scholarly journals In quest of universal goals: Analysis of statements from the open working group on sustainable development goals and the United Nations general assembly voting

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-60
Author(s):  
Denis Degterev
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Open Working

scholarly journals Is It Time to Shift Our Environmental Thinking? A Perspective on Barriers and Opportunities to Change

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 5010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Daigle ◽  
Liette Vasseur
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Barriers And Opportunities ◽  
Over Exploitation

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019, the release of the global assessment report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services unfortunately demonstrated that our planet may be in more trouble than expected. The main drivers have been identified for many years and relate to human activities such as over-exploitation of natural resources leading to land degradation, deforestation, ocean and atmospheric pollution, and climate change. Despite international agreements and conventions, we are gradually reaching the planet’s boundaries. In this commentary, we present an analysis of the current worldview, discuss the humanist roots of this view, and the barriers to be able to move forward with the transformative changes that are needed for sustainability. We suggest that for these transformative changes to happen, there is a need to reconnect humans with nature, and we propose that some solutions could be devised in areas like education and social media. Changing our mindsets and worldviews are the most urgent courses of action we must undertake to avoid the inevitable.

scholarly journals Intergenerational Equity and the Sustainable Development Goals

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otto Spijkers
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Intergenerational Equity ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations

The contribution of the present research is to link the global consensus in international legal scholarship on the principle of intergenerational equity to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The methodology used is, first, to provide a literature review of theories of intergenerational equity developed in international law scholarship, followed by a textual analysis of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that contains the SDGs. To place the SDGs in their proper context, an overview is provided of the most important declarations on sustainable development of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and outcome documents of the most important World Conferences on sustainable development organized under the auspices of the United Nations. Two general conclusions can be drawn from the present research: in international law scholarship and in the SDGs and previous declarations, the earth is generally seen as a resource, to be used by present and future people, and not as something warranting respect regardless of its worth to human beings. Second, the main challenge is to find a proper balance between intergenerational equity—present and future people—and intragenerational equity—the rich and the poor of the present generation.

Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses

1997 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgosia Fitzmaurice
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Working Group ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Final Text

On 11 April 1997, the text of the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses was presented by the Working Group of the Whole (WG) of the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). This Convention is based on the 1994 Draft Articles on the same topic prepared by the International Law Commission (ILC). These Draft Articles were approved on second reading by the ILC during its 46th session in 1994 and subsequently submitted to the 49th session of the UNGA in 1994 for consideration by states. By its Resolution 49/52, the UNGA invited states to present written submissions to comment on the Draft Articles and at the same time it proposed that a working group on the whole of the UNGA Sixth Committee be established to convene during the 51st session of UNGA (September-December 1996) to elaborate the text for a convention. During its first session, the WG did not manage to accomplish this task. The final text submitted to the UNGA on 11 April 1997 was the result of the second session of the WG which had deliberated during the period from 24 March to 4 April 1997.

scholarly journals The Outcome of the Negotiations on the Global Pact for the Environment: A Commentary

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Géraud de Lassus St-Geniès
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Critical Commentary ◽  
Treaty Negotiations ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations

In May 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution “Towards a Global Pact for the Environment”. This resolution established an intergovernmental working group to discuss the opportunity to open treaty negotiations to codify the fundamental principles of international environmental law into a treaty dubbed the Global Pact for the Environment. In May 2019, the intergovernmental working group completed its mandate and adopted a set of recommendations that were formally endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in August 2019. Contrarily to what the supporters of the Global Pact for the Environment project had hoped for, the working group only recommended the preparation of a “political declaration” without referring to the codification of the principles of international environmental law. This paper offers a critical commentary of the outcome of these negotiations. The analysis suggests that the decision to elaborate a Global Pact for the Environment would have entailed considerable risks for international environmental law and that if adopted, this instrument would not have necessarily helped to increase the problem-solving capacity of international environmental law. Based on the language used in the recommendation to prepare a “political declaration”, the paper also discusses some of the key elements that could shape and inform the upcoming negotiations of this declaration.

