Hong Kong’s first blog for SDG education news and announcements
On 27th June 2023, the incoming ITS Foundation Youth Advisory Committee held its first meeting. Natalie Cheung and Hana Chow were elected co-Presidents and Quinton Leung was made Secretary. Anna Wei, Jane Poon and Josephine Jaume from the outgoing Committee were kindly in attendance to contribute tips and opinions based on their experiences in 2022-23. The first task of the committee will be to put together an event to mark International Youth Day 2023. No mean feat with just seven weeks to go but a challenge which we are sure they will rise to, and what a great way it will be to kick off the new academic year for Hong Kong schools. . . .
Here’s how much water it takes to make a serving of beef – and why where it comes from is so important (The Conversation) India's young climate activists fight on despite crackdown on political freedoms (Eco-Business) Standard Chartered Bank appoints Singapore-based global sustainability strategy chief (Eco-Business) ‘We could lose our status as a state’: what happens to a people when their land disappears (The Guardian) 8 Circular Packaging Companies To Watch In The Race To Close The Waste Loop (greenqueen) World Bank to suspend debt repayments for disaster-hit countries (CHN) U.S. launches $7 billion program to bring solar to low-income households (reuters) There may be good news about the oceans in a globally warmed world (ScienceDaily) Planting Azolla empowers Jordan’s women farmers (Aljazeera) . . .
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship was established in 1998 to advance social innovation and bring together a community of leading change-makers. The Schwab Foundation’s first gathering took place in Geneva, and its annual summits have taken place in various locations around the world. On 14-16 June 2023, 150 Social Innovators, 50 leaders from the Global Alliance of Social Entrepreneurship, and key partners and stakeholders from around the world, gathered in Geneva on the 25th anniversary of the Foundation. Speaking was ITS Foundation Director Kenneth Kwok (pictured) to represent the effort of youth in the social economy. You can also read his follow up article here. . . .
Image by: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Times Higher Education (THE) has published its 2023 findings on the relative SDG performance of universities globally. The annual Impact Rankings are based on four approaches to advancing the SDGs: research; stewardship; outreach; and teaching. It provides a ranking of overall SDG performance as well as on each of the 17 Global Goals. This is the fifth edition of the rankings and as the number of institutions willing to participate increases, we will see a double benefit of more people making sustainability fundamentally part of how they work but also further cascading of impact. It has the potential to create a snowball of impact. The website has a useful ranking plus the ability to see results by individual SDG. You can look up any university as well. It could become a useful tool for students making the sustainability of the university they study at one of the criteria for choosing where to apply. . . .
Image by: Tomasz Brzozowski from Pixabay How inequality shapes your experience of a heatwave (The Conversation) Google Sustainability Summit 2023: How can technology be a force for good? (Eco-business) Beyond Montreal: six months after deal to halt biodiversity loss, where are we? (The Guardian) 13 Ways To Reduce Your Food Waste Footprint Right Now (greenqueen) UN head Guterres contradicts Cop28 host on fossil fuel phaseout (CHN) Clean, sustainable fuels made 'from thin air' and plastic waste (ScienceDaily) Brazil’s President Lula unveils plan to end deforestation by 2030 (Aljazeera) . . .
Image by: teresa cotrim from Pixabay Now in its ninth edition, The EPR on SDG7 presents updated statistics for each of the SDG 7 indicators and offers policy insights on priorities and actions needed to accelerate progress towards achieving the 2030 targets. As highlighted by the UNSG report recently, all the SDGs are currently behind schedule at this half-way point. Some plus points include an extra billion people getting electricity since 2010, representing 91% of the world’s population connected. Nearly 30% of global electricity now comes from renewables. And the amount of renewables coming online each year is increasing. However, funding is available only to a small number of countries, with 19 countries receiving 80% of the commitments in 2021 and international public financial flows in support of clean energy in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) declining. A good illustration of how many threads need to pull together to get this SDG implemented. . . .
Image by: David Mark from Pixabay There are over 100 million forcibly displaced people across the world. Of these over 35 million are refugees, defined by the UN as “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion”. In 2023, over 50% of them come from just 3 countries – Syria, Ukraine, and Afghanistan. This shows not just the impact of large-scale conflict but also the longevity of the refugee situation. Once you have become a refugee, it is hard to return home. World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives. Sadly, we see growing resistance to helping refugees driven by the hardline, us . . .
Image by: Jason Goh from Pixabay ‘Historic moment’: First climate action case goes on trial in US (Aljazeera) Greenhouse gas emissions at 'an all-time high' -- and it is causing an unprecedented rate of global warming, say scientists (ScienceDaily) In China's lithium hub, mining boom comes at a cost (reuters) The Overshoot Commission is talking about solar geoengineering. Not everyone thinks it should (CHN) World Bank set to take on risk of insuring carbon credits amid market upheaval (CHN) 10 Myths About the Plant-Based Diet Debunked By a Cardiologist (greenqueen) 7 Big Signals That Prove The End Of Fossil Fuels Is On The Horizon (greenqueen) Is the world making real progress towards net zero emissions? (Eco-business) The materials used by humans now weigh more than all life on Earth – here’s four graphs that reveal our staggering impact on the planet (The Conversation) . . .
