COP26

Financing a sustainable recovery: the role of debt-relief instruments

Dear Colleagues,

Please join us for an HLPF Side Event on “Financing a sustainable recovery: The role of debt-relief instruments.”

This virtual side event, which is part of the Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond Initiative, is jointly organized by UN DESA and UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA), with participation of UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC) and UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and the IMF.

The event brings together UN and other international experts to present and explore efforts to develop instruments for debt relief and restore fiscal space, for countries’ COVID response, climate action and the SDGs. The session aims to strengthen international and regional discourse on debt relief, especially in relation to climate change and the upcoming COP26.

The side event will take place on Thursday, 15 July 2021 (7:30 am – 9:00 am, New York/EDT) on WebEx.

Click here to register for the event and for more information, including the full concept note.

We welcome the participation of all stakeholders. You are most welcome to share this invitation with your networks.

Kind regards,

Navid Hanif

Director, Financing for Sustainable Development Office
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. 

A gathering to foster the basic principles of a new approach for a fairer and more inclusive Digital Society

Grand Conversation: 

A gathering to foster the basic principles of a new approach for a fairer and more inclusive Digital Society

21 June 2021, Monday

Opening 6:00 AM PDT | 9:00 AM EDT | 2:00 PM WEST | 3:00 PM CEST | 4:00 PM EAT

Watch live on facebook.com/occam.milano.

This year 2021 is turning out to be rich in mutations. People are taking back their hopes and activities after the dark months of the Covid confinement. The great rendezvous of G7, G20 and COP26 are proving to be rich in contents and looks promising in terms of a step towards new global assets. The “Next Generation EU” Plan aims at reinforcing not only the new generation, but also at reforming countries in a more just and efficient way. The wind of digitalization blows strong and gives the feeling of a new world in gestation. All of us understand that we can be the protagonists: this is the reason for this Grand Conversation and the invitation to take part to actively discuss how to build the future rather than being a passive audience

21 June 2021

Live on facebook.com/occam.milano

This year 2021 is turning out to be rich in mutations. People are taking back their hopes and activities after the dark
months of the Covid confinement. The great rendez-vous of G7, G20 and COP26 are proving to be rich in contents and
looks promising in terms of a step towards new global assets. The “Next Generation EU” Plan aims at reinforcing not only
the new generation, but also at reforming countries in a more just and efficient way.
The wind of digitalization blows strong and gives the feeling of a new world in gestation. All of us understand that we can
be the protagonists: this is the reason for this Grand Conversation and the invitation to take part to actively discuss how to
build the future rather than being a passive audience.

Preliminary Agenda

Opening 6:00 AM PDT 9:00 AM EDT 2:00 PM WEST 3:00 PM CEST 4:00 PM EAT
Greetings: Daniela Bas, Director, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs – Division for Inclusive Social Development, USA
Maurizio Molinari, Director, European Parliament Office in Milan, Italy
General introduction: Pierpaolo Saporito, President, OCCAM and Infopoverty Programme, Italy

Session 1: Policies and Strategies Fostering the Next Digital Society

We are living in a moment of gestation towards new forms of society that are arising all over the world in different shapes, operated by digital
innovations that are now part of the common practices of life, work and governance. They are growing up in their global assets to give life to the Next Digital Society.

Daniela Rondinelli, Member of the European Parliament, Commission on Employment and Social Affairs, Belgium
Uma Rani, Senior Economist, International Labour Organization (UN-ILO), Switzerland
George Hara, Special Advisor, Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister of Japan
Liberato C. Bautista, President, Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), USA

Session 2: The New Post-Covid Paradigm

The Covid-19 emergency is still pressing, imposing a hard change of behaviour to the society. After the pandemic, other priorities will emerge in the field of health security and in the expansion of human relationships, thanks to the increased digital opportunities. The whole world is now connected, and the ancient North-South gap can be easily overcome, changing the paradigm from charity and support, to transferring knowledge and competences. Africa woke up and started producing many innovations adaptable to its context without the influence of big, for-profit multinational enterprises. This should be a further motivation to renew win-win collaborations. How can emerging countries enter the digital development process? How to exploit human and material resources that are pivotal for the industrial development?Tony Ojobo,

President, African ICT Foundation, Nigeria
Nicolas Boissez, Head of Communication and External Relations, Fondation Hirondelle, Switzerland
Sofia Khadiri, Innovation Manager, LDV20 – Sparkasse, Italy
Andrea Cuomo, President Sacertis Knowledge, IW Bank, Switzerland

Session 3: e-Services for Development

The flow of change is exposed to different accelerations: enterprises are putting in place codes of conduct; governments are understanding how to use them, especially in the post-pandemic phase; consumers are still very much depending on the global supply. Much space can and must be covered by digital innovations to tackle the needs of consumers and the society as a whole, in fields such as health, education, jobs, agriculture, creative production. The aim is to ensure an e-welfare able to grant a dignified lifestyle and access to jobs for every individual.

