SDSN at the 2021 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF)
SDSN and our networks hosted a number of events alongside the UN's High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). We invited our networks and the SDG community to join us at the following events, which SDSN hosted or were organized by our partners. Event summaries are below.
Learnings from Country-Level Pathways to the Global Food Policy Debate
July 5, 15:00 - 16:30 CEST
Organized by: Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium; Food Systems Economics Commission (FSEC), UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
On July 5, the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use and Energy (FABLE) Consortium, together with the Food Systems Economics Commission (FSEC) and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), convened an official side event for the UN Food Systems Summit Science Days. The session titled “Learnings from country-level pathways to the global food policy debate” focused on how scientists can support policymakers in adopting a long-term integrated approach for food systems and increase the level of ambition. The panel presented cases from South Africa, Mexico and India, where scientists are collaborating with government agencies to assess and design integrated pathways towards sustainable, inclusive and resilient food and land-use systems. The panelists built the case for adopting long-term integrated approaches that can help policymakers assess the trade-offs and synergies between short-term policies on agriculture, climate, diets, and biodiversity and mid-century sustainability targets.
The session brought together Jean-Paul Adam, Director, Climate Change, Natural Resource Management and Technology at UNECA; Rebekah Shirley, Director of Research, Data and Innovation, World Resources Institute (WRI) Africa; Dr. Odirilwe Selomane, lead of FABLE South Africa, Dr. Charlotte E. Gonzalez-Abraham, lead of FABLE Mexico, and Dr. Ranjan Kumar Ghosh, lead of FABLE India.
Watch the recording on YouTube!
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From Science to Practice: Harnessing Research to Build Forward Better
July 6, 19:00-20:30 CEST
Organized by: SDSN Switzerland, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), the Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI), the Think Tank Hub, and the SDG Lab
Scientific research has a critical role to play in addressing global challenges and achieving the SDGs. Its role is even more important as we seek to emerge from the pandemic while facing continuing crises due to environmental destruction, conflict, and growing inequality.
But translating knowledge into action remains a complicated task. With this in mind, a consortium of Geneva-based institutions has established a new way for research and knowledge from International Geneva and its global networks to amplify its impact on national and global policy making. Last fall, UNRISD launched evidence boxes to collect contributions on three entry points encompassing all SDGs being reviewed at this year’s HLPF.
This event will present some key findings from reports on these themes, with a particular focus on lessons for building forward better, creating a world that is not only more resilient towards crises, but also much more inclusive, egalitarian and in harmony with our planet.
Event summary coming soon!
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The Role of Further Education to Drive Collective Action for the SDGs: Building a Sustainable and Resilient Recovery
July 7, 09:00-11:00 EDT
Organized by: Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI). Key partners: UN DESA, UNESCO, UN Environment, UN-HABITAT, UNGC's PRME, UNU, UNCTAD, UNITAR, and the SDG Academy.
On July 7, the SDG Academy participated in the HESI HLPF Special Event, The Role of Further Education to Drive Collective Action for the SDGs: Building a Sustainable a Resilient Recovery , which was moderated by Head of Programs and Partnerships, Florencia Librizzi and included presentations from SDG Academy Director, Chandrika Bahadur, HESI partners, and many other wonderful speakers!
The event focused on the opportunities and challenges facing higher education as the world continues to face the COVID-19 pandemic. By highlighting the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships in supporting systemic change, participants convened for an evolving and action-oriented conversation on how to bring about the changes needed to realize the Decade of Action and achieve the 2030 Agenda. Following the event, the International Green Gown Awards , administered by the EAUC, recognized exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by the world's universities and colleges.
Watch the recording in the SDG Academy Library!
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Filling the Gaps in Further Education for the 2030 Agenda and Inspiring Action Towards the SDGs
July 12, 08:30-10:15 EDT
Organized by: SDG Academy, IAU
On July 12, the SDG Academy and International Association of Universities (IAU) held a joint session titled " Filling the gaps in further education for the 2030 Agenda and inspiring action towards the SDGs " as a part of the HLPF UN DESA/UNITAR SDGs Learning, Training and Practice Workshop.
