State responsibilities for sustainability under multiple crises
The TES Academy and the UBA Task Force “Ukraine” invite all interested parties to the virtual event “Do industrialized nations neglect their responsibility for promoting the sustainability transformation (in times of multiple crises)?” to aim at bringing such perspectives from the global South to the front and raise awareness to potential needs that go beyond financial issues.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the urgently needed sustainability transformation face new challenges due to the Russian war against Ukraine. Especially in European communities, many initiated changes are currently re-evaluated under the unprecedented geopolitical situation ("Zeitenwende"), such as energy supply, mobility, and agriculture.
The German Environment Agency (UBA) considers the new global situation both a potential threat and an opportunity for the vision of a sustainability transformation (e.g., transition to renewable energy). Therefore, UBA launches an online discussion series to reflect on the implications of the current crises with international experts. The series is organized by the newly established International Academy Transformation for Environment and Sustainability (TES Academy) at UBA and the UBA Ukraine Task Force. The TES Academy aims to bring together international experts and practitioners on sustainability issues to advance transformation activities. The Task Force analyzes the implications of the war in Ukraine for environmental and sustainability policy.
In our second event, we raise the following question: “Do industrialized nations neglect their responsibility for promoting the sustainability transformation (in times of multiple crises)”? The consensus of 2015 to launch the SDGs has been a remarkable success for the United Nations. Although strong efforts can be seen to reach these goals, the will for global cooperation has been dwindling due to shifts back to nationalistic policies as well as due to the covid-19 pandemic. Countries of the global South have become more critical on the will of countries from the Western world in fulfilling their share of the SDGs – at home in their countries, as well as supporters of implementation in Sothern countries. The missing resources in the context of the UNFCCC related funds of the financial support for the future global biodiversity framework are just two examples. Furthermore, the still often problematic trade and investment relationships between industry states and states in the Global South weakens the trust in a mutually fruitful cooperation. With Russia’s war in Ukraine, this challenge becomes even more prominent with budget priorities of Western countries shifting even more to security issues und the support (once again) of national economies.
Keynote and discussion with
Prof. Jorge Heine
(Research Professor, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University)
Prof. Fatima Denton
(Director United Nations University, Institute of Natural Resource in Africa (UNU-INRA))
Click on the registration link to receive the WebEx Login Data.
RECORDING NOTICE: This online event enables an attendee to participate through a personal device's microphone and/or camera. An attendee may elect not to participate through use of a microphone and/or camera. The election of an attendee to use a microphone and/or camera constitutes a release and waiver of rights in the capture of the attendee's image, likeness, and/or voice for the exclusive use by German Environment Agency (UBA).
