Global Citizenship A journey to a more sustainable planet

Felix Dodds• Felix Dodds is a Senior Fellow at the Global Research Institute and a Senior Affiliate of the Water

Institue at the University of North Carolina and an Associate Fellow at the Tellus Institute.

• He was the co-director of the 2014 Nexus Conference on Water, Food, Energy and Climate.

• Felix was the Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future from 1992-2012.

• He has been active at the UN since 1990 attending and actively participating in the World Summits, Conferences and has advised the Danish and UK Governments and the European Union

• In 2011 he chaired the United Nations DPI 64th NGO conference - 'Sustainable Societies Responsive Citizens'.

• From 1997-2001 he co-chaired the UN Commission on Sustainable Development NGO Steering Committee.

• He has coordinated some of the most innovative stakeholder dialogues at the intergovernmental level Bonn Water (2001), Bonn Energy (2004) and Bonn Nexus (2011).

• He has written or edited thirteen books the latest is due out in May 2016 The Water, Food and Climate Nexus: Challenges and an agenda for Action which he edited with Jamie Bartram.

• His next one out in September is Negotiating the Sustainable Development Goals: A transformational agenda for an insecure world with Ambassador David Donoghue and Jimena Leiva Roesch

March 2016 Felix Dodds www.felixdodds.net2

Frank Borman, Commander of Apollo 8 (1968)

“I think the one overwhelming emotion that we had was when we saw the earth rising in the distance over the lunar landscape . . . . It makes us realize that we all do exist on one small globe. For from 230,000 miles away it really is a small planet."

July 22,

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The world becomes more global • 1970 – First Earth Day• US Environmental Protection

Agency created• 1971 Greenpeace founded• 1971 Friends of the Earth

founded• 1972 First UN Conference on

Human Environment• 1972 United Nations

Environment Programme created

• 1973 European Union DG Environment created

July 22, 2012

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We are all connected

July 22, 2012

• 1984 British Antarctic Survey –finds a recurring hole in the ozone layer

• 1985 UN Convention on Ozone Depleting Chemicals

• 1987 UN Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

• 1989 Entered into force• By 2050-2070 ozone hole will

return to 1980 levels.

The Roadmap to the SDGs and Paris Climate Agreement

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• Earth Summit 1992• Millennium Development Goals

2000• World Summit on Sustainable

Development 2002• Financial Crisis 2008• Copenhagen Climate Summit

and Rio+20 2009• Rio+20 2012• Sustainable Development Goals

and the Paris Climate Agreement 2015

• Challenges for the UK

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Stakeholder engagement in the UN

July 22, 2012

1992 Earth SummitAgenda 21 the first UN document to give ‘rights and responsibilities for stakeholders to engage in the development and implementation of the UN Action Plan.There were nine chapters representing different sectors of society which were called ‘Major Groups’1. Youth and Children2. NGOs, 3. Women,4. Indigenous Peoples5. Local Authorities6. Trade Unions7. Business and Industry8. Science and Technological Community9. Role of Farmers

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Rio+5 and the Commission on Sustainable Development 1997-2001

July 22, 2012

1996 the UN General Assembly agreed that at Rio+5 each of the nine major groups would have half a day to present on what they are doing to implement Agenda 21

1998-2001 – two days of the Commission on Sustainable Development (4 sessions of 3 hours – 12 hours in total) were given over to a multi-stakeholder dialogue with member states which drew experience on what has happening on implementing Agenda 21 and what policy changes might be needed to enhance implementation

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The journey to Global Citizenship We are moving from Representative Democracy (Madison Democracy) to Participatory Democracy (Jeffersonian Democracy) But at this point in history we are engaged in

Stakeholder Democracy

July 22, 2012

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Definitions and players• Stakeholders: Those

impacted by a decision or impact on a decision

• Social movements: are a type of group action. They are large, sometimes informal, groupings of individuals or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues. In other words, they carry out, resist, or undo a social change.

• Civil society: is the "aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens.

• Global citizenship: defines a person who places their identity with a "global community" above their identity as a citizen of a particular nation or place.

• The idea is that one’s identity transcends geography or political borders and that the planetary human community is interdependent and whole; humankind is essentially one

July 22, 2012

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Global Agendas 1991 UN Children's Summit1992 UN Earth Summit1994 UN Population Conference 1995 UN Women's Conference 1995UN Social Development

Summit1995 World Trade Organization 1996 UN Human Settlement

Conference1996UN Food Summit1997 UN Kyoto Protocol on

Climate ChangeJuly 22, 2012

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Millennium Development Goals 2000

July 22, 2012

2000 Millennium Development Goal (MDG8)

2000 UN Global Compact launched as a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to support UN goals: promotes ten principles – now over 8000 companies and 4000 non-business participants

World Summit on Sustainable Development

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The Great Transition 2002 – Tellus Institute

July 22, 2012

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ECOSOCO and UNGA

July 22, 2012

The strange rebirth of sustainable development

The Economic Downturn

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Planetary Boundaries 2010 – Oxfam Doughnut 2011

July 22, 2012

What did Rio+20 actually do?

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Agreed:• To replace the Commission on

Sustainable Development by the High Level Political Forum meeting annually and at Heads of State every four years.

• Upgrading UNEP to meet biannually as a United Nations Environmental Assembly with ALL member states

• Accelerated the approach to the Green Economy

Set up a process to agree Sustainable Development Goals to replace Millennium Development Goals in 2015

Set up a process to bring financing for sustainable development to the Third Financing for Development Conference in 2015

Set up a process to break the disagreement on technology transfer

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Tellus Institute – The Widening Circle (2012)• The planetary challenge is urgent and systemic...

The world confronts twenty-first century perils hobbled by twentieth century mindsets and institutions, a dangerous gap that bodes ill.

• A just and sustainable civilization is still possible...We can forge a path to a different future: a world of lives enriched and nature resilient.

• A fragmented movement is incapable of systemic transformation…Civil society efforts are vital, but lack an overarching vision and strategy matched to the complexity of the historic task.

• A critical social actor is missing from the global stage…The transition awaits the awakening of a vast cultural and political movement engaged on all fronts in a supranational project of global citizenship.

• The global citizens movement will be adaptive and polycentric.... The living movement will evolve as a dispersed ecology of associations, spawning centers of influence in every nation and community.July 22, 2012

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2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 2015

July 22, 2012

To replace the MDGs:• 100 National Consultations• 11 Thematic Consultations• Two High Level Panel

Reports (2011 and 2013)• Two Secretary General

Report• Rio+20• 13 sessions of the

Sustainable Development Open Working Group

• 8 Intergovernmental Negotaions Sessions

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Sustainable Development Goals

July 22, 2012

What are the differences between the MDGs and SDGs?

The MDGs just applied to developing countriesThe SDGs apply to ALL countries

The MDGS are addressing developmentThe SDGs are addressing sustainable development

The MDGs address the symptoms The SDGs address the problems and underlying causes

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Sustainable Development Goals

July 22, 2012

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Global Citizenship – Transforming Our World

“A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we

are fortunate enough — But a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its

inevitability.”

(Robert Kennedy, 1966)

July 22, 2012

Felix DoddsSenior Fellow at the Global Research Institute

University of North Carolina

+www.felixdodds.net Twitter: @felixdodds Email: felix@felixdodds.net  Blog: http://blog.felixdodds.net/