Inclusive Green Growth Department’s Post

The Republic of Vanuatu 🇻🇺 has assumed the Chairmanship of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (#PSIDS), and is leading a collective voice echoing the urgent concerns and hopes for a sustainable future of the SIDS and the entire planet. At the 1st Session of the Preparatory Committee of the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States, H.E. Ambassador Odo Tevi, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Vanuatu to the United Nations, delivered a pivotal statement on behalf of the 12 Pacific Small Island Developing States represented in New York. #ClimateChange threatens the future of the SIDS as temperatures are projected to rise significantly unless collective measures are implemented. The forthcoming 4th United Nations Conference on SIDS in Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬 offers a crucial chance to formulate an ambitious plan of action for SIDS over the next decade and beyond. The Pacific SIDS call for a fundamental, bold, and progressive shift in approach. Vanuatu, on behalf of the Pacific SIDS, emphasised the need for a new charter to ensure and consistently underscore: 🌏 Urgent action on climate change, including increased financing for #LossandDamage; equitable phasing out of fossil fuels to reduce emissions, with accelerated action in the current critical decade; just transition to affordable and accessible #RenewableEnergy; and disaster risk reduction. 🌊 Conservation and sustainable use of the #Ocean and its resources through sound and responsible ocean governance. 🏦 Enhanced access to finance for SIDS and urgent reform of the international financial structure.   Watch the full recording here: https://lnkd.in/e2vqbMpx 📷 credit: UN Web TV

🔊 🌎 👐 The Government of Flanders’ new International Climate Action Programme aims to contribute to measures against climate change in developing countries. The funding programme is coordinated by the Department of Environment and Spatial Development and G-STIC: Global Sustainable Technology & Innovation Community. The Flanders Chancellery and Foreign Office is encouraging project applications linked to South Africa, Morocco, Mozambique, and Malawi – the Government of Flanders’ development cooperation partner countries. We would also like to encourage countries around the Mekong River to apply. The new programme is intended for initiatives in technology demonstration, knowledge dissemination and/or capacity building. The following sectors are eligible for funding: biodiversity, education and research, energy, agriculture, environmental policy, transport, water and sanitation. The project call addresses Flemish SMEs, NGOs, non-profit organisations, research and educational institutes, consulting firms and large enterprises. International collaborations with a Flemish lead partner can also apply. An information session on the project call will be held on 28 March in Brussels. Further details: https://lnkd.in/eymVtsDq (in Dutch). #Flanders #international #climateaction #climateadaptation #developmentcooperation #subsidy 

Promises to be an interesting conference on an important topic.

#Georgia: after a week of visiting ministries and other stakeholders in Tbilisi, presenting results of the climate change assessment FutureWater is doing with Asian Development Bank (ADB), I'm even more delighted by this country than I already was: on the crossroads of cultures in the centre of Caucasus but with a clear orientation towards Europe. This week the EU decided positively on its candidature status which was widely well received by the population. https://lnkd.in/dQbxE7k7 My objective this week was to get buy-in on the approach we are taking, present the results, and identify gaps and scope for expanding the work. The initial list of adaptation measures is presented, and priorities were discussed. The next step is to create an adaptation portfolio for an investment project that takes an integrated and catchment-based approach. Georgia is considered a water-rich country, but facing increasing water shortages and environmental challenges, with high potential to restore and preserve ecosystems, like wetlands, forests and grasslands, as well as to strengthen the country´s capacity to produce sustainable food and energy. More on our work: https://lnkd.in/dd5ffxAP

Excited to be attending the UNECE Public-Private Partnerships 8th International PPP Forum today, to learn more about the challenges of small-scale PPPs, and the challenges and opportunities of generative AI in PPPs, with Ziad-Alexandre Hayek today! #ai #artificialintelligence

✨ Welcome to the EUKI Community, 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗔𝗜𝗗! ✨ EUKI project 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗔𝗜𝗗 - 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 addresses the urgent need to improve energy efficiency in buildings, aiming to reduce energy poverty and greenhouse gas emissions in Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia. 🏠💡 The goal of this project is to facilitate comprehensive building renovations, focusing on enhancing energy performance and sustainability. Activities include training for local stakeholders, developing financing models, and implementing pilot projects. 🌍🔧 Learn more about this project here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dVHAVDhY WiseEuropa Institute for Development Policy (INDEP) Balkan Green Foundation Energiaklub Climate Policy and Applied Science Milieukontakt Albania Izabela Fortuniak #EnergyEfficiency #BuildingRenovation #SustainableLiving #ClimateAction #GreenBuildings #EnergyPoverty #EUKI #Sustainability #RenewableEnergy #ClimateSolutions

The Maputo Metropolitan Area officially launched its Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (#SEACAP) As CoM SSA signatories, the three municipalities of Maputo, Matola, and Boane have adopted a collaborative approach in developing this SEACAP, with the financial support of the European Commission and AECID-Agencia Españóla de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo with technical support from UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) Mozambique and ICLEI Africa. The CoM SSA initiative is also co-implemented by AECID-Agencia Españóla de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo. 🌴 As one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, a regional response based on a robust climate action plan is vital for Mozambican cities. “This SEACAP is born from cooperation between municipalities and institutions to make decisions that favour a future that is more resilient and adapted to climate challenges, and an action plan to improve the quality of life through the promotion of concrete climate actions” highlights Irene Marente Torres, representative of AECID-Agencia Españóla de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo #CoMSSA empowers local governments to mobilise in the fight against #climatechange Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM)

