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As temperatures outside UN Headquarters remained below freezing, the atmosphere inside heated up quickly as delegates began their discussion of sustainable consumption and production, including chemicals and waste, on the third day of the seventh session of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Keynote speaker Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Co-Chair of the International Resource Panel, called for major changes to production systems. He quoted the report of the UN High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which stated that the MDGs fell short because they did not promote sustainable consumption and production (SCP) patterns. Advocating for SCP to be central to the new agenda, he proposed that targets and indicators on sustainable resource management could be integrated with other issue goals.
In the afternoon panel discussion, William McDonough, Founder, McDonough and Partners, said exponential growth in a world of limited resources is a fundamental issue. He said by optimizing design from the start, we could remove bad behaviors through efficiency while replacing them with good behaviors, moving from a focus on “limits” to “growth.” Karti Sandilya, Blacksmith Institute, presented his work with the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution, which aids low- and middle-income countries in cleaning up toxic sites. “We are fighting a global epidemic,” he explained, with more than 200 million people exposed to dangerous levels of toxins. Helio Mattar, President, Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption, outlined alternative kinds of goods and services, and the societal shifts needed to support them, in which consumption is no longer an end in itself but an instrument of well-being and a meaningful life.
Delegates, in their statements, referred to, among other issues: developing countries’ lack of capacity for the sound management of chemicals and wastes, and the need for assistance through technology transfer and capacity building; great urgency for the present generation to adopt consumption and production patterns that safeguard the rights of future generations; equitable and balanced global consumption of resources; the time-bound implementation of the 10YFP on SCP, with developed countries taking the lead; reducing food waste; decoupling economic growth from resource use and environmental degradation; better implementation of the chemicals and wastes treaties; and sound management of chemicals as crucial for the protection of human health and the environment.
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| William McDonough, Founder, McDonough and Partners |
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Side Events
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Session resources
 Session website and documents
Draft programme of work
Side events
General information on SDGs
Sustainable development knowledge platform website
Website for the Sixth session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 9-13 December 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America
Website for the Fifth session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 25-27 November 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America
Website for the Fourth session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 17-19 June 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America
Website for the Third session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 22-24 May 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America
Website for the Second session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 17-19 April 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America
Website for the First session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 14-15 March 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America
IISD RS resources
Post-2015 Development Agenda Meeting Reporting
IISD RS coverage from the Sixth session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 9-13 December 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America
IISD RS summary and analysis of the Fifth session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 25-27 November 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (HTML - PDF)
IISD RS summary and analysis of the Fourth session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 17-19 June 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
IISD RS summary report of the Arab Regional Implementation Meeting (RIM) on Rio+20 Outcomes, 29-30 May 2013, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
IISD RS summary and analysis of the Third session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 22-24 May 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
IISD RS briefing note of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Integration Meeting on Achieving Sustainable Development – “Integrating the Social, Economic and Environmental Dimensions”, 13 May 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (HTML - PDF)
IISD RS summary report of the Asia and Pacific Regional Implementation Meeting (RIM) on Rio+20 Outcomes, 22-24 April 2013, Bangkok, Thailand (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
IISD RS summary report of the Second session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 17-19 April 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
IISD RS summary report of the First session of the UNGA’s OWG on SDGs, 14-15 March 2013, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
IISD RS coverage of the Caribbean Forum: Shaping a Sustainable Development Agenda to address the Caribbean Reality in the 21st Century and Conference on Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Follow-up to the development agenda beyond 2015 and Rio+20, 5-6 and 7-9 of March 2013, Bogotá, Colombia
IISD RS summary report of the Eighth Session of the Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development (CFSSD-8) and Africa Regional Implementation Meeting (Africa-RIM) in preparation for the Twentieth Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable (CSD-20), 19-21 November 2012, UN Conference Centre (UNCC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
IISD RS coverage of Rio+20: Third PrepCom and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), 13-22 June 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
IISD RS archive of sustainable development meetings
SDG - A mailing list for news on sustainable development policy
Sustainable Development Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of International Activities Preparing for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development
SDG - A mailing list focused on internationally-relevant activities related to setting the post-2015 development agenda
Sustainable Development Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of UN and Intergovernmental Post-2015 Development Agenda Activities
Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news |
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Seventh Session of the Open Working Group (OWG) of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
