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Sustainable Futures

Kategorie: Event

  • DIE and SDSN Germany at the HLPF in New York

    The Sustainable Development Goals

    For DIE and the Secretariat of SDSN Germany Adolf Kloke-Lesch, Silke Weinlich and Janina Sturm participated in this year’s High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York as members of the German delegation. The purpose of the forum, which took place on 9-18 July this year, is to annually review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

    This year, also first results of the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) were presented, in the preparation of which the DIE was involved. The GSDR formulates recommendations from the perspective of science and will be presented in its entirety for the first time in September 2019 to the heads of state and government of the UN Member States.

    At the margins of the High Level Political Forum, many side events took place. SDSN Germany organized a disucssion on spillover effects in the implementation of the SDGs together with GIZ organized. DIE hosted a side event that presented the results of a study on earmarked funding in the multilateral development system (in preparation). International organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organisation (WHO) or the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) possess multilateral assets, which assign them unique roles in implementing the 2030 Agenda. The current way of the funding the UN development system however makes this more difficult: A majority of earmarked contributions come with geographic or thematic specifications and lead to fragmentation, supply-orientation, competition, and underfunding of multilateral core activities. In spite of some more helpful varieties that foster cooperation and innovation, the majority of earmarked funding in the UN development system runs counter to the demands of the 2030 Agenda for transformative, integrated, and comprehensive approaches. At the New York Office of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, about 20 representatives of international organisations and member states discussed how ongoing reform processes could bring about progress.

    In addition to this year’s HLPF, there was also the first Senior Level Meeting (SLM) of the Global Partnership for Development Effectiveness (GPDE), involving government representatives from developing, newly industrialising and industrialised countries, as well as civil society and other non-governmental organisations stakeholders, including DIE. They met for the first time at the United Nations Headquarter. Partners of DIE’s Managing Global Governance (MGG) network participated in discussions on effectiveness in South-South cooperation.

     

  • EU Migration Policy and Free Movement of Persons in Africa: Expert Discussion with Clare Castillejo

    On 8 July, an expert discussion took place at DIE on the influence of EU migration policy on freedom of movement in West and North-East Africa. Since the so-called European refugee crisis of 2015, the control of irregular migration from Africa has been the focus of European migration policy. This conflicts not least with African initiatives to promote the free movement of persons and regional integration. The Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is now regarded as established, and similar agreements are being prepared in other regions.

    Clare Castillejo, Associate Researcher at DIE, presented the results of a study, which was conducted as part of the BMZ-funded research project „Reducing the causes of flight and shaping migration“. Representatives of the European Commission and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) commented on the study. In addition, colleagues from BMZ, GIZ and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) took part in the discussion.

  • New awareness for sustainability in public procurement at the Global Revolution Conference in Nottingham

    Lecture Max Müngersdorff
    Lecture by Max Müngersdorff © Tim Stoffel

    From 16 to 18 June, the Public Procurement: Global Revolution IX Conference took place in Nottingham, UK, for the ninth time. Dr Maximilian Müngersdorff and Tim Stoffel, both researcher at DIE, presented their research on sustainable public procurement to an international audience.

    At the conference, tendencies in approaching the topic became visible that have also been shown in the MUPASS research project, conducted together with the Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW): Sustainable public procurement is receiving increasing attention by policy makers and practitioners alike. At the same time, there is a shift in how the topic is being approached. Presentations by representatives of international organisations, like OECD, showed that those organisations have already integrated sustainability into their concepts for public procurement and now increasingly focus on implementation and mutual learning, when dealing with the topic. Based on the research at DIE, this was a predictable development: “Legal frameworks worldwide already allow for the consideration of social and ecological aspects in public procurement. The main challenge now is to support actors in implementation”, Tim Stoffel put it.

    The MUPASS project shows that change management within administrations and supporting them with practical implementation is central for the realisation of sustainable procurement practices in municipalities. At the third MUPASS Dialogue Forum, which will take place in October 2019, municipal actors from Germany, Europe, Sub-Sahara Africa, and Latin America come together to learn from each other within a framework of transformative research for sustainable public procurement.

  • UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner discusses implementation of 2030 Agenda in Bonn

    On 25 June, Achim Steiner, Aministrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), visited the Bonn Alliance for Sustainability Research. In his lecture „Towards Global Sustainability: Opportunities and Challenges in the Implementation of the Agenda 2030“ at the University of Bonn, Steiner reflected current action undertaken to combat climate change and achievements for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    The Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations highlighted the work of UNDP and described the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a „risk landscape“. It expresses key challenges of the world we live in and a shared responsibility of the Global North and South. He especially emphasised the importance of interdisciplinary research, as it is planned to be intensified within the Bonn Alliance for Sustainability Research with its new Innovation Campus Bonn (launched the same day). To him, joint efforts by the private sector, politics, research and civil society initiatives, such as Fridays for Future, are essential for progress in achieving the SDGs. Only this way would the Agenda 2030 and the implementation of its goals not merely remain „letters on a piece of paper“, but become visible in everyday life. At the same time, he suggested not only to look at potential conflicts of interest between the different goals and objectives. Instead, he proposed to look closer at synergies: „For example, to invest one euro in addressing the climate target could bring many more goals into an advanced mode.“

    During the discussion, moderated by Imme Scholz, Acting Director of the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Achim Steiner also referred to Germany’s previous efforts in the climate debate and in writing and revising a sustainability strategy. Major economic policy issues such as transforming our transportation systems, should more closely integrate innovations and sustainability aspects. Imme Scholz underlined that a global implementation of the 2030 Agenda requires a common view on existing risks.

    Watch Achim Steiner’s take on the Bonn Alliance for Sustainability Research.

    With its worldwide presence, UNDP is one of the most important and well-known UN organisations. It provides poorer countries with policy advice and capacity building in order to better address challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change or crises and conflicts. Under the leadership of Achim Steiner, UNDP is positioning itself as a key player in support of sustainable development that embraces all dimensions of sustainability. For example, UNDP is working with UN member states to develop their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Steiner, who is also the most prominent alumni of DIE’s Postgraduate Training Programme, sees such support as the core of his mission: to jointly contribute to climate-smart policies and systemic approaches.

    The Bonn Alliance for Sustainability Research presented the launch of the Innovation Campus Bonn on the same day as part of an evening event to a larger audience. Read more here (LINK Beitrag zum Abendevent).

    Please find here a video-interview with Achim Steiner on: Are we progressing in implementing the 2030 Agenda? What role do think tanks play?

  • News from SDSN Germany

    Helge Braun, head of the Federal Chancellery (front row, 6th from the left), with participants of the Forum Sustainability © Bundesregierung/Lene
    Münch

    On 13 June, at the invitation of the Federal Chancellery, the Forum Sustainability took place. About fifty key sustainability actors participated in the forum. After reports from the ministries, the head of the Federal Chancellery, Professor Helge Braun, gave a keynote address and opened the discussion. Subsequently, workshops on international sustainability policy, sustainability indicators, cooperation between the German federal government and the federal states, communication and the State Secretary Committee on Sustainable Development were held. In the afternoon, a discussion with impulses from business, environment, social, youth and development took place. This provided an opportunity for plenary contributions. SDSN Germany and some of its member and partner organisations were actively involved in the Forum. The German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) was represented by its acting director Imme Scholz.

    Further information on Germany’s National Sustainable Development Strategy is available here: www.deutsche-nachhaltigkeitsstrategie.de

    On 19 May, the trialogue „Nachhaltig unterwegs – Mobilität jetzt attraktiv gestalten“ took place in the Berlin Allianz Forum. The event was organised by the Mobility Working Group of the Science Platform Sustainability 2030 and the Humboldt-Viadrina Governance Platform. The aim of the trialogue was to bring together the views of stakeholders from politics, business, civil society, science and the media on sustainable mobility and to lay the foundation for a roadmap for mobility.  Following the introduction by Gesine Schwan (HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform) and Dirk Messner (United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security), Helge Pols (BMVI), Carl-Friedrich Eckardt (BMW), Susanne Henckel (VBB) and Anika Meenken (VCD) provided inputs on tasks and challenges of sustainable transport and mobility. Afterwards, the participants discussed topics of action and issue areas in three different workshops on the topics „decarbonisation of mobility“, „urban renewal“ and „mobility in the countryside“.

    On 20 June, the secretariat of SDSN Germany co-hosted, together with the Project HochN and the Center for a Sustainable University, a session at the Sustainability Action Days 2019 at the University of Hamburg. By visiting the Center for a Sustainable University – a member organisation of SDSN Germany – the session in Hamburg was another stop on the ‘#SDSN_Deutschlandreise’. In addition to the opportunities and challenges of networks, the participants also identified possible ways for cooperation and exchange between the networks and its members.