Books

This is the eighth book by the Friends of the Governance for Sustainable Development. The chapters in this book are based on some of the presentations made at the workshop ‘SDG 16 and its Interlinkages with other SDGs – Challenges and Opportunities.’ SDG 16 stands as a cornerstone in this integrated framework, when “structural injustices, inequalities and emerging human rights challenges are putting peaceful and inclusive societies further out of reach” (2023, SDG Report). The workshop was organized in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and hosted by the Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations in New York, focusing on providing an open space for Member States to discuss issues that they would be addressing later this year or next and having the chance to hear what experts think is useful for their consideration. We expect the present publication to be a useful input for the ongoing discussions about the institutional architecture for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Authors include Felix Dodds, Jamil Ahmad, Julia Kercher, David Le Blanc, Mariana Neves, Daniel Zavala Porras, John Romano, and Jan Gustav Strandenaes. The book is available for print and Kindle here and freely downloadable as a PDF here Volume 8 PDF.

Volume 7: Interlinking Major Sustainable Development Events to Embrace Policy Coherence and Implementation of the 2030 Agenda is produced by the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development (the Friends Group). The chapters in this book are based on some of the presentations made at the workshop titled “Building Momentum for a Successful Interlinked Set of UN Conferences and Events in 2023.” The Friends Group is coordinated by the governments of Germany, Morocco, Indonesia, Nigeria, Romania, and the Republic of Korea, the secretariat being provided by the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service (RMWSSS) at Arizona State University and Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future. Print and Kindle versions are available here. Downloaded free here.

This is the sixth book that the Group of Friends of the Governance for Sustainable Development: ‘Governance for Sustainable Development Volume 6 – Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Addressing Key Climate and Environmental Issues The chapters in this book are based on some of the presentations made at the three workshops.

In 2021, during the second year of the pandemic, the Group of Friends convened UN officials, experts, and representatives from the governments at three participatory workshops on relevant governance issues.

The workshops were organized in partnership with UN-DESA Office of Intergovernmental Support and Coordination for Sustainable Development focusing on providing open space for member states to discuss issues that they would be addressing later this or the next year. Having the chance to hear what experts think are useful for their consideration. We expect the present publication to be a useful input for the ongoing discussions about the institutional architecture for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The first workshop looked at How do we accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The second workshop looked at SDG 16 as a cross-cutting goal addressing health, climate change, energy and food security. The third workshop looked at the and issues in front of the United Nations Environment Assembly 5.2 and a review of the outcomes from the Glasgow Climate Change Summit.Print and Kindle versions are available here.  Downloaded free here (FOG Volume 6 Manuscript)

This is the fifth book that the Group of Friends of the Governance for Sustainable Development: Volume 5 of Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development – Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Governance Challenges was produced to share widely the papers that were presented at the workshops for member States to discuss. The Group recognize that there is an inextricable link between good governance and sustainable development and that, as the 2030 Agenda is implemented, governance challenges will need discussion and action at all levels and by all institutions. In 2020, during the pandemic the Group of Friends convened UN officials, experts, and representatives from government at four participatory workshops on relevant governance issues.

The workshops were organized in partnership with UN-DESA Office of Intergovernmental Support and Coordination for Sustainable Development focusing on advancing the 2030 Agenda into the HLPF’s Second Cycle, and lessons learnt from the first cycle. The Group of Friends in 2021 will continue to be a place for discussions of the institutional architecture for the delivery of the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

The four workshops cover a multitude of issues such as climate change, climate finance, Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review, North-South and South-South cooperation, Impact of COVID-19: perspective from Voluntary National Reviews, COVID-19 Transparency Gap, the Challenges for Glasgow COP, Disasters due to Climate Change for Sustainable Development, The UN General Assembly Special Session on Corruption: Opportunities and Challenges, Financial Accountability, Transparency, and Integrity for Sustainable Development, Time to negotiate a UN convention to address tax havens and international tax dodging.