📣DON'T MISS IT TODAY ⏰14:30-16:30 (CET)  Join Sustainable Development Solutions Network, #25January, for the launch of the #Europe Sustainable Development Report 2023 to see how European countries rank on the #SDGs, and what is still needed to achieve sustainable development leading up to 2030. The Europe Sustainable Development Report 2023/24 (#ESDR) is out, with #Finland ranking #1 on this year's SDG Index for the fourth year in a row. Ahead of the June 2024 European elections, the report reveals that at the current rate, a third of the SDG targets will not be achieved by the EU by 2030 and that decisive actions must be taken in the EU to avoid environmental and social “tipping points. 👉Learn more & watch the launch live online: https://lnkd.in/dCEDNn6k #ESDR #2030Agenda #EUCivilSociety #SDGs European Economic and Social Committee SDSN Northern Europe SDSN Greece Sustainable Development Solutions Network Switzerland SDSN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Germany SDG Academy Professor Dr. Phoebe Koundouri Angelo Riccaboni Guillaume Lafortune Andrija Erac María Cortés Puch simone cresti

Good news! The State Department’s Bureau of Oceans, and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES) is following through on an announcement made last year and creating an International Water Security Dialogue (IWSD). This program will convene water diplomats and negotiators multiple times throughout the year, including on the margins of established conferences, to provide a safe space for frank conversations on group-identified issue sets around the most prominent water security challenges, from identifying needs for water sanitation to complex transboundary water collaborations to forming critical cross-sectoral partnerships. I want to commend OES for its leadership on water security diplomacy – it could not come at a more important time. While numerous entities may apply and be under consideration for this role, two nonprofit organizations with which I am associated are particularly well suited to the task. The Stimson Center, of which I serve on the Board of Directors,  is a foreign policy think tank that promotes international security and shared prosperity through applied research and independent analysis, global engagement, and policy innovation.  Stimson’s Energy, Water & Sustainability Program has deep water expertise and a track record of using a multidisciplinary approach to address key issues and resolve water stresses in the Global South. It has particular expertise in the Mekong, Ganges-Brahmaputra, Indus, Aral Sea, and Euphrates-Tigres river basins, where it has worked to identify pathways to solutions that enhance water security in each region while optimizing tradeoffs with other sectors including energy and other development.  The Aspen Institute, which has hosted me as a speaker at its Ideas Festivals in recent years, is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. The Institute works to drive positive change through its Ideas Festivals, which are world-class, and more generally through its power to convene substantive dialogues that spur actions to help solve some of the world’s most challenging problems. Within the Institute, the Energy & Environment Program (EEP) explores significant challenges with diverse thinkers and doers to make a more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable society for all. The program addresses critical energy, environmental, and climate change issues through non-partisan, non-ideological convening, with the specific intent of bringing together diverse stakeholders to improve the process and progress of policy-level dialogue. This enables EEP to sit at a critical intersection in the conversation and bring together diverse groups of expert stakeholders. It is fantastic that these organizations are willing to take on this important work alongside the State Department and the US Government at this pivotal moment when multilateral environmental cooperation is urgently needed.  

SIDS4, Antigua & Barbuda, 27-30 May 2024. The Fourth International Conference on Small Island States is an important and necessary follow-up of previous international deliberations held in Barbados, Mauritius and Samoa. Although much has been achieved in the last three decades in advancing sustainable development of Small Island Developing States, challenges are ever more defying given the effects of climate change and limited resources available. The “Antigua and Barbuda Strategy” is a crucial milestone in advancing our common endeavors in this sense. The priorities set out by the Brazilian G20 presidency – just energy transition, poverty and hunger eradication and global governance reform – are fully in line with and supportive of the new SIDS Agenda. Brazil has placed the oceans agenda, including the BBNJ Agreement, front and center on our sustainable development program at the G20. This is another area in which we look forward to exploring synergies with our SIDS partners. In this context, Brazil recognizes the imperative of sustainably using and conserving our oceans in light with the three dimensions of the sustainable development, namely social, economic and environmental. Brazil is recognized for its human and technological capacities in the exploration and exploitation of deep-sea resources. In light of our unequivocal commitment with the provisions of the UNCLOS, Brazil is supporting the candidacy of Ms. Leticia Carvalho to the position of SG/ISA at the elections scheduled for July-August 2024. The time has arrived for a national from the region of Latin America and the Caribbean to take this honorable position according to the principle of geographical balance. A key area in which SIDS and Brazil should enhance dialogue and cooperation are the ongoing discussions around deep-sea mining. We share the view that it is crucial to ensure long-term sustainability for our oceans and all those who depend on them, most notably SIDS. Brazil is committed to strengthening international cooperation for the sustainable development of SIDS, in special those in the Caribbean, both bilaterally and through regional organizations.