Food Security and Agriculture
Jawoo Koo, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, USA
Giulia Bartezzaghi, Director, Food Sustainability Observatory – Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Giovanna Seddaiu, Project Coordinator, EWA-BELT EU Horizon2020 Project, Italy

Telemedicine
Francesco Sicurello, President, International Institute of Telemedicine, Italy
Claudio Azzolini, Professor Emeritus, University of Insubria, Italy
Fabrizio Conicella, General Manager, OpenZone, Italy
Hassan Ghazal, Founder and President, Moroccan Society for Telemedicine and e-Health, Morocco

Education

Toky Ravoavy, NGO Ligne Verte, Madagascar
David Neely, President, Affecting Change International, USA
Michael Mathews, Vice-President for Innovation and Technology, Oral Roberts University, USA

Session 4: How the Digital Communication can Drive the Process to Envisage a New, Better Digital Society

Cinema always anticipated new, visionary societies: what we live now was already done in films. The audio-visual language became universal, a new koiné, and everyone can be a producer, diffuser and consumer. Billions of movies are uploaded every day on the platforms, and the virtual world creates the reality. How to empower this collective creativity towards trends able to register and feed new aspirations of young people, in open dimensions that even democracy can benefit of?

Melita Zajc, Associate Professor of Media Communication, AMEU ISH Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jasmina Bojic, Founder and Director, UN Association Film Festival, USA
Firdaus Kharas, Founder, Chocolate Moose Media, USA
Giacomo Mazzone, Secretary-General, Eurovisioni, Italy

Roundtable: New Approaches to Build the Next Digital Society

The ancient régime is dying, and we need to find new perspectives, opening to younger generations to allow the growth of a world based on their vision. Traditional, hierarchical systems based on archaic powers are inconsistent with the new digital nature. This new DNA shall be made explicit and become the instrument for the development of the new SDG-inspired society, where software and hardware merge for the transformation of ideas into things and for the creation of correct actions enhanced by artificial yet intimately human intelligences.Participants to the Conversation, plus:

Heidi Tworek, Senior Fellow, Center for International Governance Innovation, USA
Nicol Turner-Lee, Senior Fellow, Brookings, USA
Giuseppe Enne, Founder and Scientific Advisor, Desertification Research Centre, Italy

Conclusion 10:15 AM PDT | 1:15 PM EDT | 6:15 PM WEST | 7:15 PM CEST | 8:15 PM EAT

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. 

From COP22 to COP26: The Congo Basin Blue Fund–An African and a global issue

Ahead of the upcoming COP26 summit in Glasgow in November 2021, the Brazzaville Foundation will gather high-level speakers to discuss the importance of COP26 for the Congo Basin, while highlighting the initiatives embodied within the Congo Basin Blue Fund’s vision. Interpretation in French/English.
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En préparation du sommet de la COP 26 qui se tiendra à Glasgow en novembre 2021, la Fondation Brazzaville réunira des intervenants de haut niveau pour discuter de l’importance de la COP 26 pour le Bassin du Congo, tout en mettant en avant les initiatives incarnées par la vision du Fonds Bleu pour le Bassin du Congo. Interprétation en français/anglais.

Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZWkXnv2FTb-5navoSqbyoA

Why?

  • The Congo and its tributaries are a vital resource for all the countries of the Congo Basin
  • The Basin holds 8% of the world’s forest-based carbon, so it also has a key role to play in helping to prevent global warming
  • The Blue Fund for the Congo Basin is a major sustainable development initiative designed to reduce the pressure to exploit the forests of the Congo Basin and thus mitigate the impact of global warming by promoting alternative economic development using the resources of the Congo River and its tributaries

The purpose of the Blue Fund for the Congo Basin is to generate sustainable economic development for the peoples of the region while reducing deforestation – for the Congo Basin countries, but also a global priority as a carbon sink.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit  ngocsdvienna.org.

