Hong Kong’s first blog for SDG education news and announcements
Yesterday was World Humanitarian Day. 2021 saw the focus placed on the most vulnerable people who will suffer most from the fallout created by the climate crisis. Using the hashtag #TheHumanRace, the UN recognizes that those in poverty and/or threatened by the immediate reality of their location (think wild fires or Pacific Island atolls) need our help right now. With COP26 in just 10 weeks’ time, the plight of the most vulnerable needs to be front and centre of the consideration and agreed actions that the conference needs to deliver. . . .
The urgency of SDG action is dictated by the status quo and what it signifies for our future. With the status quo being increasingly prominent waves of social, economic, political and environmental issues which erode the prospect of a habitable future, it is more crucial than ever to hasten international efforts to work towards ameliorating them. Youth action and empowerment is especially essential as we are the ones who will have to encounter this future. Thus, society needs to perpetually incubate a generation of ambitious, responsible, action-oriented global citizens in order to ensure that our methods of ensuring sustainability are sustainable themselves. Exposure obtained from global events will grant youth such as myself the opportunity to network with like-minded peers and cultivate a wide array of skills that will aid their future endeavours. More importantly, it will also destigmatize us from mere pawns who should comply with established and negligent systems to truly formid . . .
In a world where the climate crisis is exacerbating societal inequality and causing supply shortages, sustainable development can no longer be sidelined. The youth, arguably the most important stakeholder in the coming few decades, recognize the urgency for sustainable development and hence must act accordingly to speak up and bring attention to issues facing their community. In order for youth initiatives to scale up in impact, exposure and recognition at global events will be integral in our quest to bring forth sustainable development to a wider platform while alerting our cause to a wider range of influential audiences. Therefore, the involvement and presence of youth in future global events should be implemented to expedite the pace of sustainable development. . . .
What We Need To Now by Chris Goodall is a short book that offers a set of solutions to each of the main challenges posed by global heating - energy supply, housing, food, clothing and the main manufacturing problem areas, such as cement and steel. It finishes by looking briefly at the opportunities for direct capture of CO2 from air and the possible benefits and costs of tinkering with the reflectivity of the Earth’s atmosphere. It makes 3 broad calls to action. 1. We need action right now across all elements of consumption not just energy. 2. We need to use relatively easy energy solutions to fix other problems, basically by overproducing renewable electricity to produce hydrogen fuel which can solve these other issues. 3. Action requires political consensus because we are organized nationally but this is a global problem. From an education point of view this is a fantastic book to use for senior secondary or undergraduate reading and for case study examples in subjects such . . .
Tomorrow is International Youth Day. The resolution to adopt 12th August as IYD was in 1998 but the UN has a much longer history of celebrating youth and bringing youth issues to the forefront of international attention. In 1965, the General Assembly endorsed the Declaration on the Promotion among Youth of the Ideals of Peace, Mutual Respect and Understanding between Peoples. From 1965 to 75 the UN promoted participation, development and peace. The need for an international policy on youth was emphasized as well. 1979 was International Youth Year and this was repeated in 2010. In 2021 the emphasis will be on Youth innovation for human and planetary health. . . .
Reuters reports a sad outcome from the latest G20 summit – a failure to agree common language for their final communique before COP26 which will take place in less than 100 days. The biggest issues were commitments to phase out coal power and an affirmation of the Paris agreement targets aiming to limit heating to 1.5 deg C. with the world’s biggest and richest economies being responsible for the majority of the emissions and global heating, we really need them to take the lead on meeting this crisis head on. . . .
Restoring land to former natural habitat is often seen as “too hard” or “too expensive”. This initiative shows not only that it can and should be done but that even the most unexpected of government departments can be involved. Addressing the SDGs is for everyone – all individuals, all companies and all government departments. . . .
Q-leak is a training centre to allow modern training and research to prevent underground mains water leaks. With water supplies under threat around the world, all initiatives such as this are essential. As with all SDG issues, solutions need to be multi-faceted. We can be mindful of our water use as individuals by consuming less, especially beef and cheap clothes; corporations can become more efficient especially those using water to manufacture; governments can be mindful of leaks and also regulations to prevent the wasteful overuse of water. . . .
