anything about the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

So, he argued, SDGs should be part of every school curriculum. The UN will make a big push for it and youth should be taught about the importance of SDGs in the development agenda, he told reporters.

“If every school curriculum in the world incorporates the Sustainable Development Goals, every school teaches them, and every young person on the planet is made aware of them as rights and responsibilities, the world will stand a very good chance of attaining the Goals by 2030,” he declared.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 18 July 2017

Photo: View of the conference room before the start of the third working meeting of the G20 summit on the Africa Partnership, migration and health. Credit: Bundesregierung | Bergmann.

G20 Leaves Three Billion People Out in the Cold

Analysis by Ravi Kanth Deverakonda

GENEVA | HAMBURG (IDN) – The G20 summit in Hamburg on July 7 and 8 delivered a grand declaration of compromises on “major global economic challenges” and “shaping an interconnected world”, but failed to address the grave economic and existential problems of more than three billion people in poor and developing countries, according to those who attended the meeting.

The 15-page declaration issued by the leaders of the 20 major industrialised and developing countries attempted hard to reverse the tide of opposition against globalisation, asserting that “globalisation and technological change have contributed significantly to driving economic growth and rising living standards across the globe.”

: Ravi Kanth Devarakonda; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of Twenty (G20); 18 July 2017

New UN Report Shows the Way to Achieving Agenda 2030

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – A new United Nations study has warned that the current growth curve in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis "does not provide the enabling environment" for supporting progress in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

According to the latest World Economic and Social Survey, the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires "greater and deeper international coordination in key policy areas including fiscal, monetary and trade."

But the Report launched by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) finds that "such challenges are not insurmountable." In the last 70 years, says the Survey, the world has witnessed episodes of economies experiencing remarkable economic development, which include: Germany and Japan in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by the Asian Tigers – Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 18 July 2017

UN Development Agenda Found Falling Behind in Reaching Goals

By Shanta Rao

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – As part of its the Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations is determined to “to leave no one behind” in its strong commitment to ensure the elimination of extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2030, which is an integral part of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in September 2015.

But in a new report released July 17, the UK-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) points out that only 25 of the 44 countries presenting their progress on SDGs at the UN’s High Level Political Forum (HLPF), which concludes July 19, are ready to meet the central commitment of “leaving no-one behind.” The report has been released to coincide with the UN’s 10-day HLPF.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 17 July 2017

Photo: Kids in Rishikesh, India. Credit: Wikiwand.

Poverty Impeding Global Sustainable Development

By Santo D. Banerjee

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – While nearly 1.1 billion people escaped extreme poverty between 1990 and 2013 because of strong economic growth that benefited the world’s poorest, "the number of people living in extreme poverty remains unacceptably high, with nearly 800 million living on or below US$1.90 per day," according to a new UN document.

In view of this, "the road to 2030 will not be easy because economic growth alone will not be sufficient to help those remaining in extreme poverty to move out," warns the document prepared for the 2017 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development which kicked off on July 19 and concludes on July 19 after the three-day ministerial meeting.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 16 July 2017

Photo: Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivers a congratulatory speech during a ground-breaking ceremony for the Ban Ki-moon Global Education Institute at the Handong Global University in Pohang, 374km southeast of Seoul, on July 11, 2017. Credit: Yonhap

UN Chief Welcomes Ban Ki-moon Global Education Institute

By J Nastranis

NEW YORk (IDN) - UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the ground-breaking ceremony for the Global Education Institute (GEI) initiated by his predecessor Ban Ki-moon on July 11 2017 at Handong Global University – in Pohang, 374km southeast of Seoul – the hub of UN Academic Impact (UNAI) for capacity-building in higher education.

"I am pleased to greet all those attending the ground-breaking ceremony for the Ban Ki-moon Global Education Institute," said Guterres in a message, adding: "The opportunity to enjoy an inclusive and equitable quality education is a prerequisite for improving lives and ensuring sustainable development."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 15 July 2017

NATO, OSCE Asked to Pursue Nuclear Disarmament in Europe

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN | PNND) - Fifty Parliamentarians from 13 European countries have sent a letter today NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Chair of the OSCE Minister Sebastian Kurz, urging these two key European security organizations to pursue dialogue, détente and nuclear risk reduction in Europe.

The letter on July 14 also calls on NATO and OSCE (the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) to support the multilateral process for nuclear disarmament through the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the United Nations. OSCE is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections.