Both ENDS
On Thursday November 7th, a group of European NGO's including Both ENDS, sent a letter to Vice-President of the EU Frans Timmermans, in which they ask him to support the phase out of European Investment Bank’s fossil fuel financing by the end of 2020.
The sixth High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was held at the UN Headquarters in New York in July 2018. The HLPF provides an opportunity to review global progress towards achieving the SDGs and for countries to present their own Voluntary National Reviews of the implementation of the SDGs. At this year's HLPF, SDG 15, known as the 'Life on Land'-goal, was under review.
Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people live in areas where the soil is depleted; often they are forced to, or the region they have been living in for generations has become increasingly arid over time. The desert is advancing and this is a global problem. Opinions about the causes of land degradation and desertification, but especially about the solutions, are very divided. To discuss this, the biennial global conference on desertification will take place from 2 to 14 September. This is where policymakers, scientists, NGOs, female and male farmers and pastoralist, herders and companies from all over the world come together. Our colleague Nathalie van Haren is present at the conference and explains why.
Both ENDS is co-organising a double panel discussion 'Delta Dynamics: Dutch Masterplans and the SDGs' on June 26th. This is part of the conference 'Critical Perspectives on Governance by Sustainable Development Goals: Water, Food and Climate (25-26 June 2018)' organized by the Centre for Sustainable Development Studies at the University of Amsterdam. At the sessions Both ENDS' partners from Jakarta and Manila will be presenting.
On Friday, the long awaited policy note by Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag was published. We searched for the spirit underlying it: What trends does this minister consolidate and deepen? What is new? On what issues is the paper silent and what do those silences tell us? Both ENDS' director Danielle Hirsch published her reflection on the policy note on the website of Vice Versa (in Dutch).
In 2015, the member states of the United Nations committed themselves to the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unlike their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the SDGs recognise the importance of equality within and between countries, of decision-making processes in which all people are included and heard, and of legal systems that are independent and accessible to all.