The 2030 Agenda represents one of the most important sets of Global Goals that the international community has committed to. It is an unprecedented effort that embodies universal aspirations for aachieving  a more just, equitable, peaceful and sustainable future. It is an excellent example of successful multilateralism. This ambitious and unique exercise represents a paradigm shift in policy-making for sustainable development. It gives a roadmap by which we all, the UN, governments and stakeholders can work together to address the most pressing global challenges. In this context, the rule of law, as well as effective, robust, participatory and accountable institutions are of the utmost importance to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their 169 targets. This is the fourth book that the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development has produced in an effort to share widely the papers that have been presented at the workshops for member States to discuss. The Group of Friends recognises that there is an inextricable link between good governance and sustainable development and that, as the 2030 Agenda is implemented, governance challenges will need discussion and action at all levels and by all institutions. Mindful of these challenges, the governments of Germany, Morocco, Nigeria, Romania and the Republic of Korea, with the technical support of the Tellus Institute and the secretariat being provided by ARTICLE 19, have tried to create an informal space for Member States to discuss governance-related issues. This book was written and co-edited by David Banisar, Jamie Bartram, Marianne Beisheim, Steven Bernstein, Claire Blanchard, Elizabeth Dirth, Felix Dodds, Michael K. Dorsey, Jorge Fernandez-Quintela, Elizabeth Hege, Meriem El Hilali, Anne Kahl, Hyemi Kim, Verena Klinge-Dering, Gary Lawrence, Samuel Victor Makwe, Quinn McKew, Felipe Morgado, Ingeborg Niestroy, Gastón Ocampo, Cristina Popescu, Felipe Victoria, and Ruben Zondervan.

Governance for Sustainable Development Volume 4

The Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development have continued to host workshops on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda represents one of the most important sets of Global Goals that the international community has committed to. It is an unprecedented effort that embodies universal aspirations for achieving a more just, equitable, peaceful and sustainable future. It is an excellent example of successful multilateralism. This ambitious and unique exercise represents a paradigm shift in policy-making for sustainable development. It gives a roadmap by which we all, the UN, governments, and stakeholders can work together to address the most pressing global challenges. In this context, the rule of law, as well as effective, robust, participatory and accountable institutions are of the utmost importance to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their 169 targets. This is the third book that the Group of Friends of the Governance for Sustainable Development has produced in an effort to share widely the papers that have been presented at the workshops for member States to discuss. The Group recognizes that there is an inextricable link between good governance and sustainable development and that, as the 2030 Agenda is implemented, governance challenges will need discussion and action at all levels and by all institutions. This book was written and co-edited by Abhinav Bahl, Aparajita Banerjee, David Banisar, Akinremi Bolaji, Marianne Beisheim, Geert Bouckaert, Yeongmoo Cho, Jack Cornforth, Felix Dodds, Jorge Fernandez, Patricia Galdamez, Alexandra Hiniker, David Horan, Verena Klinger-Dering, Quinn McKew, Enda Murphy, Charles Nouhan, David O’Connor, Derek Osborn, Minh-Thu Pham, Cristina Popescu, Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, Massimo Tommasoli, Lucy Turner, Farooq Ullah, Felipe Victoria, and Patrick Paul Walsh. Available as PDF here. And on Amazon from here.

Achieving sustainable development requires an enabling environment. Governance plays a crucial role in creating those conditions, notably, for our purposes in the implementation of the 2030 sustainable development agenda process. From creating new platforms to reforming old ones, the process must live up to this standard and its mechanisms should be geared towards fostering this type of new international environment and cooperation for sustainable development. This is the second volume produced by the Friends Group. The first volume presented the period from late 2014 to the end of 2015. The Group also has a website which it places the papers that are being discussed at the Friends Group’s meetings, which can be found here. The chapters of this book are a reflection of the rich contributions made by governments, intergovernmental bodies and stakeholders to the three workshops that the Friends Group hosted in 2017.

Available from Amazon (Printed book $12.00).

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“It is with great pleasure that we are now presenting this publication which compiles the main elements of the engaging and valuable discussions that governmental representatives, UN officials, several NGOs, experts and civil society had on the aforementioned workshops. In this sense, we would like to thank all the participants for their important contributions. Moreover, we extend our gratitude to the Tellus Institute and the organization ARTICLE 19 who have worked extensively to make these dialogues and the present publication a reality.We expect the present publication to be a useful input for the ongoing discussions about the institutional architecture for the Post-2015 Agenda. Our generation has now the opportunity to redefine the future and bring real, significant, transformative and universal change for and with the people, leaving no one behind. However, sustainable development will only become a reality if we have the enabling environment for it to happen. Thus, good governance will be pivotal for implementing, reviewing and improving the Post-2015 Development Agenda. We expect that this publication contributes to the colossal, but encouraging, challenges we will be facing during the next 15 years.”- Ambassador Choong-hee Hahn, Ambassador Simona-Mirela Miculescu and Ambassador Jorge Montano

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