May brought a swing through San Francisco and me moderating a panel at the Sustainatopia Conference on the Nexus- Water-Food-Energy-Climate. Also appearing on the UNECE PPP Conference Panel in Hong Kong on the new draft Principles for PPPs by web. This was all on my way to the Palm Spring Film Noir which opened with over 1200 people and some great films. My favorite being the 1949 Oscar winning film 'All the Kings Men' It plots the rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal. Sound familiar? It is based on a novel by Robert Penn Warren first published in 1946 which has been in the top 100 novels for Time Magazine. In 1947 it won the Pulitzer Prize. It also won Oscars for Best Actor (Broderick Crawford), and Best Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge).
May also saw the publication of the Communitas Legacy Report which gives an idea what we achieved in the 3 threes the project was active.
Also published in May a larger article I wrote for Oxford University Press - The Emergence of Environment as a Security Imperative for Oxford University Press which can be downloaded here.
Finally at the Finance for Development Forum I helped put together a lunch discussion for AVIVA and the Finance for Development Office around the subject of Investments for the SDGs, including Climate Action. Speakers included Steve Waygood (AVIVA), Shari Spiegal (FF Office) and Tomas Cristianson (PGA Office) it was moderated by Liz Thompson former ASG for Rio+20,
Moderating the United Nations Environment Management Group meeting in Geneva on the Nexus Dialogues.
The EMG provides a service to the operationalization of environmental issues within the UN system by promoting coordination, information exchange and joint action among the UN agencies. The EMG Dialogue series will contribute to a common understanding of the integrated goals and targets of the SDGs, as well as the requirements and opportunities these bring for UN entities to support the implementation of the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda in a coherent and collaborative manner. The Dialogues will provide an occasion for UN entities and other stakeholders to identify areas of mutual interest and to better understand the transmission channels through which an action in one sector may impact the outcomes of another.
On the way back to New York I visited my children in London and Norwich. IN London Robin was on his way to Greece to work in a refugee camp for a week. IN Norwich Merri is at UEA studying to be a midwife. We went out to the open Mike at Gonzo's and i had the opportunity to explain how to bracket text in UN negotiations.
On April 20th the Financial Times did an article on the SDGs and A crowded global jobs market is braced for 1bn more workers. They kindly quoted me.
I also had the pleasure of speaking at the UN DESA Partnership Forum from the floor on Principles and Guidelines for Multistakeholder Partnerships. which can be watched here on UN TV
I keynoted the first intersessional for the International Conference on Chemicals Management, held in Geneva, the Strategic Approach and sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020 whose fifth session of the Conference is in 2020.
The first meeting of the intersessional process was held in Brasilia, Brazil, from 7 to 9 February 2017.
The launch of my new book Negotiating the Sustainable Development Goals: A transformational agenda for an insecure world with my co authors Ambassador David Donoghue and Jimena Leiva Roesch and the President of the United Nations Peter Thompson. You can watch the Facebook live event here.
A great fundraising event I attended for the Plastic Pollution Coalition in Los Angeles before Christmas. Consider when you are buying if you need to but anything that has plastics packaging.
One of the meetings I spoke at during the comic and book tour of California in Early December. This one was in San Francisco
