Sustainable Energy is 100% Renewable – Recommendations

The Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) initiative pledged to ensure universal access to modern energy services, double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency and double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030. Yet, it’s self-published progress reports states that the initiative has fallen short of its objectives.

This report summarises the initiatives often underlined structural shortcomings. Namely, a lack of integration into other UN frameworks, an excessive focus on centralization and profitability, a disproportionate emphasis on private finance, a lack of inclusion of diverse business models and a lack of representation and civil society involvement. The report then examines the SEforALL Action Agendas for eight African countries.

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Future Policy Award 2019 Policy Brochure: Empower Youth

Celebrating best policies to empower youth

In this brochure, we present the winning policies of our Future Policy Award 2019. In partnership with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the support of the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, the International Labour Organization (ILO), Youth Policy Labs (YPL), the Michael Otto Foundation and the Jua Foundation. Its aim is to highlight policies that advance youth access to decent jobs, including green jobs, and enhance civic and political participation for sustainable development and peace. With more than 1.8 billion people between the ages of 15 and 35 worldwide – a quarter of the global population – we have the largest generation of young persons the world has ever known. Young people play a crucial role in advancing development, democracy and peace and in fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They are talented, knowledgeable and ambitious, and are making a difference every day in all fields of work and as leaders in their communities. Despite their drive and achievements, the contribution of young people to society is often not recognized, nor are they adequately invested or included in decision-making processes. At the same time, young people face high unemployment and discrimination, and often lack access to education. The climate crisis and environmental degradation will impact their future tremendously. Hence it is time that we step up our political action to empower youth. Championing and spreading effective, future-just policy solutions is the principal goal of the World Future Council. Together with renowned partners, each year, through our Future Policy Award, we highlight exemplary policies that create better living conditions for present and future generations by addressing a major global challenge.

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(Em)Powering Cities in the European Union

Renewable energy remains at the top of the agendas of many policy makers worldwide. And that is for good reason – Technologies for renewable power generation, heating and cooling, and transport are affordable and most often the cheapest option.

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The Mainstreaming of Organic Agriculture And Agroecology in the Himalaya Region

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The Mainstreaming of Organic Agriculture And Agroecology in the Himalaya Region: Adequate policies that advance the transition towards sustainable agriculture and food systems to ensure healthy food for all, to overcome social and economic inequalities and to protect our environment, climate, and biodiversity, are urgently needed. After highlighting the world’s best policies scaling up agroecology with the Future Policy Award 2018, the World Future Council and IFOAM – Organics International proudly present the study “The Mainstreaming of Organic Agriculture and Agroecology in the Himalaya Region. Policy Contexts in Bhutan, India and Nepal”, realized with the kind support of the Schweisfurth Foundation. It is follow up of our efforts to showcase existing political support towards organic farming and agroecology and brings new insights on the current institutional efforts and limitations of mainstreaming sustainable agriculture across the Himalaya Region, with a focus on three countries: Bhutan, India and Nepal.

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There is no doubt that organic agriculture and agroecology provide an effective pathway for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and delivering the 2030 Agenda. The sustainable management of our planet’s natural resources underpins our ability to achieve these
targets. The transformation of our agriculture and food systems will represent an essential step towards this vision. The right to food is recognized by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and was enshrined in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, discussion on achieving a world free from hunger is often associated with a plea for increasing productivity with any means. This short-sighted approach needs to be reversed. Food systems need to be transformed with a systemic and holistic approach, while food and those who produce it need to be valued. When food is produced in a sustainable way, it increases food security, preserves natural resources, enhances biodiversity, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The complex nature of the challenges we face and the urgent endeavour our policymaking is called to address require public policies designed, implemented, monitored, and revised in a coherent, participatory, and comprehensive manner, as defined by the Seven Principles for Future-Just Lawmaking. These are based on the International Law Association’s 2002 Delhi Declaration on Sustainable Development Law.2 In addition, we have to ensure that our policies create a conducive environment for supporting the transition of our food systems. Hence these policies should respect the four Guiding Principles of Organic Agriculture3 and the 10 Elements of Agroecology.

Annual Report 2018

Excerpt Annual Report 2018

Time is pressing: in autumn 2018 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that we have no more than 12 years to avert a climate catastrophe. Just recently, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services warned against a massive loss of biodiversity that is putting one million species in danger of extinction.

Let’s take a tour through the diverse and numerous solutions we identified and promoted during 2018! This Annual Report looks back at our impact in 2018 and shows, yet again, our supporters’ strong commitment: collectively we can be proud of what we achieved in sustainable agriculture, education for sustainable development, protecting children from violence, advancing 100% Renewable Energy, fostering a sustainable economy, and promoting peace and disarmament.

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More and more people wish to eat healthy, uncontaminated food and ensure that our children will inherit a planet worth living in. In the face of land degradation, biodiversity loss, climate change and population growth, we have to quickly switch to sustainable food and agriculture. As agroecology protects and regenerates our soils, water and biodiversity, strengthens smallholder farmers, boosts local economy and improves climate resilience, it can play a key role in this process. We urgently need to convince policymakers to develop and implement policies that effectively scale up agroecology! For this reason, in 2018 the World Future Council decided to award the world’s best practices which scale up agroecology. After a thorough evaluation by our research department, an international jury composed of renowned agroecology experts selected the winners of the Future Policy Award 2018. Beating 51 nominated policies from 25 countries, the world’s best policies come from India, Denmark, Ecuador, Brazil, the Philippines, Senegal, the United States of America, and include an initiative from the international level.