The session included panelists such as SDSN VP of Networks Maria Cortez-Puch; Dr. Joanna Newman, Secretary General of the ACU; Jacob Blasius, Chairperson of Students Organizing for Sustainability International; Prof. Pornchai Mongkhonvanit, President of Siam University; and our director, Chandrika Bahadur. The presentations highlighted examples of ESD across postsecondary education, examined how the SDGs provide a perfect framework for examining subjects from both a local and global lens, and discussed the importance and the benefits that a whole-of-institution approach to ESD can bring to a university
Watch the recording on Youtube !
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The Multidimensional Vulnerability Index and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
July 12, 13:00-14:30 EDT
Organized by: SDSN, United Nations Resident Coordinators in Small Island Developing States, Permanent Mission of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations
This event brought together government and UN officials as well as representatives from civil society and academia to discuss the issue of multidimensional vulnerability, including its relevance for international financing mechanisms. The UN RCO of Samoa and SDSN provided an update on the conceptualization and development of a new MVI and its importance in the context of the SDGs and Agenda 2030. SIDS public officials and civil society organizations shared their experience, identify their priorities post COVID-19, and emphasize the policy relevance of the MVI and the need to urgently address these vulnerabilities by strengthening resilience and access to financing. Representatives from international organizations and multilateral development banks shared their views on how the concept of multidimensional vulnerability and associated measurement tools can help support better resource allocation and help strengthen resilience and emergency response in the context of SIDS.
Read the event summary.
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Getting the SDGs Back on Track while Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic: Building Government Capacities for Addressing Transboundary Impacts and Global Challenges
July 12, 14:00 CET
Organized by: OECD & Government of Italy, in collaboration with SDSN and other partners
This side eventapplied a policy coherence perspective to shed light on critical governance challenges and capacity constraints that governments are facing in ensuring a sustainable recovery. It provided an opportunity to discuss policy options for dealing with cross-sectoral interactions and transboundary issues in a way that will help reap the benefits of recovery processes to accelerate action in line with the 2030 Agenda. Specifically, the event convened a panel of representatives and experts from governments, international organizations, civil society organizations and the business sector to:
- Identify the most pressing impacts caused by the pandemic itself or by the measures to contain it.
- Discuss ways to strengthen government capacities for addressing such impacts in a coherent and cost-effective manner.
- Learn from country experiences and practices, to address transboundary impacts of policies and ensure policy and institutional coherence in SDG implementation.
Opening remarks for the event came from Ilaria Fontana, Under-Secretary of State, Ministry for Ecological Transition of Italy; Elsa Pilichowski, Director for Public Governance, OECD; and Giovanni De Santi, Director of the Directorate for Sustainable Resources of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The speakers emphasized the essential nature of the SDGs in tracking the pandemic recovery and their incorporation into policy frameworks, one example being the EU Science Hubfrom the European Commission.
Technical expertise that helped frame the following discussion came from three scene setting presentations by Giampiero Genovese, Head of Unit, Economics of Agriculture Unit, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Joint Research Centre of the European Commision; Zach Wendling, Program Manager, Global Commons Stewardship Index, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN); and Ernesto Soria Morales, Senior Policy Analyst, Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development, OECD Public Governance Directorate.
A panel on building government capacities for addressing transboundary impacts and global challenges included a broad set of actors: Mara Cossu, Ministry for Ecological Transition of Italy; Jocelyne Croes, Special Advisor on Multilateral Affairs and the Chair of the National Aruba SDG Commission; Luisa Marelli, Deputy Head of Unit, Bioeconomy Unit, Sustainable Resources Directorate, European Commission – Joint Research Centre; Tita Korvenoja, Chief of Conventions and Governance Branch at the Law Division, UNEP; Rilli Lappalainen, President of CONCORD - European Confederation of Relief and Development NGOs; and Sara Hamouda, SDGs and Agenda 2063 Expert, African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), with moderation by Louis Meuleman, Member of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA).