The Climate Crisis and Developing Economies: A conversation with the Director of Power Shift Africa

WHAT THE WEST OWES THE REST

The Climate Crisis & Developing Economies: A conversation with Mohamed Adow, Director of Power Shift Africa

President Biden has ushered in the most ambitious climate plan in US history. But his wafer-slim majority in Congress gives him little time to push through his agenda before midterm elections in 18 months. The faith community must push for the realization of scaled up US climate ambition in coming months and years, following COP26 in November and in preparation for decisive 2024 Presidential elections.

Mohamed Adow is an international climate policy expert and ardent advocate for the people of developing nations – who are disproportionately affected by climate change but play almost no role in causing it. Hailing from a pastoralist community in Northern Kenya that faces increasing droughts, Adow’s experience on the frontlines of the climate crisis anchor his work as a voice for those most vulnerable to climate change. He is an outspoken and deeply respected leader among policy makers, NGOs, and the media on Africa and climate justice.

Mohamed is the Founder and Director of Power Shift Africa, a nongovernmental organization and thinktank based in Kenya that he formed in 2018 to mobilize climate action in Africa and shift climate and energy policies to zero carbon.

Join the event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86137939600?from=addon#success

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

Gearing Up for Glasgow: Faith, Climate Action and COP26

Hello everyone,
Warm greetings! If any of you are based in the UK or are interested in working with UK-based faith communities in the lead-up to COP26, please do join a special online gathering on Tuesday, 1 June, 6:30pm BST.
Register here!
Background: 

The UK hosts the United Nations Climate Change summit (COP26) this November, where governments will gather to negotiate the future of our planet. Civil society groups, including faith communities, are ramping up their actions on climate justice in the leadup to COP26.

Many of us have already been involved in excellent workshops and webinars this year, equipping us with the information and skills we need to act. This session is ideal for you if you are:

  • Based in the UK, or work with groups based in the UK
  • A person of (any) faith and/or would like to work with faith communities
  • Focusing on COP26 in your work on climate change
  • Eager to amplify your actions by connecting with others

This online session will provide an open, flexible space for you to join up with others who want to take similar actions. Be prepared to come with ideas and plans to work with others and to form connections organically. You will:

  • Join with climate activists from different faith traditions linking up on a geographical, tactical or issue basis
  • Explore and engage with in-depth conversations to enable exciting plans to emerge
  • Have opportunities to move with other faith activists from mobilising for events to organising your own actions
  • Connect your climate activism with the work of Make COP Count, the COP26 Coalition and the wider climate justice movement

When you register, tell us what themes or ideas you would like the breakout rooms to hold. We want the session to provide you with the space to develop the networks and relationships you need to take action. You will be able to move between breakout rooms throughout the session, or join new ones based on new themes or actions that emerge.

Agenda:

6:30  Welcome and introductions
6:45  Breakout discussions
7:30  Plenary feedback
7:40  Announcements and sharings: Make COP Count and the COP26 Coalition
8:00  Close

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org.

CRNGO Climate Working Group advocacy meeting

Good afternoon colleagues,
Eid Mubaak to those of you celebrating / recognizing Eid ul Fitr. As discussed on at the 3 May meeting, the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations’ Working Group on Climate will have an informal, 60-min meeting to discuss COP26 Advocacy this coming Monday, 17 May, at 10:00 am EDT.
The agenda will be simple:
  • Bring along your organization’s plans / ideas  for Advocacy to share (or if you don’t have a plan, come and learn and support others who do!)
PS – just FYI, here’s some info on the upcoming UN Decade of Ecological Restoration:

Even amidst the global pandemic and climate crisis challenges, the Good News is that it’s almost time for the launch of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.  In an effort to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) has developed many resources to share on June 5, 2021, which is World Environment Day. (See more information here: worldenvironmentday.global)

To help us take action in this next decade, UNEP has published a practical guide to ecosystem restoration called the Ecosystem Restoration Playbook – it provides an introduction to a range of actions that can slow the degradation of ecosystems and foster their recovery. Designed for all interested individuals and stakeholder groups, this guide outlines three pathways to getting involved in ecosystem restoration during the UN Decade and beyond:

· Taking action such as starting or support an on-the-ground restoration project

· Making smart choices like buying only sustainable products and changing diets

· Raising your voice in support of ecosystem conservation and restoration

You can find more information, as well as a link to this 21-page guide, here:  https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/

So join in on restoring one or more of the eight key types of ecosystems – forests, farmlands, grassland and savannahs, rivers and lakes, oceans and coasts, towns and cities, peatlands, and mountains – and become part of #GenerationRestoration !

