November 2010, Ahmedabad, India
The conference “Ethical Framework for A Sustainable World” commemorated the 10th year of the Earth Charter initiative. The conference brought together 600 participants from all over the world that included a variety of stakeholder groups including government officials and representatives of UN agencies. The Earth Charter (EC) is a declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society. The Conference was specifically held with a view to:
Strengthen efforts at making ESD central to education practice and training
Clarify the role the EC can play in education
Share experiences on the use of EC in education
Strengthen partnerships with the EC
Capture the spirit of the events related to EC + 10 and to use the ideas to discuss and launch the vision for the EC for the next decade (2011-2020)
The conference looked at the effective translation of the Earth Charter from principles to practice. Seven plenary Sessions set the tone and pace for more focused discussions and interactions. The workshop themes included:
1. School Education and Teacher Training
2. Higher Education: Towards a Responsible Future
3. Non Formal Education
4. Reviewing, Rethinking, and Reorienting ICTs for ESD
5. Business & CSR in a Green Economy
6. The Earth Charter and Religion, Spirituality & Ethics
7. Cities, Communities and Urbanisation
8. Ethical Development Practices for Sustainable Livelihoods - Issues and Concerns
9. Global Challenges and Global Governance
10. Bio-diversity & Ethics
For more information visit: www.earthcharterplus10.org
United Nations Climate Change Conference
29 November - 10 December 2010, Cancun, Mexico
The UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico, ended on 11 December 2010 with the adoption of a balanced package of decisions that set all governments more firmly on the path towards a low-emissions future and support enhanced action on climate change in the developing world. The “Cancún Agreements” include:
- Industrialised country targets are officially recognized under the multilateral process and these countries are to develop low-carbon development plans and strategies and assess how best to meet them, including through market mechanisms, and to report their inventories annually.
- Developing country actions to reduce emissions are officially recognized. A registry is to be set up to record and match developing country mitigation actions to finance and technology support from by industrialized countries. Developing countries are to publish progress reports every two years.
- Parties meeting under the Kyoto Protocol agree to continue negotiations with the aim of completing work and ensuring there is no gap between the first and second commitment periods of the treaty.
- The Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanisms has been strengthened to drive more major investments and technology into environmentally sound and sustainable emission reduction projects in the developing world.
- A set of initiatives and institutions launched to protect the vulnerable from climate change and to deploy the money and technology that developing countries need to plan and build their own sustainable futures.
- A total of $30 billion in fast start finance from industrialised countries to support climate action in the developing world up to 2012 and the intention to raise $100 billion in long-term funds by 2020 is included in the decisions.
- In the field of climate finance, a process to design a Green Climate Fund under the Conference of the Parties, with a board with equal representation from developed and developing countries, is established.
- Governments agree to boost action to curb emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries with technological and financial support.
- Parties established a technology mechanism with a Technology Executive Committee and Climate Technology Centre and Network to increase technology cooperation to support action on adaptation and mitigation.
The next Conference of the Parties is scheduled to take place in South Africa, from 28 Nov to 9 Dec 2011.
For more information visit: http://unfccc.int/2860.php
Launch of the International Conference to celebrate the 10 years of the Earth Charter and to chart its vision for the next decade.
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