Follow the discussion from this side event on Twitter.
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Harnessing Big Data Partnerships for National SDG Monitoring and Reporting: Exploring Opportunities, Challenges, and Best Practices
July 14, 09:00 - 10:00 EDT
Organized by: SDSN TReNDS, GIZ Partners for Review (P4R)
On the sidelines of this year’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), SDSN TReNDS and Partners for Review (P4R) organized an event in which leading experts discussed their experiences working with big data partnerships to support national monitoring of the SDGs. This included a discussion of emerging big data innovations for the SDGs, key challenges and barriers encountered during the partnership process, as well as practical steps for ensuring successful big data partnerships and long-term sustainability. It also highlighted insights and recommendations from the new working paper authored by SDSN TReNDS’ Senior Advisor, Cameron Allen, related to these issues that was released the day of the event.
Read the event and working paper summary.
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Presentation of Initial Findings of the Science Panel for the Amazon
July 14, 12:30 - 14:00 EDT
Organized by: SDSN, The World Bank
The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest and river system, vital to the planet’s climate stability and home to an irreplaceable wealth of biodiversity, much of which is still unknown. It provides critical ecosystem services to the eight sovereign countries and one overseas territory that encompass it, and also to the globe. The Amazon is home to 35 million people, including more than one million Indigenous peoples, with their own cultural identities, territorial management practices, and more than 300 different languages.
Deforestation and forest degradation have risen in recent decades, especially driven by the expansion of inefficient cattle ranching, low-productivity agriculture, mining, and infrastructure development. Close to 70% of protected areas and Indigenous territories are currently threatened by roads, mining, oil and gas development, illegal invasions, dams, and deforestation.
The rise in deforestation and fires in 2019 and 2020 marks a dramatic acceleration in the rate of deforestation. Deforestation, which affects nearly 17% of the total rainforest, threatens the survival of the entire ecosystem by endangering biodiversity, changing the water cycle, and provoking a negative feedback loop whereby degradation reduces the resilience of remaining forest. Many scientists warn the Amazon as a whole may be approaching a tipping point of irreversible collapse.
In response to these challenges and inspired by the Leticia Pact for the Amazon , a group of over 200 preeminent scientists from the region have untied to form the unprecedented Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA). The Panel is convened by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), and will issue a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind scientific assessment of the state of the Amazon, current trends, and recommendations for the long-term well-being of the ecosystem and its people. If implemented, the Panel’s recommendations will promote conservation as well as sustainable development of the region, with a vision of a standing forest, flowing rivers bioeconomy based on local and Indigenous knowledge, technology, and innovation.
This July the SPA will release their initial findings as well as a draft version of their full report for public consultation. The SDSN and the World Bank co-hosted a high-level dialogue to present these initial findings and foster conversations between scientists and policymakers to advance sustainable development pathways in the Amazon.
Watch the recording on YouTube!
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My School Today!
July 20, 09:00 - 10:00 EDT
Organized by: SDGs Today
On the sidelines of HLPF, SDSN’s SDGs Today launched the My School Today! Call to Action in order to support students, teachers, and local communities to geo-reference their schools and education facilities as part of an effort to develop a timely dataset of school locations in Africa. In collaboration with Humanitarian OpenStreetMap, UNESCO, and Esri, SDGs today is developing a dataset using OSM, WorldPop, and Esri products to provide an accessible product using open source data to share national population counts within various travel distances and times from recorded educational facilities. Our goal is to engage local students, communities, and actors in the ongoing development of this dataset, and learn how we can work with education ministries and statistical offices to complement official data sources.
To advance the development of the “Mapping School Location” dataset and to address the need for more timely data and increased geospatial capacity, SDGs Today’s My School Today! Call to Action provides the opportunity to utilize geospatial data to measure and communicate geographic access to educational facilities in support of local education ministries and organizations’ efforts to ensure ‘inclusive’ education for all.