09/02/2011
The Brazilian Minister of the Environment,
Izabella Teixeira, will join a High-level
Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP). The
invitation was made by the current Secretary-General
of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon.
Created in August 2010,
the GSP brings together renowned world figures
to formulate a new blueprint for a sustainable
future on a planet under increasing stress
resulting from human activities.
Recognizing that climate
change, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity,
the destruction of ecosystems and shifting
demographic and consumption patterns require
bold new approaches to ensure that the world
can meet the Millennium Development Goals
and other development objectives, the Panel
seeks to explore approaches for building
a low-carbon, green and resilient economy
that can eradicate poverty and ensure a
dignified life for all.
The GSP will issue its
final report by the end of 2011. Its inputs
will feed into inter-governmental processes,
including preparations for the UN Conference
on Sustainable Development (Rio 2012), and
the annual meetings of the Conference of
the Parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The
Panel is supported by a small secretariat
within the Secretary-General's office in
New York.
Further information is available on www.un.org/en/gsp.
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Theme of Future Policy
Award 2011: Forest Protection
07/02/2011
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological
Diversity / United Nations Environment Programme
During the International Year of Forests,
decision-makers will be asking the question:
what are the policies that most successfully
protect forests? The World Future Council,
an international forum that provides decision-makers
with effective policy solutions, will come
up with some answers. At the Annual Meeting
of the United Nations Forum on Forests in
New York, the World Future Council (WFC)
announced that it will provide this year's
distinguished Future Policy Award to the
world's most inspiring, innovative and influential
laws on forest protection. The Awards will
be presented in New York in September 2011
at a reception hosted by the Secretariat
of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) and the WFC. In making the announcement,
Alexandra Wandel, Executive Member of the
Management Board of the German-based organization,
said: "Exemplary policy solutions do
exist. The Future Policy Award celebrates
the best of them. The aim of the award is
to raise global awareness for these policies
and speed up policy action. At the World
Future Council we strive to enhance policy
progress in the interest of future generations."
Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive
Secretary of the Convention on Biological
Diversity, said: "Forests hold more
than 80 per cent of the world's biological
diversity and, as highlighted in 2010, deforestation
and forest degradation are major reasons
for the world's unprecedented biodiversity
loss. This is why it is urgent to identify
policies that protect biodiversity while
contributing to the fight against land degradation
and climate change."
Speaking in New York
at the opening ceremony of the International
Year on Forests, WFC Honorary Councillor,
Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Peace Laureate
and Founder of the Green Belt Movement,
said: "Governments have a responsibility
to ensure that the ecological services provided
by the trees and forests are available for
the common good of all communities, including
the future generations."
Nominations for the
Future Policy Award are received from a
select group of international organizations
as well as from Councillors and Advisors
of the World Future Council. A research
team screens all nominated policies according
to the seven principles for sustainable
development law that were presented at the
2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development. As a result, an evaluation
report is presented to the international
jury composed of experts from all five continents.