100% Renewable Energy for Bangladesh – Access to RE for all within one generation.

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‘100% Renewable Energy for Bangladesh – Access to renewable energy for all within one generation’.

This scientific feasibility study unveils that deploying 100% renewable energy in Bangladesh is possible and can provide access to reliable energy for all its citizens, while increasing living standards to the level of industrialized countries by 2050. It proves that a renewable energy based system can create 1 million more jobs than the fossil fuel industry in the same timeframe.

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Beyond Fire: How to achieve electric cooking

n diesem Jahresbericht können Sie lesen, was wir gemeinsam mit Ihnen für Klimaschutz, 100% Erneuerbare Energien, die Bekämpfung von Landverödung, Schutz von Kindern vor Gewalt, eine nachhaltige Wirtschaftsordnung und für Frieden und Abrüstung erreicht haben.

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Policy Handbook: Advancing Education for Sustainable Development

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Given the huge challenges the world faces, it is clear that we need to teach, learn and live in a fundamentally different manner. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is increasingly recognised as playing a central role in empowering learners of all ages to positively respond to local and global challenges and act in a more peaceful, just, inclusive and sustainable manner. This approach is already helping people develop the skills, values and attitudes necessary to create more resilient societies and transition towards the skilled, green, low-carbon economies of the future.

This handbook explores some of the central success factors in policy, process and practice in some of the pioneering countries and contexts where ESD is being effectively embraced. It examines some of the major trends, case studies and challenges in introducing this more holistic, progressive, hands-on education.

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There is no more powerful transformative force in the world today than quality education. It is an indispensable part of the development equation, promoting human rights and dignity, helping to eradicate poverty, fostering sustainability and building a better future for all. It empowers people to determine their own destiny. In our world of nearly eight billion people with finite
natural resources, individuals and societies have to learn to live together, taking responsible actions in the knowledge that not only do they impact people in other parts of the world, but have profound implications for future generations. The future health of the planet rests on creating an education that is at least as far-reaching, systemic, and transformative as the problems we face. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) does just that. It can play a key role in promoting positive values and sustainable lifestyles, and empowering people of all ages as actors for peace and inclusive social change. Learning is a key component of innovation, strengthening our collective ability to address complex global and local challenges. There is growing international recognition of ESD’s potential as an integral and transformative element of quality education and lifelong learning and a key enabler of more just, inclusive, sustainable and resilient societies. To do this ESD must continue to empower learners to transform themselves and their communities. Through its embrace of progressive pedagogies, technical and vocational training, and 21st century skills, ESD is helping learners developing fundamental skills, knowledge and competencies such as critical thinking, scenario planning and collaborative decision making, collaboration, and problem-solving

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Position paper: Strengthening agroecology for a fundamental Transformation of agri-food systems

Summary

The negative effects of industrial agriculture have long been clear, and agroecology offers a multitude of solutions for the fundamental transformation of the agri-food system. The position paper presents these solutions and is supported by the World Future Council and many other important actors of the agroecology debate.

There is movement in the international debate on agriculture. More and more people – activists, scientists, members of
organizations and some governments – have come to realize that “carry on as usual” is not an option. The IAASTD report (International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development) recognized this as much back in 2009. The message has now gotten through: the negative effects of industrial agriculture have long been clear; they include water shortages, species extinction, high greenhouse-gas emissions, soil degradation, and land grabbing. They cause social, economic and ecological damage that harms the
livelihoods of peasants1 and the ability of ecosystems to adjust to the already noticeable effects of the climate crisis. The business model of the international pesticide and seed companies is based on the Green Revolution concept of raising yields through the massive use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. But this system is coming under enormous pressure to justify itself. Just a handful of big multinationals control markets all the way from the field to the supermarket. The takeover of Monsanto by Bayer is just one example of
this power. And the power imbalances are increasing between huge corporations on one hand and peasants and workers on the other. Social inequality worldwide is on the rise. Small farms find themselves squeezed out of the market; the human rights of peasants are systematically ignored, especially in the global South; farmworkers toil for a pittance and are exposed to toxic pesticides. According to a United Nations report, 200,000 people die each year from acute pesticide poisoning; 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries.

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Ambition For the Future – 100%RE to Accelerate Sustainable Development

Abstract

While the Agenda 2030 set the aim to keep global climate change to 1.5°C, existing policy measures, legal frameworks and initiatives are nowhere near these ambitions. However, research indicates that this target is achievable if we fully decarbonize our economy and society by no later than 2050. This ultimately means a transition to 100% renewable energy (RE) and a complete phase out of fossil fuels.

Therefore, this report highlights how 100% RE is a prerequisite for achieving justice and dignity for present and future generations, including a mechanism to finance this transition. The links between these elements – namely regenerative cities, sustainable agriculture, peace and disarmament and education for sustainable development – and 100% RE underpin the reasoning and strong necessity to transition to 100% RE. The clarification of these interrelationships enables a comprehensive approach to climate action and policy design that disrupts single silo thinking while leaving no one behind.

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