Highlights and images for 12 July 2019

Highlights for Friday, 12 July 2019

As the first week of HLPF 2019 drew to a close, two sessions reviewed the implementation and interrelations among Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), on SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions). In the discussion on SDG 13, Luis Alfonso de Alba, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Action Summit, pleaded with governments to bring ambitious plans to the Summit, to deliver a 45% reduction of emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Carolina Schmidt, Minister of Environment, Chile, and President-designate of the 2019 Climate Conference identified seven priorities for the Conference: ambition in implementation; rules for the carbon market mechanisms; climate finance; science for climate solutions; adaptation and loss and damage; forests and food security; and oceans and climate change. Gender will be a crosscutting theme for all the issues, she said. In the discussion on SDG 16, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) reported no substantial progress on SDG 16 targets in recent years, with thousands at greater risk of intentional murder, aggression, and sexual violence. Women comprise 70% of the victims of violence, and murders of human rights defenders increased by 2 victims per week in 2018 compared to 2017. Speakers called for involving women, youth, and children in policy-making related to SDG 16; promoting non-discriminatory policies; instituting and enacting policies to protect human right defenders; and putting technology at the center of enhancing institutional capacity.A brief session in the morning also discussed the 2019 report of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Forum, which called for strengthened capacity and policies for development of STI roadmaps, and for tackling the fragmented nature of official development assistance for STI. Speakers said the UN General Assembly should be requested to report on progress of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM); member states should include STI in their voluntary national reviews (VNRs); and indigenous knowledge and citizen science should be considered as part of STI.For more details on the day's events and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from HLPF 2019. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary and analysis report from the meeting, which is now available in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth

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Discussion on SDG 13 – Climate Action

Plenary is filled to capacity as delegates participate in the discussion on SDG 13 (climate action).

Luis Alfonso de Alba, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Action
Summit

Carolina Schmidt, Minister of the Environment, Chile, and COP 25 President

Moderator Ovais Sarmad, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Deputy Executive Secretary

Leena Srivastava, Co-Chair, UN Secretary-General’s Science Advisory Group for Climate Summit

Omar Hilale, Vice-President, ECOSOC

Javier Manzanares, Deputy Executive Director, Green Climate Fund (GCF)

Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR)

Penny Abeywardena, Commissioner, New York City Mayor’s Office for International Affairs

Zhao Dong, Chairman, Xiamen Airlines, China

Rola Dashti, Executive Secretary, UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA)

Dimakatso Sekhoto, World Farmers' Organization (WFO), and Farmers Major Group

Johanna Lissinger Peitz, Sweden

Mainassara Assouman, Niger

Amatlain Elizabeth Kabua, Permanent Representative of the Marshall Islands to the UN

Report of the STI Forum

Panel speakers discussed key findings and recommendations for the STI Forum, international collaborations needed, and how to best mobilize STI to improve the lives of those furtherest behind.

Marie Chatardová, Co-Chair, STI Forum

Elizabeth Thompson, Co-Chair, STI Forum

Yushi Torigoe, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Kazuhiko Takeuchi, President, Institute for Global Environment Strategies, Japan

Vaughan Turekian, Co-Chair, 10-Member Advisory Group to the STI Forum

Paul Maseli, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Paulo Gadelha, 10-Member Group to the STI Forum

Hasina Efunyemi, Women's Major Group

Discussion on SDG 16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

The session included discussions on: policy reforms; local actions and strategies to strengthen the resilience of communities and institutions to best deliver on SDG 16; and how SDG 16 targets and indicators can leverage human rights norms, standards, and analytical approaches to inform the measurement, monitoring, and implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Vibeke Oestreich Nielsen, Statistics Division, UN DESA

Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica, and Vice President, Club de Madrid

Emanuela del Re, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy

Gabriela Cuevas Barron, President, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

Ahona Paul, Cambodia, and Charles Young, Jamaica, Children and Youth Representatives on ending violence against children

Maria Fernanda Rodriguez, Vice-Minister of Justice, Argentina

Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Director, Mo Ibrahim Foundation

Widya Sadnovic, Indonesia

Marina de Paiva, NGO Major Group

Lead Discussants Edward Thomas Porokwa, Executive Director, Pastoralists Indigenous NGO’s Forum, and Harib Al Amimi, President, State Audit Institution, UAE

Climate Strike

As discussions about climate action continue inside the UN Headquarters, members of civil society join in the Fridays for Future movement and demonstrate outside, calling on global leaders to take immediate action to solve the climate crisis.

Around the Venue

Carolina Schmidt, Minister of the Environment, Chile; Ovais Sarmad, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary; and Omar Hilale, Vice-President, ECOSOC

Omar Hilale, Vice-President, ECOSOC, consults with Marie Chatardová, Co-Chair, STI Forum

Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica (left), speaks with delegates

Ayman Cherkaoui, Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment

Delegates between sessions

A delegate visits the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) website to keep track of the meeting's proceedings