Hong Kong’s first blog for SDG education news and announcements
Image by Kurt Bouda from Pixabay A rather good article in The Conversation by Heather Browning and Walter Veit tackles the difficult question of what the overall experience of life might be for wild animals. This is an area which tends to succumb to the simplification of ideas that humans often prefer, especially in groupthink. On the one hand is a tradition of (over?) idealizing life in the wild and on the other of (over?) dramatizing it as a desperate struggle for survival ending in a painful death. The authors do a great job of putting the observable facts into context and showing the actuality is probably somewhere in between and, just as with human lives, some will be lucky to have much better ones than others. Overall, the article is a good read just to reinforce our gut instinct that nature is very much worthwhile in and of itself. . . .
Image by Olya Adamovich from Pixabay A report from the World Meteorological Organization of the UN has warned that within 5 years the earth will start breaching the 1.5 deg limit on a more frequent basis. The limit refers to the average annual global temperature when compared to the average before industrialization began in the 1700s. The pledge to act to maintain temperatures below this is famously contained within the 2015 Paris Agreement from COP21 which is the only legally binding agreement on climate action to be widely signed by the global community. While the Paris Agreement refers to long-term or permanent temperatures at this level, the WMO report says that we will begin seeing temporary breaches on a frequent basis from 2027 – much earlier than anticipated. If action is not taken this may mean a permanent move above the limit quicker than we thought. This is important as scientists believe this would be a point of no return which will severely impact humanit . . .
Image by Devi Puspita Amartha on Unsplash To solve Asia’s single-use sachet waste problem, promote reuse (Eco-business) We can stop disaster risk spiralling out of control (Eco-business) 31 Must-Watch Climate Change Documentaries (greenqueen) Regulators crack down on corporate carbon neutrality claims (CHN) Tyre-makers under pressure as too much rubber hits the road (Reuters) Can a city store as much carbon as a forest? (ScienceDaily) Nature is changing as land abandonment increases (ScienceDaily) COP27: Africa took climate action into own hands, Asia must too (Aljazeera) . . .
Image by linked sdgs Later this year will see the release of the Global Sustainable Development Report marking the halfway point in the 2030 Agenda. As a precursor to that, a High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism has just released a report offering insight on how to boost the progress towards the SDGs which seem to be lagging, and to propose solutions to the challenges holding change back. The report calls for six transformational shifts: Rebuilding trust in multilateralism through inclusion and accountability; Regaining balance with nature and providing clean energy for all; Ensuring abundant and sustainable finance that delivers for all; Supporting a just digital transition that unlocks the value of data and protects against digital harms; Empowering effective, equitable collective security arrangements; and Managing current and emerging transnational risks. “Multilateralism can work, but it must work better and faster,” said co-Cha . . .
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay Tomorrow is the UN observance of the International Day of Living Together in Peace. This is perhaps one of the lesser known days of observance but it has been held on May 16 since 2018 having being enacted by Resolution in 2017. It is important for two very clear reasons. Firstly, the UN itself was born from the ashes of the second world war and a universal desire not to go down that path again. To have an inter-governmental platform that would bring government representatives together to work towards common goals and to recognize stability as an underlying, fundamental requirement for a prosperous world. Secondly, it is clear that without Peace, people cannot even begin to build the societies that we desire. The Day aims to uphold the desire to live and act together, united in differences and diversity, in order to build a sustainable world of peace, solidarity and harmony. . . .
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay World not ready to ‘switch off’ fossil fuels, UAE says (Aljazeera) Pollen production could impact climate change by helping clouds form (ScienceDaily) Factbox: Debt-for-nature swaps swell in climate finance response (Reuters) Helion Energy will provide Microsoft with fusion power starting in 2028 (techcrunch) Germany promises €2bn to global Green Climate Fund (CHN) How To Get Your Portfolio Into Climate Shape (greenqueen) Microbes discovered that can digest plastics at low temperatures (The Guardian) Renewables will be world’s top electricity source within three years, IEA data reveals (Eco-business) How to make your next holiday better for the environment (The Conversation) . . .
Image by Como una Reina from Pixabay A good article in Eco-business points out the sheer scope and variety of jobs, and thus skills, required to drive economies towards being on a green footing. As much as the public may demand green services and as much as government policy may set green targets, if the skills are not in the workforce to deliver then progress will be slow, or at least slower than people want. This then raises an important question for the education sector. It is our experience that education in sustainability is severely lacking even in societies where public awareness of, and demand for action, on green issues is at its highest. These places are also those best placed to overhaul the teaching of sustainability in schools at all levels and thus have a fundamental impact on the future workforce demanding green skills for employment. But it is also an opportunity for those places with lower levels of educational coverage and quality to enact one of the bigge . . .
Image by from a photo by Pat Whelen Those involved in development have known for many years how the acquisition of debt through misplaced, misguided or corrupt development aid programmes can easily end up crippling emerging economies and very rapidly worsen the very situation they were aimed at alleviating. As early as 1996, the IMF introduced its Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) designation and set in a place a programme to put qualifying countries through a process of debt relief. This has not been without its critics, not least those who point out that the IMF itself is a product of the very systems and structures which created the debt in the first place and the politico-economic ideologies of both lenders and restructurers are identical and unlikely to lead to the transformative system change that may be necessary to make real progress. A new report joint produced by academics at Boston and SOAS now brings the question of debt sustainability into the modern era wi . . .
