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GUEST ARTICLES
Business Engagement in SDGs Follow up and Review: Lessons Learned after Three HLPFs, Preparing for 2019
The 2018 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) reflected business’ increasing engagement in the 2030 Agenda, which is part of a trend of increased engagement in sustainability taking place over the last decade. Those who attended the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 (Rio+20) will remember that the private sector was present, but gathered at a parallel forum known as ‘Business Day’ across town from the conference. The presence of businesses was unprecedented, but the modalities of engagement did not allow for true collaboration.
It’s the Politics, Stupid! How to Make Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform Happen
Fossil fuel subsidies strain public budgets and contribute to climate change and local air pollution. But despite widespread agreement about the benefits of reforming fossil fuel subsidies, repeated international commitments to eliminate them, and valiant reform efforts by some countries, they persist.

POLICY BRIEFS
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe September 2018 Update on UN Reform Processes
The international community will soon celebrate three years since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Since world leaders signed onto the 17 Global Goals in September 2015, the UN system has been trying to align itself with the new Agenda. This policy brief provides a snapshot of recent developments in the parallel but inter-related reform processes underway within the UN system.
Featured Image -232 Kofi Annan and the Transition to Sustainable Development Goals
As many tributes have noted, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan leaves behind a legacy of quiet, behind the scenes diplomacy from his tenure from 1997-2006. His achievements helped set the stage for the set of 17 universal sustainable development goals and 169 targets we have today. This brief looks at the SDG era that Annan helped usher in vis-à-vis his efforts to set and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as his vision for exceeding their ambition.

FEATURED
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe Governments Commence Organizational Work on Global Pact for Environment
5 September 2018: Governments debated options for a working group on "possible gaps in international environmental law and environment-related instruments," discussing expectations for the Global Pact for the Environment and preferences regarding the upcoming substantive sessions.
Photo by IISD/ENB | Sean Wu Bangkok Climate Talks Get Underway to Advance Paris Agreement Implementation Guidelines
5 September 2018: The Bangkok Climate Change Conference got underway as governments make a final push to advance work on implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement on climate change ahead of the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 24), which is expected to adopt the guidelines in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018.