The UN Body of Principles for the Protection of Detained or Imprisoned Persons

1990 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 578-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tullio Treves
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Working Group ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations

On December 9, 1988, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, without a vote, a “Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.” The preparation of this text was started in 1976 within the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the Commission on Human Rights. On the basis of a project prepared by Mr. Erik Nettel of Austria, the Sub-Commission approved a Draft Body of Principles in 1978. After being submitted to the General Assembly’s Third Committee, it was referred to a working group, which considered it in 1980 but could not complete its task. The item was then moved to the Sixth Committee, which entrusted it to an open-ended working group. This working group met during every session of the General Assembly from 1981 until 1988, and slowly progressed toward the completion of its task.

The 1997 United Nations Convention on International Watercourses

1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. McCaffrey ◽  
Mpazi Sinjela
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Working Group ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
The Subject ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Law Commission

The Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on May 21, 1997. It was negotiated in the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the General Assembly, convening for this purpose as a “Working Group of the Whole,” on the basis of draft articles adopted by the International Law Commission (ILC). The negotiations in the working group were open to participation by all UN member states, as well as states that are members of specialized agencies of the United Nations. The Convention is divided into seven parts containing thirty-seven articles: Introduction; General Principles; Planned Measures; Protection, Preservation and Management; Harmful Conditions and Emergency Situations; Miscellaneous Provisions; and Final Clauses. An annex sets forth procedures to be used in the event the parties to a dispute have agreed to submit it to arbitration. This Note will focus on key provisions of the Convention and on those that were the subject of controversy during the working group’s deliberations. It assumes that the reader has access to the text.

scholarly journals Overview of the challenges to achieve sustainable development goals in Bangladesh

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 4453-4460
Author(s):  
Mohammed Jashim Uddin ◽  
Md. Nezum Uddin
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
United Nations General Assembly

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2015 are a universal consensus to end poverty, eradicate inequality, protect the globe, tackle the climate change and make sure that all people of the planet enjoy peace and prosperity. Most of the goals are present in Bangladesh. This paper’s aim is to overview the challenges having faced by Bangladesh to acquire the recent phenomenon sustainable development goals.  The National Preliminary Report, FAO analysis, the sustainable Development Goals Report 2016, various articles, and newspaper writings have been scrutinized and secondary data have been used to complete the present study. The study finds that the goals are interconnected with one another. Eradicating all challenges will be daunting task for government alone. Sincere and fruitful policy agenda’ taken and implementation can be supportive and successful way to this idealistic wishes and utopian dreams. The policy makers, politicians, philanthropists, Financial Institutions etc can find it easy to solve SDGs related problems. Further analysis can be done on each and separate target and goal of SDGs in the context of the country.

scholarly journals The UK'S largest volume housebuilders and the sustainable development goals

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Jones ◽  
Daphne Comfort
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
United Nations General Assembly

PurposeThe sustainable development goals (SDGs) agreed at a United Nations General Assembly in 2015 embrace an ambitious and wide ranging set of global environmental, social and economic issues designed to effect a transition to a more sustainable future. The United Nations called on all governments to pursue these ambitious goals but also acknowledged the important role of the private sector in addressing the SDGs. This paper offers an exploratory review of how some of the UK's largest volume housebuilders publicly claim to be committed to addressing the SDGs.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides an outline of the characteristics of sustainable development, of the SDGs and of the frame of reference and method of enquiry employed in the study, prior to reviewing the findings from the largest UK housebuilders.FindingsThe findings revealed that seven of the largest housebuilding companies claimed to be committed to contributing to the SDGs, though the scale and the extent of their claimed commitments varied. In reviewing the housebuilders approach to the SDGs, the authors drew attention to three challenges the housebuilders may face in pursuing their claimed commitment to the SDGs, namely, concentrating on specific goals, measurement and reporting.Originality/valueThe paper offers an accessible review of how seven of the UK's largest housebuilders claimed to be committed to addressing the SDGs.

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