14 May 2013: According to a series of studies that the European Environment Agency (EEA) undertook on the potential for fiscal reform in Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal - EU countries affected by the current economic crisis - environmental taxes can achieve environmental objectives while raising revenues and they have a "less negative effect on GDP compared to other types of taxes, such as direct taxes."
7 May 2013: Participants at the Third Global Meeting of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (IDPS) have issued 'The Washington Communique,' appealing to the UN High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP) to tackle conflict and fragility.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative (FI) 2013 Global Roundtable will convene under the theme "Financing the Future We Want: China, Emerging Markets and the World Economy," and will be attended by high-level representatives from financial institutions, governments, regulators, civil society, academia and the scientific community to galvanize action on sustainable finance.
The Russian Federation has set as the objective of its 2013 Presidency of the Group of 20 (G20): developing a set of measures aimed at boosting sustainable, inclusive and balanced growth and jobs creation around the world. The G20 will look at eight areas in particular in 2013: framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth; jobs and employment; international financial architecture reform; strengthening financial regulation; energy sustainability; development for all; enhancing multilateral trade; and fighting corruption. The G20 brings together finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 countries - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US - plus the EU. The G20 Leaders Summit in September 2013 is preceded by a series of outreach events organized in five streams: think tanks; business; labour; civil society and youth.
8 May 2013: The SEED Initiative has launched its 2013 SEED Awards, calling for entries from start-up entrepreneurs that aim to generate environmental, social and economic benefits at the local level, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, in developing countries, least developed countries (LDCs), or emerging economies.
9 May 2013: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are critical in creating smart sustainable cities and addressing climate change, according to participants at the Eighth International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Symposium on ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change. Participants adopted a 'Turin Roadmap' that calls on ITU to promote smart technologies in cities and develop key performance indicators to assess ICTs impacts in cities and countries around the world.
April 2013: The UN Development Programme's (UNDP) Environment and Energy Group (EEG) has released a report, titled ‘Towards Transformational Change: UNDP's Work in Environment and Sustainable Development 2008-2012.' The publication features a collection of stories from around the world in four strategic areas: mainstreaming environment and energy; mobilizing environmental finance; promoting adaptation to climate change; and expanding access to environmental and energy services for the poor.
30 April 2013: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN University (UNU) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) held a workshop aimed at promoting the Inclusive Wealth Report (IWR), which was presented during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) in June 2012.
The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit will meet from 19-20 September 2013, at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, US, to coincide with the opening of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Held every three years, this invitation-only event brings together chief executives, and representatives of civil society, governments and the UN. Chaired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, this year's Leaders Summit – held on the theme "Architects of a Better World" – aims to link the UN's universal values with a new global architecture for corporate sustainability. As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015 deadline approaches, the Summit will set the stage for business to shape and advance the post-2015 development agenda, and forward an architecture for business to contribute to global priorities.
The UN Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) will host this international symposium to strengthen dissemination and sharing of good practices and lessons learned on fostering sustainable cities, in recognition of the role of cities in protecting the environment, improving disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience and reducing poverty. The symposium aims to identify strategies to strengthen local government institutional and technical capacity to address poverty reduction and slum upgrading, urban development, urban economic growth, urban transport and water and sanitation. The symposium also aims to identify areas for further capacity building and knowledge sharing and to identify innovative financing models to support urban infrastructure. The event will bring together representatives of governments, including and local government and planning officials, UN agencies, multilateral and regional development banks, the private sector and civil society in plenary sessions, working group sessions and panel discussions. The symposium is planned to overlap with the ‘Incheon Sister and Friendly Cities Conference,' which will be held in Incheon on 28 September 2013, and include mayors from cities around the world. The two events will have a joint closing session that will discuss advancing and implementing the sustainable urbanization agenda.
| Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) |
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| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