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

[Laudato Si Dialogue] Critical opportunities in 2021 to create change: call for an integral path

This webinar will highlight key political opportunities in 2021 to create change, with a focus on the UN climate conference (COP 26) and the UN biodiversity conference (COP 15) and the need for an integral approach. We will hear from the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and from indigenous and youth leaders on the key role these conferences must play in building back better after the COVID 19 pandemic, achieving global goals, restoring harmony between humanity and nature, and building a culture of care and justice.

Register here!

Participants:

  • Moderator: Christine Allen, CAFOD Director
  • Representative from the Dicastery, Fr Augusto Zampini
  • Representative from COICA (Amazonia), Gregorio Mirabal
  • Global Youth movement representative, Ditebogo Lebea, Climate Activist and Youth Programmes Associate at South African Institute of International Affairs

Watch the event here:

youtube.com/c/GlobalCatholicClimateMovement

facebook.com/GlobalCatholicClimateMovement

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

COP26: Glasgow Climate Change Conference

The COP26 UN climate change conference set to take place in Glasgow in November 2020 has been postponed due to COVID-19.  This decision has been taken by the COP Bureau of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), with the UK and its Italian partners.

Dates for a rescheduled conference in 2021, hosted in Glasgow by the UK in partnership with Italy, have been set to 1-12 November 2021.

In light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 was no longer possible. Rescheduling will ensure all parties can focus on the issues to be discussed at this vital conference and allow more time for the necessary preparations to take place. We will continue to work with all involved to increase climate ambition, build resilience and lower emissions.

COP 26 side events/exhibits – organizations with admission status in the UNFCCC process and Parties partnering with an admitted organization(s) are eligible to apply for a side event and/or an exhibit, using the side events and exhibits online application system (SEORS) managed by the UNFCCC secretariat. The schedule for its opening for COP 26 will be announced on this site. Eligibility, selection and allocation criteria are available on this webpage.

More COP26 info from the host country provided here: ukcop26.org

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. 

COP26: Ramp Up Ambition!

Faiths Unite: Visions for Transformative Climate Action

A 3-part interactive online series organised by the Interfaith Liaison Committee to the UNFCCC Every Tuesday from October 27th to November 10th

The Interfaith Liaison Committee welcomes friends from around the world to learn, discuss and explore climate action in the run up to what should have been COP26. We welcome members from different religious communities, alongside scientists and policymakers, to meet and share their visions for faith-based climate action in 2020.

Join us for part 2 on Tuesday, Nov. 3 – COP26: Ramp Up Ambition!

4:00-5:30 pm GMT / 5:00-6:30 pm CET / 11:00-12:30 am EST

Register here.

The second event in a 3-part interactive online series organised by the Interfaith Liaison Committee to the UNFCCC. This webinar will discuss what needs to be on the agenda of COP26 and what does it mean for climate action now.

The postponement of COP26 creates a challenge to keeping up the tempo on climate action. States’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are not even close to ensuring global temperature rise remains below 2°C, let alone the necessary 1.5°C.

Inaction from governments is no longer an option. 2020 is the year when the GHG emissions curve must begin to fall in order to have a chance of attaining the Paris Agreement goals. Climate actions undertaken by States must contain a mechanism to compensate for loss and damage. Finance, technology transfer and capacity building for adaptation must be made available to least developed and climate vulnerable countries. Covid-19 has shown the world that there is finance available to respond to an emergency. The climate emergency needs to be met with the same determination. There is no real alternative – continuing to stall action will eventually lead to catastrophic loss and damage.

Moderator: Lindsey Fielder Cook, Representative for Climate Change, Quaker United Nations Office (Geneva)

Speakers:

  • Sarmad Iqbal, Islamic Relief Worldwide (Pakistan)
  • Neil Thorns, Chair of the Climate Coalition and Advocacy Director at CAFOD (UK)
  • Prof Joyashree Roy, Bangabandhu Chair Professor, Asian Institute of Technology, IPCC Author (Thailand)
  • Moema de Miranda, Churches and Mining, Franciscans, Brazil
  • Ovais Sarmad, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary (Bonn)

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com. 

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