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.

By Dorothee Gueneheux, CIVICUS

Even in the context of shrinking flows of official development assistance (ODA), the new development agenda, which is to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) starting from September 2015, has been creating a big buzz over the past 5 years and especially at the international level. Consultations, reports and meetings [1]  have been numerous within the so-called ‘planet New York’.  But why is it important to follow this myriad of discussions?

Duncan Williams, Food Policy Manager, WWF UK

‘People focused’ does not necessarily mean leaving the environment behind. We must not pursue environmental sustainability at the expense of poor people's food security and nutrition. We must adopt a win-win strategy that promotes synergies and manages trade-offs between environmental sustainability, food security and improved nutrition, but this will require concerted efforts. We need to ensure food reaches everybody and is produced in such a way that nature can thrive. We already produce more than enough calories to feed the everybody easily.