An introductory learning companion, launched by the United Nations Environment Programme, provides learners of all types with up-to-date resources to better understand the connections between trade, environment and development.
It’s been a long and challenging year, one in which we have learned to communicate virtually, linked by our screens to the outside world. And this is only for those fortunate enough to work from home. Then there are those on the frontlines of the struggle with COVID-1, risking their lives to keep the wheels of civilization turning, while others have been forced to migrate away from their homes and life as they knew it.
The circular economy proposes a profoundly different model leading to growth and jobs without compromising the environment.
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India’s 2021-2022 budget lays a strong foundation for a sustainable post-COVID-19 recovery, but more funds need to be allocated to fight climate change.
"The only chance of reaching the 2030 and 2050 global climate goals is to deploy all possible measures possible to defy the business-as-usual scenario. This is where natural resources management, and the circular economy, as an important instrument, comes into play," said Janez Potocnik, Co-Chair of the International Resource Panel, and Julia Okatz, Associate at SYSTEMIQ.
Technological change is a crucial aspect for achieving the green economy and fostering green growth, with open source software promoting collaboration in urban centres to solve climate change and resource scarcity challenges.
Efforts are being made globally to tackle food waste, but more needs to be done to ensure that the market is in tune to environmental impacts. Digital solutions can help open doors for food market transformation and drive sustainability.
Research
The start of a New Year is often a time for reflection and recalibration. This winter, as we leave behind perhaps the most difficult year in recent human history, this reflection takes on an even greater meaning.
In the words of Secretary-General Guterres, we are standing at a “make-or-break” moment for humanity, and the health of our planet. New COVID-19 variants continue to emerge, and despite global emissions falling by a record 7% last year, the planet is now at hotter than at any other point in human civilization.
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Globally, 789 million people lack access to electricity and 2.8 billion clean cooking. A recent study by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) reveals that much of this gap, despite a decade of progress, is because money is not flowing where it is needed most.
Current national economic accounting systems do not reflect the resource and environmental costs of economic growth, nor the contribution of ecosystems to the economic growth. But using the ‘Gross Economic-Ecological Product’ instead of traditional GDP does.