Next round of discussions on Environmental Sustainability in the Post-2015 Agenda, 15 - 28 April 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 7:34PM The next round of discussions on Environmental Sustainability in the Post-2015 Agenda has begun and will continue until 28 April 2015.
There are three new topics:
- Environmental sustainability and poverty;
- Environmental sustainability and equality; and
- Environmental sustainability, human rights, peace and security
As included on the World We Want 2015 website:
Environmental Sustainability & Poverty
Poor and marginalized people are more reliant on the environment for their livelihoods and therefore the impact of environmental degradation is more strongly felt (in terms of health, income, and more). Today the interconnections between human well-being and the environment are well understood thanks to studies such as the Millennium Assessment. Still, there is need to generate clear suggestions on how to reflect these connections in the post-2015 agenda. In the consultations so far, there was much talk of breaking the MDG silos but what are the inter-linkages between poverty reduction and environmental sustainability that could be articulated in the next agenda?
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Environmental Sustainability & Equality
It has been repeated time and again that inequalities can hamper the achievement of environmental sustainability. Consultation participants see inequalities in environmental sustainability as an issue of different levels of access to: eco-services for livelihoods and health (e.g water, clean air, clean and renewable energy): between rich and poor countries, the rich and the poor within each country, rural and urban populations, women and men, current and future generations. Involvement into decision making processes of these different groups has also been underlined at several takes. Still, why does inequality undermine the attainment of environmental sustainability? Why should equality be at the center of our attention? Post-2015 goals are expected to be ambitious and universal. What does this mean in the context of inequality?
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Environmental Sustainability, Human Rights, Peace and Security
There are obvious links between environmental sustainability as a human rights issue and many national constitutions recognizing the rights of its citizens. The human rights of environmental sustainability have been echoed throughout the consultation thus far and in the Leadership Meeting. Still, there are differing opinions and sensitivities. What are the key issues and themes which reflect the links between human rights and environmental sustainability? How can a rights-based approach support environmental sustainability? What accountability mechanisms need to be in place? What do we mean by ‘resilient societies’? Where the MDGs did not capture these fundamental aspects of sustainable development, how can environmental sustainability in a post-2015 agenda properly reflect these? What concrete recommendations can be made on how to ensure the post-2015 agenda recognizes the linkages between human rights, peace and security and environmental sustainability?