Almost a billion lives hang in the balance at crucial summits in New York & Paris

Famous names back one of the biggest campaigns ever launched

New figures show poverty could increase for the first time in a generation

According to new research, almost a billion extra people face a life of extreme poverty if leaders duck key decisions on poverty, inequality and climate change due to be taken at two crucial summits in New York and Paris later this year, with billions more continuing to face a life of hardship.

By Farooq Ullah, Stakeholder Forum

On 4th December 2014, the United Nations Secretary General (SG), Ban-Ki Moon, released an unedited, English-only version of his Synthesis Report on the Post-2015 Agenda (which includes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)).

The purpose of this report is to bring together the various formal and informal inputs made thus far on the post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs. It has further significance as the first formal and comprehensive study which looks beyond the goals themselves to also offer the following elements:

A set of Sustainable Development Goals to be agreed next year offer a vital opportunity for the international community to tackle the way that climate change is driving people into poverty, says a new report.
 
‘The Right Climate for Development: why the SDGs must act on climate change’ released ahead of the twin UN meetings for Heads of State in New York – the UN Climate Summit on 23 September and the opening of the General Assembly debate on post-2015 development on 24 September 2014.

By Umberto Sconfienza, Tilburg Law School

The UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals has concluded its work with its final report, which contains 17 proposed global goals and 169 associated targets. As we reflect on 18 months of hard work it is clear that some of the topics that were discussed during the input-phase were ultimately sidelined in the final document. This was particularly the case for forests, whose contributions towards sustainable development are well known and documented: watershed protection, mitigation of climate change, biodiversity protection, cultural benefits for indigenous communities, firewood and non-wood forest products such as fruits and game for the local communities.

Derek Osborn, President, Stakeholder Forum

Everyone will have their own views on the current Zero Draft of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals and there are still further negotiations ahead before a final version emerges.