NEWS
Photo by IISD | Lynn Wagner AFR100 Pledges Bring Africa Closer to 2030 Landscape Restoration Targets
3 September 2018: The African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) is close to fulfilling its goal of restoring 100 million hectares by 2030. New pledges totaling more than 11 million hectares were made by Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Togo ahead of the recently concluded Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Africa 2018. To date, 27 African countries have made pledges to restore more than 96.4 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
Featured Image - 230 ESCAP, UNFCCC Partner to Strengthen Climate, SDG Action in Asia-Pacific
31 August 2018: The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the UNFCCC have signed an agreement to strengthen regional climate action, with a focus on meeting the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Photo by IISD/ENB IUCN Calls for Expanding Women’s Role in Water Governance
29 August 2018: The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has launched a report titled, ‘Women as Change-makers in the Governance of Shared Waters,’ highlighting the role of women in transboundary water governance. IUCN’s review of research into the role of women in water governance finds that the issue has not received much attention, despite women playing an important role in the way water is used, shared and allocated.
Featured Image -205 Atlas Equips Governments for 'Digital Revolution' in Public Services
29 August 2018: Apolitical has prepared a digital government atlas as an online resource for governments seeking to digitize services. The atlas aims to provide the materials required to “launch a digital revolution in their department.” Digital services can automate the delivery of public services and ensure the availability of public data via online platforms.
Featured Image -161 GRI Updates Water and Effluents Standard
28 August 2018: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has issued an update to its water and effluents standard for corporate reporting. The revised standard places emphasis on assessing water resource impacts across the whole product supply chain, which, GRI states, has been consistently under-reported in the past.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe Clean Pacific Roundtable Highlights Regional Initiatives, Agreement to Reduce Waste in Ocean
28 August 2018: Participants attending the second Clean Pacific Roundtable, which convened on the theme, ‘Pathways to a Pollution-free Pacific,’ agreed on a plan for managing pollution in the region and to work in partnership to help reduce the amount of land-based waste ending up in the ocean.
Tea pickers in Mt. Kenya region / Photo credit Neil Palmer (CIAT) AfDB and FAO Create Strategic Alliance to End Hunger, Poverty in Africa
27 August 2018: The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) have created a strategic alliance aimed at raising up to US$100 million in five years to catalyze agriculture sector investments to promote food security, sustainable agriculture and rural development.
Photo by Hermes Rivera UNIDO Workshops Discuss Renewable Energy and Waste-to-energy Solutions in Cambodia and Uruguay
16 August 2018: The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) organized country-level workshops to support the implementation of SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy) and linkages with SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production) in Cambodia, focusing on identifying policy gaps in renewable energy technologies, and Uruguay, addressing circular economies and waste-to-energy solutions.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe IRENA, IEA and REN21 Present Policies to Accelerate the Renewable Energy Transition
14 August 2018: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), International Energy Agency (IEA), and Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) published a joint report titled, ‘Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition.’ The publication provides policymakers with a comprehensive understanding of the diverse policy options to support the development of renewables across sectors, technologies, country contexts, energy market structures, and policy objectives.
Featured Image -200 UN Global Compact, World Bank Take Action on SDG 16
7 August 2018: The UN Global Compact (UNGC) and partners have concluded two three-year projects to advance collective action against corruption. The projects were based on the Global Compact's Tenth Principle (anti-corruption) and on SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), with a focus on SDG target 16.5 to "substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms."
Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth UN Officials Highlight Hidden Aspects of 2030 Agenda
August 2018: The UN Chronicle’s second issue of 2018 features contributions authored by women who are senior officials in the UN system. This edition of "the magazine of the United Nations" focuses on the SDGs, and examines actions the UN has taken in its “lead role in advancing the 2030 Agenda.”
Featured Image -116 IOM Pilot Study Disaggregates Migration Data Using Census Records
August 2018: A pilot study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) shows how countries may report on the status of migrants, drawing on population census data. The report presents graphic visualizations of how countries can compare the status of migrants and native-born populations, and how they can discern trends over time.
Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth Australia’s SDG Portal Targets Transformative Change
July 2018: Australia has launched an online SDGs platform to track national progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The site titled, ‘Transforming Australia,’ houses a collection of data with an emphasis on the Goals and indicators most relevant to Australia.

CURRENT & UPCOMING EVENTS SEE MORE »
49th Pacific Islands Forum
3-6 September 2018 | Nauru
Eleventh Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention (OEWG 11)
3-6 September 2018 | Geneva, Geneve, Switzerland
Shelter Academy 2018
3-7 September 2018 | Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
UArctic Congress 2018
3-7 September 2018 | Oulu, Finland
Bangkok Climate Change Conference 2018
4-9 September 2018 | Bangkok (Krung Thep), Thailand
First Session of the Intergovernmental Conference on BBNJ
4-17 September 2018 | New York City, US
Towards a Global Pact for the Environment: Organizational Session
5-7 September 2018 | New York City, US
G20 Joint Education and Employment Ministerial Meeting
6 September 2018 | Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
G20 Employment Ministerial Meeting
6-7 September 2018 | Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
SER Europe Conference 2018 (SERE 2018)
9-13 September 2018 | Reykjavik, Iceland
Mobilizing Green Energy Finance and Investment in Emerging Economies
10 September 2018 | San Francisco, CA, US
First Arctic Resilience Forum
10-11 September 2018 | Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
Ocean & Climate Platform High Level Scientific Conference
10-11 September 2018 | Paris, Ile-De-France, France
18th Meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF 18)
10-12 September 2018 | Bangkok (Krung Thep), Thailand
International Symposium on Black Soils
10-12 September 2018 | Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
67th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC 67)
10-14 September 2018 | Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil